《三洞群仙录》Vol. 2

According to the Dantai Xinlu (New Records of the Elixir Terrace), Yin Cheng possessed Daoist arts (daoshu). Qin Shi Huang repeatedly issued edicts summoning him, but he refused to leave the mountains. Yin Cheng disliked clamor and delighted in forests and mountains; he changed his name to Yin Linzi and withdrew far into the valleys. He often saw a deer with an injured foot, stumbling and unable to move. Feeling compassion, he wrapped and plastered its wound with medicine. Later he encountered heavy rain, ran out of food, and was trapped in a forest marsh. At that moment a deer suddenly appeared. When he was hungry, he sucked the deer’s milk; when he was cold, the deer lay beside him to warm him. In this way it accompanied him for several months. Later he met a divine person who transmitted secret instructions to him, after which he could heal injuries and protect and treat the sick. He lived to the age of three hundred and forty and ascended in broad daylight. The Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected) records that Yin Linzi entered Mount Mao—a famous Daoist mountain—at the end of the Han dynasty and was revered as a Zhenren (Perfected). He once transformed into a white sheep and wrote on the sheep’s ribs, “Lord Sheep thanks the Son of Heaven.” Later, when the emperor placed a stone sheep on a terrace, Master Yin transformed again and hid himself, so that his whereabouts became unknown.

“Lü Zhizhen moved the fierce tiger, and Ziying caught fish” may be understood as follows: Lü Zhizhen moved a fierce tiger by his utmost sincerity, while Ziying took fishing as his occupation.

The Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) says that Lü Zhizhen was a disciple of Master Guangcheng and lived in a stone chamber for more than ten years. He was skilled at using medicinal stones to save people. When he entered the mountains and forests, tigers and leopards often followed him. When people asked him about the way of cultivating the Dao, he remained silent and did not answer. Once, while traveling on the road in Mount Shang, his expression suddenly changed greatly and he refused to go forward. His companions were astonished. He said that robbers were coming ahead. Soon armed men indeed arrived. Lü Zhizhen said to the robbers, “Everyone in this party is my disciple; you must not offend them.” The robbers then straightened their lapels, respectfully withdrew, and did not dare advance. At another valley mouth, he said, “Here is something that harms people.” His companions wanted to see it, so he entered the forest and came out leading two tigers tied with rope. From this one can know that Lü Zhizhen deeply obtained Master Guangcheng’s Dao methods.

The Liexian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) records that Ziying was a native of Shuxiang and was skilled at entering the water to catch fish. He caught a red carp and, loving its color, brought it home and raised it in a pond, often feeding it rice and grain. After a year the fish had grown to more than a zhang in length, had grown horns, and had also grown wings. Ziying became frightened and apologized to the fish. The fish said, “I have come to meet you; you may climb onto my back, and I will leave together with you.” Suddenly a violent rainstorm broke out, and Ziying climbed onto the fish’s back and soared into the sky.

“Zixian with two dogs, Chen Jian with one donkey” is a clue pointing to the following stories of Zixian riding two dogs and Chen Jian entrusting a donkey. Zixian’s surname was Hu; he was a Han-dynasty diviner and lived to be more than a hundred years old. He liked drinking wine, and an old woman treated him very well and never asked him for wine money. One day Zixian suddenly called to the old woman, “Quickly pack your things; I am going to leave with you.” That night a divine person brought two straw dogs (numinous mounts). Zixian and the old woman mounted them together, entered Huayin Mountain, and shouted loudly, “Zixian’s wine-shop mother is here.”

The Xianzhuan Shiyi (Supplement to the Biographies of Immortals) records that Chen Jian possessed the art of prolonging life and averting death. One day he went on a long journey and left a donkey, along with dogs and sheep, in the care of a host; he left one pill for each and then departed. The host said, “This guest is really strange. He has left fifteen head of livestock and the like and has not left a single coin; what should I do?” Chen Jian returned only after three years, and the servants, donkey, and sheep were all as they had been before. Chen Jian could rise lightly and ascend as an immortal; sometimes he left and sometimes returned. Thus two or three hundred years passed, and people did not understand it; later no one knew where he had gone.

“Han Zhong and Qusheng, Tingrui and Jupu” is a clue involving the immortal Han Zhong and the immortal medicine Qusheng, and Tingrui and Jupu (probably a medicinal herb of the calamus type). The Zongxian Ji (Comprehensive Records of Immortals) records that Yue Zichang was a native of Qi. In his youth he loved the Dao (the Way) and entered Huolin Mountain, where he encountered Han Zhong, who gave him Qusheng and Chibei San (a medicinal powder) to take. When he was about eighty, his face still looked like a young girl’s. Later he ascended as an immortal and was appointed Xiumen Lang (an immortal official title).

According to the Junge Yatan, the Daoist master Shen, whose personal name was Tingrui, was the son of Shen Bin, a former official in the Ministry of Personnel, and lived at Yusun Mountain. Whenever he encountered deep mountains and ancient caves, he would linger all day and forget to return. One day, after taking leave of his Daoist companions, he sat in the Jixian Pavilion and, having finished reciting the “Rhapsody on the Brevity of Life,” passed away. Two years after his burial, Zeng Zhaoying of Gezao Mountain met him several li from the mountain gate. Gezao Mountain and Yusun Mountain are one hundred and sixty li apart. Zeng Zhaoying asked where he was going, and he said he was making a brief trip to Mount Lu to seek a kindred spirit, and he left a poem as a farewell: “On roads north and south, east and west, / In human life meetings are never absent. / Earlier I once relied on Gezao, / And now again I go up to the Shangyuan Capital. / Cloud fragments broaden with the sky, / The sound of springs falls on a lone rock. / Who would have thought we would meet so early— / Together we shall boil sweet flag for medicine.” The gist is: on the roads north, south, east, and west of human life, people will always meet; formerly he had stayed at Gezao Mountain, and now he was going on to the Shangyuan Capital (what Daoism calls the immortal capital); cloud fragments broaden with the sky, and the sound of springs falls on a lone rock; he had not expected to meet so early, and it was just right for them to boil sweet flag (a commonly used medicinal herb) together as medicine. When Zeng Zhaoying returned to Yusun Mountain and spoke of this, everyone realized that Master Shen had already undergone “shijie” (corpse liberation—in Daoism, leaving the physical form behind while the spirit transcends).

The phrase “Jufeng tianrong, chiman zhuru” hints that Sang Jufeng’s appearance was filthy and his behavior was unlike that of ordinary people. According to the Beimeng Suoyan, during the Tongguang era of the Later Tang there was an eccentric scholar named Sang Jufeng, who was slovenly, dirty, and greasy, out of step with ordinary human feelings, and who was associated with more than one numinous and strange event. He went to Zhugong (the present-day Jingzhou area) to pay respects to the Prince of Nanping (the title of the ruler then controlling Jingnan), wearing a straw sandal on one foot and a hemp shoe on the other, and calling himself a “man of the wilds.”

The Hedong Ji records that during the Tang dynasty the Prince of Ruyang, Qian, a prince of the imperial clan, was a formidable drinker, and the thaumaturge Ye Faneng could hold even more. The prince forcefully pressed Ye to drink, but Ye declined, saying: “I have a student whose capacity for wine can match Your Highness’s; tomorrow I will have him come pay his respects.” Early the next morning someone presented a calling card, giving his name as the Daoist Chang Chiman. The prince hurriedly invited him in. The newcomer was short like a dwarf, yet his countenance was luminous and his voice rang clearly. Once seated, he was skilled at discussing profound principles. The prince ordered wine, and the Daoist gladly accepted. The prince poured rich wine into a great hu and added more with large drinking vessels; the prince was already tipsy, while the Daoist remained elegant and high-spirited. After a long while, the Daoist suddenly said: “I will be drunk after only this one cup.” The prince urged him forcefully, and the Daoist said: “Does Your Highness not know that drinking capacity has its limits? Why must you insist on pressing me?” After one more cup was urged on him, the Daoist suddenly fell to the ground. When they looked, he was in fact a large wine vessel with a capacity of five dou.

“The white oranges of Yaochi and the green jujubes of Cangzhou” refer to the white oranges of Yaochi (the dwelling place of the Queen Mother of the West) and the green jujubes of Cangzhou (a fairy isle in the sea). The Shenxian Zhuan says that King Mu of Zhou met the Queen Mother of the West at Yaochi and ate white fleabane, black jujubes, green lotus root, and white oranges. The Guiyang Zabian says that in the Sui dynasty the recluse Yuan Zangji served as assistant judge under the maritime commissioner; encountering a storm, his boat broke apart and he drifted on broken timber to an island. The islanders said this was Cangzhou, thousands upon thousands of li from the Middle Kingdom. There flowers and trees were always like the second or third month, and people mostly lived long without dying. It produced double-stemmed melons two chi long; green jujubes and red kernels were all as large as pears. In the ponds were four-footed goldfish and golden lotuses; women gathered golden lotuses to make hair ornaments, saying that without wearing golden lotus flowers one could not reach the immortal realms. Yuan Zangji longed for China, and the islanders built a Wind-Riding boat to send him back; the boat cut through the water like an arrow, and in ten days he reached Donglai. When he asked the dynastic title of the state, it was already the Tang dynasty; from Daye to Zhenyuan was already two hundred years.

“The five zhi mushrooms of Youying and the hundred herbs of Feng Gang” refers to the five zhi of Youying (a female immortal of Shangqing) and the hundred herbs of Feng Gang (an immortal).

Lady Youying, a female immortal of the Shangqing school, intoned: “With a willing heart I promised the axe, saying that one should go gather the Five Zhi (five kinds of lingzhi immortal herbs); but if the zhi herbs cannot be obtained, you cannot come either.”

Feng Gang, an immortal of Hanyang, was a native of Hanyang. He once gathered the flowers of a hundred herbs, soaked them in water, sealed them with mud, and from the first month through the end of the ninth month, then buried them for a hundred days; afterward he wrung out the juice and boiled it into pills. Whenever he encountered someone who had died suddenly, if he placed this medicine in their mouth, they would all immediately revive. Feng Gang took the medicine himself for several years and showed no signs of aging; later he entered Difei Mountain, a famous Daoist immortal mountain.

Zhao Gongcheng was serene and transcendently free; Song Laizi swept the market streets. Zhao Gongcheng had formerly suffered from a foot ailment and could not walk, and in his heart he constantly and silently paid obeisance to Taishang (the Supreme Lord Laozi). For thirty years his sincerity and single-minded devotion never slackened, moving Taishang to bestow a dose of medicine; after taking it he was immediately cured. Later he attained the Dao and now resides at Heming Mountain, a famous Daoist mountain. When he cultivated and practiced the Dao, he never lost it for even a moment; this is what is meant by inwardly seeking Taiyuan (the Great Dao, primordial Qi) and peacefully transcending into Shenfu (the abode of spirit).

Under Duke Zhuang of Chu, Song Laizi served as market chief, a minor official who managed the marketplace. He often swept the marketplace and saw a beggar surnamed Huang singing in the market: “In the heavenly court double blossoms issue; the mountain source blocks Yin evils; at clear dawn, pressing the heavenly horse, he comes to the house of the Great Perfected.” He sang this song while begging in the marketplace, and no one recognized him; only Song Laizi knew he was extraordinary, and so he served him with the courtesy due a teacher. After thirty years had accumulated, the beggar surnamed Huang transmitted the Dao of the Middle Immortals to Song Laizi. Song Laizi now resides at the Central Peak (Mount Song). Only then did he realize that the beggar Huang was the Perfected of the Western Peak, Feng Yanshou. The commentary says: the hand is the heavenly horse; the nose is the mountain source.

Gong Song, an immortal, attained long life; Guo Yan, an immortal, attained unaging.

The Baopuzi records that Guan Song had literary talent and lived to be several hundred years old, yet his complexion remained like a child’s. He encountered the immortal Gan Ji and received books transmitted by Gan Ji; these books mostly discussed the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang and the principles of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, prosperity and decline. Among them were the Dao of Heaven, the Dao of Earth, and the Dao of Humanity. Those who govern the state can use it to bring peace to the world; those who cultivate themselves can use it to preserve long life—this is the Dao spoken of in the book.

The Shenxian Zhuan records that Dongguo Yan was a man of Shanyang who took “Lingfei San” (a Daoist formula for ingested medicine). At night, writing in a dark room, his body emitted light. He could also see far: he saw small objects dozens of li away on level ground and could distinguish their colors. He could foreknow all people in the world who were about to die, whether he knew them or not, and his predictions came true exactly as he said. He lived in his village for four or five hundred years without growing old. One day, dozens of people riding tigers and leopards came to welcome him; his neighbors all saw it, and he took leave of everyone and entered the Kunlun Mountains. The saying “Cai Nüxian embroiders phoenixes, her resolve harmonizes with the carved luan” refers to Cai Nüxian embroidering a pair of phoenixes, her mind in harmony with the luan and phoenixes.

The Guangji records that Cai Nüxian was from Xiangyang. From childhood she was intelligent and deft, skilled at embroidery, and the neighbors all praised her. One day she had just finished embroidering a pair of phoenixes, whose five colors shone like rosy clouds; suddenly an old man came to her door and asked to see them, and he “set the eyes” (dotted the eyes) for the phoenixes. Once the eyes were completed, the two phoenixes flew up; the old man and the woman each rode one and departed, alighting in the woods south of Xiangyang Mountain. Later, for this reason, Xiangyang Mountain was called Fenglin Mountain, Fenglin Pass was established, and at her residence the Fenglin Jingzhen Abbey was built, where an image of a female Daoist priest (nüguan) was set up.

Han Zhihe was a foreigner who came to China and served as a guard. He could carve wood into the shapes of phoenixes, cranes, and magpies, installing mechanisms inside the birds’ bellies; when set in motion, they could fly more than a hundred paces. He could also make a dragon-shaped riding device: once one stepped on it, the dragon’s mouth, teeth, claws, and feet would all move, coiling and winding as if it were flying. Emperor Xianzong of Tang was very fond of him and gave him generous rewards. Han Zhihe distributed all the rewards to others and later quietly departed, no one knew where he went.

“Yue Ba Destroys the Temple; Gu Qing Opens the Coffin” is the summary of the following two stories.

The Guangji records: Yue Ba—a figure in Daoist hagiography, also written Luan Ba—was then serving as Gongcao of Chengdu, a subordinate official in the commandery administration. The governor asked him, “You have Daoist arts, Gongcao; may I see you try them?” Yue Ba said, “Yes.” Thereupon he walked into the wall, slowly, like cloud vapor, and in an instant he could no longer be seen. Later he was appointed a court gentleman and then transferred to be governor of Yuzhang. In the mountains there was a temple that was very efficacious and could make boats on the river part the wind and unfurl their sails. After Yue Ba arrived, the temple deity disappeared. Yue Ba said, “This is a temple ghost practicing deception,” and so he demolished the temple. The ghost fled, transformed into a scholar, and went to the state of Qi, where the governor gave him his daughter in marriage. Yue Ba went to Qi and saw the governor; he drew a talisman and gave a long whistle, ordering the scholar to come out and appear. Yue Ba rebuked him, whereupon the scholar changed into a wildcat and was immediately killed.

The Liexian Zhuan records: Gu Qing was an Attendant Gentleman during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han. He died of illness, but his body did not grow cold, and when he was encoffined the coffin was not nailed shut. By the following year, someone saw Gu Qing wearing a cap and sitting atop the county gate. His family went to welcome him, but he would not come down. They opened the coffin, and there was no corpse inside. Later he entered Mount Taibai, and people built a shrine for him; Gu Qing still often came and went within the shrine.

The closing line, “Liang Bo Seeks in Wei; Xiaohui Builds a Shrine for the Han,” is a brief parallel-couplet summary. Its general sense is that Liang Bo sought something in the state of Wei and that Xiaohui established a shrine for the Han clan—hints at allusions to figures from hagiographies of immortals.

The Shenxian zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) records that Emperor Xiao (here referring to Emperor Wu of Han) sent the envoy Liang Bo into the mountains to seek Wei Shuqing. He did not meet Wei himself but saw only his son Dushi. Dushi and Liang Bo entered Mount Taihua together to find his father, and there they saw his father and several other people playing bo (an ancient board game) on a stone, seated on white-jade-like stone seats. Dushi asked who the bo players were, and was told they were Master Hongya, Xu You, Chaofu, and Wang Zijin. Wei Shuqing said, “I have an immortal formula, hidden beneath the pillar of my dwelling.” Dushi returned home and dug there, obtaining a jade casket sealed with the Seal of Flying Immortals (a Daoist immortal seal); inside was five-colored mica (one of the immortal medicines ingested in antiquity). After Dushi took it, he became an immortal and departed.

The Shiyi ji (Records of Gleanings) records that in the time of Emperor Hui of Han, the Daoist Han Zhi (a man of the Jiejue country) said that envoys from the Nili country had come to court. They were four chi tall, had two horns on their heads like seals, teeth protruding beyond their lips, lived in deep caves, and their lifespan could not be measured. Emperor Hui had Han Zhi ask them how many generations they had experienced. They replied: “The affairs of five generations have succeeded one another; life and death alternate like flying dust and fine rain, and existence and disappearance are difficult to discuss.” They also recorded events from the time of Nüwa and Xuanyuan Huangdi onward, as clear as if before their eyes. Han Zhi reported this to Emperor Hui, who sighed and said, “How remote and obscure! Unless one is someone who penetrates the divine and comprehends principle, it is very difficult to discuss such profound matters with him.” Han Zhi then withdrew, and his whereabouts became unknown. Emperor Hui ordered the various fangshi (masters of techniques) to establish an immortal lodge north of Chang’an, named “Ci Han” (Sacrifice to Han). The saying “Ruoshan removed his clogs, Rendun abandoned office” means that Tang Ruoshan took off his clogs and renounced worldly ways, and Ren Dun resigned office to seek the Dao; both are allusions to abandoning office and entering immortality.

During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang, Tang Ruoshan served as garrison commander of Runzhou and often went boating on the river with three or five colleagues and guests. When they were about to visit Jinshan Temple, the boat reached the middle of the river; the river fog was dark, and they could not see clearly even a foot before them. Tang Ruoshan alone saw an old man rowing a fishing boat straight up beside the official boat, whereupon he entered the fishing boat and drifted away. Later, among his desk and table, they found the farewell letter and a memorial he had left behind. Its general purport was: “I have been born into a clear and bright age and have repeatedly received honorable titles. I early awakened to the principle of rise and fall and deeply understood the rule of knowing contentment. I entrusted my mind to the Xuan Guan (the mysterious pass, the essential purport of cultivation) and early obtained the true instructions. That gold can be refined is credible in the Prince of Huainan’s words of former days; that the white day can be prolonged, and the wondrous function of the true scriptures can be perceived. Since I have already attained the Dao, what more is there to seek? Therefore I wave farewell to the red dust and soar in spirit to the Bilo (the sky, an immortal realm). Fusang (the immortal mountain of sunrise) is in sight, and Pengdao (the immortal island of Penglai) is not far. Gazing afar at the imperial palace gates, I am overcome by the dog-and-horse affection that longs for its lord.” After Emperor Minghuang of Tang read the memorial, he was greatly astonished.

According to the Daoxue Zhuan, Ren Dun, courtesy name Zishang, in the early Yongjia era when the realm was in turmoil, abandoned office and crossed to the south, resolved to transcend the mundane world, and lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests. Suddenly a man about one zhang tall appeared. Ren Dun questioned him, and the man said that he had been sent by Lord Lao of Anaku to inquire after him. Ren Dun asked where Lord Lao usually was; he replied that he was often in heaven and also roamed the human world. He also said that sometimes he went to Dazhi and Xiantu (names of Daoist immortal realms and immortal bureaus). Later Ren Dun foresaw the calamity of Sun En, and at Muzhao Mountain underwent shijie (the Daoist term for abandoning the body and departing as an immortal).

“Zhichuan at the Golden Portal, Gongyuan in the Bilo” may be understood as: Ge Hong (courtesy name Zhichuan) has his name returned to the Golden Portal (the palace gates of the immortal realm), while Gongyuan ascended into the Bilo (the heavenly immortal realm).

The Benzhuan records that the Jade Emperor’s edict to the Perfected Ge (Ge Hong) said: Ge Hong has long transmitted the essential instructions, is skilled in nurturing the fetal true (cultivating the true through internal refinement), has expounded divine prescriptions to cure illness and aid living beings, caused the ancient classics to circulate widely in the dusty world, and through hidden merit relieves beings; his secret practice equals the true. His name is registered in the Jade Capital (the immortal capital), and his body returns to the Golden Portal. He should ascend by carriage to heaven at the yin hour on the third day of the third month.

The Benzhuan records that it was said to Perfected Luo (Luo Zhenren): “Gongyuan (Luo Gongyuan, a Tang-dynasty Daoist) succors the myriad beings; his hidden cultivation is equal to the true Dao. His name is registered in the Jade Capital (Yudu), his person returns to the Golden Palace (Jinque), and he is due to ascend to heaven by carriage at the yin hour on the third day of the third month.”

It also says: “Gongyuan could remove water monsters and relieve living beings; with a sincere heart he suppressed evil and drove away malignant influences, and he summoned dragons to send rain. He had the good deed of dispensing medicine to treat convulsive diseases (spasmodic disorders), and the power to expel illness by talismans. Internally he cultivated the Three Ones (the cultivation that unites Jing, Qi, and Shen); externally he nurtured the four kinds of birth (viviparous, oviparous, moisture-born, and transformation-born—that is, all sentient beings). His fame was prominent in the immortal capital, and his person returns to Biluo (the azure heavens); he is due to return to heaven driving a red dragon carriage at noon on the fifteenth day of the first month.”

“Shen Xi’s dragon and tiger, Gongyang’s phoenix and crane” means that Shen Xi had green dragon and white tiger carriages come to welcome him, while Gongyang had green phoenixes and white cranes come to welcome him. The Baopuzi records: Shen Xi was a man of Wu who studied the Dao in Shu. He saved people and benefited the world, and his virtue moved the Supreme Lord. One day, while traveling, he suddenly saw one green dragon carriage and one white tiger carriage, with more than ten attendants, all wearing red garments and holding tallies and credentials, filling the road. They asked, “Have you seen Daoist Shen?” Shen Xi said, “I am he.” The envoy said, “You have merit toward the people; Lord Huang-Lao (Huang-Lao Jun) has sent immortal officials to welcome you to serve as Biluo Shilang (Attendant Gentleman of the Azure Heaven).” Thereupon Shen Xi ascended to heaven.

The Xishan Ji records: Zhongli Jia, courtesy name Gongyang, was a nephew of Xu Zhijun and delighted in mountains and forests. Lord Xu cherished his capacity to receive the Dao and entrusted secret instructions to him, having him practice them in secret. When Lord Xu was about to ascend, he told him the day of his soaring ascent. Purple clouds descended from heaven, green phoenixes and white cranes danced in the courtyard, and immortal youths and jade maidens came down to welcome Gongyang as he ascended in broad daylight.

“Bo Gong’s Su Shu (Plain Silk Book), Gan Jun’s immortal medicine” refers to Bo Gong transmitting the Su Shu (a Daoist text written on white silk) and Gan Jun possessing immortal medicine; these are all allusions from hagiographies to the transmission and reception of scriptures and medicinal prescriptions, benefiting the world and attaining immortality.

The Biographies of Divine Immortals records: Mr. Yu had suffered from leprosy for several decades, and no medicine could cure it. One day in the marketplace he met an old medicine seller surnamed Bo and went up to ask him. Elder Bo said the illness could be cured, took out two scrolls written on white silk, handed them to him, and said, “It will not only cure your illness but also allow you to attain longevity.” Mr. Yu bowed in thanks again and again and accepted them. He devoted his mind to grasping the meaning of the books: inwardly he cultivated his body and nature, outwardly he eliminated calamities and treated illness, and there was no case he could not cure. Later he perfected the Dao and departed as an immortal.

The Record of the Western Mountains records: True Lord Gan, courtesy name Bowu, was esteemed by his local community for his filial conduct. Bearing a sword, he followed True Lord Xu (Xu Xun, patriarch of Jingming Dao) in subduing demons, and his contributions were considerable. True Lord Xu transmitted secret instructions to him; True Lord Gan then concealed his traces, so that people could not fathom him. One day celestial music suddenly came from the horizon, and in a moment auspicious clouds and rosy mists shone brilliantly; True Lord Gan ascended into heaven.

“Zheng Gong at Kuntai, Zilian at the Wei Pavilion” are phrases that pair the titles of immortals with their dwellings: Zheng Gong (Zheng Yin, a Jin-dynasty Daoist) corresponds to Kuntai (the immortal terrace of Kunlun), while Zilian corresponds to the Wei Pavilion (the pavilion of Lady Wei; Wei Huacun was Lady of the Southern Marchmount). The meaning is that these immortals each have their own immortal mansions and pavilions.

The Qingsuo records: The jinshi Niu Yi left the capital and rested in the shade of a willow, where he dreamed of arriving at a high gate and a great mansion. An official said this was the residence of Wei Yuguan; looking closely, Niu Yi saw that it was actually his old acquaintance Lü Zhen, who said he was in charge of this office. Niu Yi saw in the hall a white jade tablet, whose vermilion seal-script was covered with crimson gauze; in large characters it read “Register of Celestial Immortals of the Central Region,” and behind it were listed several thousand names. He recognized only a few, including Lü and Yijian, Li Di, and Yu Jing. Niu Yi asked about the affairs of celestial immortals, and Lü Zhen said, “They have their own sequence and true appointments; this is not something you can know.” Niu Yi asked, “Are the ministers and chancellors of today all immortals?” He answered, “Seven or eight out of ten.” Niu Yi asked, “Fu Bi (Duke Fu) is an elder statesman of the realm—could he too be an immortal?” He answered, “Duke Fu is a Zhenren of Kuntai; only after a lifespan of ninety-three years will he return to the Kun mansion.” Niu Yi asked what post Lü Zhen currently held, and he answered, “After another three hundred years I will fill the position of a terrestrial lord.” Niu Yi asked, “What office does ‘king’ refer to?” He answered, “One who governs the Five Marchmounts, the Four Waterways, and the famous mountains and great rivers.”

The Kuoyi zhi records that the Daoist priest Shuai Zikang of Hengyue (Mount Heng, the Southern Peak) was down and out and fond of drink. Rough and fierce by nature, he often insulted people with his words, so people rarely associated with him and even called him “Ox.” He lived in the Wei Pavilion in the mountains. When Wang You, Vice Minister of Rites, was appointed prefect of Tanzhou (in present-day Changsha, Hunan), he was to be ordered at the Beginning of Summer to offer sacrifice to Zhurong, the deity of Mount Heng, the Southern Peak. On arriving at Hengyue, he went to seek out the so-called Wei Pavilion. When he got there, Shuai Zikang was lying drunk. Lord Wang conversed with him and found him very unusual, so he brought him back to the prefectural city and drank with him every day. Later Zikang asked to return to the mountain and stayed at the Wei Pavilion as before. One day he suddenly told people, “I am going on a long journey and ought to take leave of Lord Wang.” That same day he took a small boat down to Tanzhou to call on Lord Wang, saying he was going to a certain place. Lord Wang kept him for drinks; after staying two days, he took his leave and returned to the mountain.

On a certain day, he wrote a letter bidding farewell to Lord Li, abbot of the Hengshan Abbey; he bathed, changed his clothes, burned incense, and, holding a wooden tablet, “shed his body”—what Daoists call shijie, liberation by corpse, passing away as an immortal. Those who heard of it were astonished. Lord Li bought a coffin and gave him a lavish burial. About half a year later, a monk from Hengyue came from the capital and arrived outside Anshang Gate, a gate of the capital. Shuai Zikang also came to see the capital and said, “When I set out, I received a generous travel allowance from Abbot Li”; he then took a letter from his bosom and asked the monk to pass it on in thanks. When Lord Li opened it, it was indeed a letter in Shuai Zikang’s own handwriting. Everyone admired Lord Wang for being able to discern a person’s true quality in an unobtrusive way.

The text also contains another question and answer: asked what office “Wang” held, the reply was that he was in charge of the Five Peaks and Four Waterways—the five great mountains and four great rivers—and of famous mountains and great rivers. This is the end of Scroll 3. Scroll 4 is inscribed “Compiled by the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoist Chen Baoguang.” Its opening words, “How [worthy] is the revered teacher; how [diligent] is the master,” are expressions praising the revered teacher and the master.

The Shenxian Zhuan records: On Mount Heng (in Hunan) there was a Daoist priest whose name was not revealed. When someone asked his surname, he answered “He”; when asked his given name, he also answered “He,” so people of the time called him Master He (He Zunshi). Someone asked: If the Master does not speak, how does he enlighten later people? He replied: “To know that one does not know something is the highest; not to know yet to think one knows is a fault. Who can, like the one who opened the holes of Hundun, force distinctions and still penetrate the principle of spontaneity?” (The allusion “opening the holes of Hundun” comes from the Zhuangzi and means that forced human distinctions injure and lose the original truth.) Thereupon he took up his staff and entered the mountains, and tigers and leopards followed him. Master Sima said: This may be called a person whose talents and virtue are complete but not displayed. Later he underwent shijie (in Daoism, casting off the corpse to become an immortal); thunder shook the air, and the corpse disappeared.

The Guangji records: Master Pupu, no one knew where he was from; he called his surname Pu, so people of the time called him Master Pupu. He lived as a guest at Huangtu Mountain in Guangzhou (present-day area of Huangchuan, Henan) for more than thirty years, consuming apricot elixir (a medicinal elixir refined from apricots), yet his food and drink were the same as ordinary people’s; he made his living selling medicine, and people did not recognize him. Wang Bian encountered him, and he transmitted to Wang Bian the secret of the apricot elixir; the Master then immediately ascended into the clouds and sky. When Prefect Li Xiuguang heard of this, he considered it an ill omen. The Master later descended again into Li Xiuguang’s residence. Xiuguang said: If you are an immortal you should leave, yet you come back—this is a demon. The Master said: Magu and Mao Jun (both Daoist immortals) both asked me about the Dao; you think I am a demon—why? Xiuguang shouted to his attendants to seize him. At that moment the Dragon-Tiger Lord (Longhu Jun, a Daoist deity) appeared before them; the Master ascended to heaven, smoke and clouds gathered all around, thunder and lightning shook, and the onlookers ran in all directions. Xiuguang apologized for his offense. Emperor Minghuang of Tang (Emperor Xuanzong) issued an edict to establish a Daoist temple, which still exists today.

Hou’s temple had three pines; Su’s hut had two bamboos: Hou Kai’s Daoist temple had three pines, and Su’s hut had two bamboos.

The Gaodao Zhuan records: The Daoist priest Hou Kai, courtesy name Faguang, was a native of Jingzhao (present-day Xi’an area, Shaanxi). During the Zhengshi era of Cao Wei (240–249) he became a Daoist priest and was transmitted the secret methods of astronomy.

Hou’s temple had three pines; Su’s hut had two bamboos: Hou Kai’s Daoist temple had three pines, and Su’s hut had two bamboos.

Daoist priest Hou Kai, courtesy name Faguang, was a native of Jingzhao (the present-day Chang’an region). During the Zhengshi era of Cao Wei he left the household and became a Daoist priest. He received secret teachings on celestial patterns and practiced them morning and evening, becoming more diligent as time went on. He chose to live in Cold Valley, where he cultivated Sanbenyan (a Daoist cultivation technique) and recited the methods of summoning and commanding spirits and gods found in the Great Cavern Scripture (Dadong Jing) and the Esoteric Writings of the Three August Ones (Sanhuang Neiwen). His dwelling was ringed by clear springs, with three pine trees spreading shade overhead; pure, secluded, and still, it was an excellent place to dwell in truth and cultivate perfection, and so it was called Three Pines Abbey (Sansong Guan).

The Bangjiang Ji records: Perfected Lord Su, Su Dan, had a mother who lived to be over a hundred and then died suddenly without illness. The villagers, following custom, erected a marker, encoffined her, and buried her. On that very day, at Niupi Mountain in the northeast corner of the commandery city, purple clouds covered the trees and spread out without dispersing; it also seemed as if a white horse was tied in the forest, and soon wailing voices came from the mountain ridge. Everyone said that Lord Su had returned to observe mourning for his mother. The villagers vied to go and look; they saw that the ground where he wept before his thatched hut was flat, two bamboos swayed without wind, and the swept ground remained clean throughout the year. After three years, the sound of weeping was no longer heard, and the white horse was also gone.

“Hu Fang Tempering Gold” and “Yong Bo Planting Jade” are two allusions to the immortal Dao: Hu Fang tempered the nature of metal, and Yong Bo (Yang Boyong) planted stones and obtained jade.

The Shenxian Zhuan records that during the Tang dynasty, Chen Xiufu, styled “Qizi,” came during the Zhenyuan era to live in Baocheng (in present-day Hanzhong, Shaanxi), where he farmed and gathered firewood like an ordinary person. He was, however, skilled in the arts of transformation. Five or seven young men with a taste for mischief sought to learn these arts from him and pleaded with him ceaselessly; before they had finished speaking, Chen Xiufu suddenly dropped dead, and his corpse quickly decayed. The crowd fled in alarm and did not dare look back, and from then on these youths no longer dared offend or test him. Hu Fang of Changming had long served Chen Xiufu with the rites due a teacher. When he was about to take up an official post, he left five thousand cash for Chen Xiufu to buy wine; Chen Xiufu laughed and refused it, saying, “I have plenty of gold and jade; my only regret is that I cannot use your money.” He handed Hu Fang a hoe and had him dig the ground. Before he had dug two or three cun, gold, jade, coins, and goods appeared along with the broken soil. Chen Xiufu said, “The wealth of the human world is originally like this; it is only that people’s allotted fortune in fate has a fixed measure, and they should not take more. If one truly had use for it, where would there be any limit?”

The Guangji records that Yang Yongbo was renowned for serving his parents with filial piety. After his parents died, they were buried on a high mountain, and Yongbo built a hut beside the grave to guard it, weeping day and night. A sweet spring gushed forth for travelers to drink. Suddenly a man came to water his horse and gave Yongbo one sheng of white stones, saying, “Plant these, and they should grow into fine jade.” Later white bi discs indeed grew, about two chi long, countless in number. One day he went wandering and happened to reach the sea, where he met Immortal Wei, who said, “This is Yongbo who planted jade.” Another immortal said, “You have filial conduct that moved the divine truth; this immortal palace is where you will dwell hereafter.” Yongbo returned home, and several years later husband and wife together flew up and became immortals. The residence where he lived is today called “Yutian Fang.”

The closing line, “Daocheng rode a mule; Jingzhi declined the deer,” is a parallel phrase of immortal traces: literally, the one who achieved the Dao rode a mule, while Jingzhi declined the deer presented to him. It is used to point out the miraculous nature of those who achieve the Dao and their freedom from coveting external things.

The Bangjiang Ji records that during the Qingli era (a reign period of Emperor Renzong of Song), a chushi (a recluse who had not entered official service) was traveling at the Eastern Peak (Mount Tai) and visited the Registrar Guo Jifu. After he sat down, Guo Jifu looked at the name on his calling card and only then realized that it was Luo Daocheng; when asked his native place, he answered that he was from Bangzhou. Guo Jifu urged him to stay and drink wine, and Luo Daocheng said: “I have long wished to make a trip to Shuzhou. The other day I arrived at Mount Tai, have already traveled all over it, and will soon return south.” He borrowed paper and brush and wrote a poem: “Because I thought of its numinous beauty, I came by chance to wander; / Jasper-green cold masses pile in ten thousand folds of autumn. / Going straight up to gaze from the high place of Taiping, / Its roots coil and connect more than ten prefectures.” He also matched another poem: “Traces among water and clouds, daily I roam at leisure; / In summer valleys the shade and cold are chillier than autumn. / Apes and birds by nature still long for the old haunts; / I turn about and go instead to the seaside prefecture.” When Guo Jifu saw the poems, he praised them without end. After Luo Daocheng departed, Guo Jifu had him escorted to the guest lodge and also wrote a poem, which he handed to the messenger, saying: “A white mule carries me, swift as racing clouds; / Wherever the man of leisure arrives, he leaves traces of poetry. / If you would know his name and inquire into his origins, / Please look at the stone beneath Bangyang Mountain.” Later, when people of Bangzhou were asked, they said that there was a White Mule Zhenjun (Perfected Lord) Abbey there; Luo Daocheng had attained the Dao in that place and had once ridden a white mule over the face of a stone cliff, and the mule’s hoofprints are still there today.

The Xishan Ji records: Xu Zhenjun (Perfected Lord Xu; Xu Xun, patriarch of the Jingming Dao, or Pure Brightness Dao, of Daoism) was named Xun, with the courtesy name Jingzhi. For generations his family were people of Xuchang, and later they moved to Yuzhang (around present-day Nanchang). Xu Xun was naturally intelligent, handsome, and stalwart in appearance; in his youth he was unrestrained and fond of hunting. He once shot a fawn. The fawn fell to the ground, and its mother licked it and, before she had stopped, died. Xu Xun was moved by this, destroyed and discarded his bow and arrows, and devoted himself single-mindedly to reading. By the age of twenty (the “weak crown” age), he had broadly mastered the classics and histories, was skilled in music, and had studied books on astronomy, geography, the Five Phases, and numerology to the utmost refinement. He especially admired the Dao of the immortals, and later his entire household, together with their dwelling, ascended and became immortals (bazhai shangsheng, “ascending with the whole house”).

Liao Fu lived in seclusion in the northern suburb, and people called him “Mr. Beiguo” (North Suburb). In the Later Han, Liao Fu renounced worldly ambitions and devoted himself to studying the classics, becoming especially proficient in the arts of celestial omens and apocryphal weft texts (which predict good and ill fortune), wind divination (judging auspices by wind direction), and tuibu (calculating astronomy and the calendar). When government authorities summoned him, he never responded, and his contemporaries therefore called him “Mr. Beiguo.” Wang Ji, courtesy name Wugong, once served as assistant magistrate of Luhe County in Yangzhou, but later abandoned office and returned home. He originally had several dozen qing of fields on a river islet. On a neighboring islet lived the recluse Zhongchang Zixian, who was particular about ingesting substances for health cultivation; Wang Ji valued his purity and simplicity and wished to be near him, so he built a thatched hut on the river islet and took pleasure in playing the qin and drinking wine. People of the time therefore called him “Shugaozi” (commonly written “Donggaozi”).

Dong Feng was a native of Houguan (around present-day Fuzhou, Fujian). He lived on Mount Lu and did not till fields. When he treated people’s illnesses, he did not accept money or goods; he only required those cured of serious illness to plant five apricot trees, and those cured of mild illness to plant one. After several years, there were ten thousand apricot trees, growing luxuriantly into a grove. Beneath the trees there was often no weeds, as if they had been hoed away. When the apricots ripened, Dong Feng once told people: those who wish to buy apricots need not come to announce themselves; they may simply go and take them, exchanging one container of grain for one container of apricots. Once someone brought little grain but took many apricots, and a tiger roared and chased him. Dong Feng used the grain he obtained to relieve the poor and provide for travelers; each year he used up three hundred hu (an ancient unit of capacity), and much still remained. Later he ascended to heaven and departed. Manqian is Dongfang Shuo; legend says he once stole the Queen Mother of the West’s immortal peaches, and later generations used this as an allusion in immortal lore.

The Hanwu Neizhuan (Inner Traditions of Emperor Wu of Han) records: Emperor Wu of Han suddenly saw a woman dressed in blue-green. She said, “On the seventh day of the seventh month, the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu), leader of the Daoist female immortals, will descend briefly.” The emperor asked Dongfang Shuo (a close minister of Emperor Wu, legendarily an immortal) who this was, and Dongfang Shuo said, “She is an attendant of the Queen Mother of the West’s Purple Orchid Chamber, going back and forth to convey commands.” When the day arrived, the emperor put on formal robes and stood below the steps. At night he heard the sound of flutes and drums in the sky. The Queen Mother of the West rode in a purple-cloud chariot drawn by nine-colored mottled dragons; accompanying celestial immortals were each a zhang tall. The Queen Mother descended. After she entered the hall, she set out exquisite food and drink, with seven peaches on a plate. When Emperor Wu ate them, he found them extraordinarily sweet. The Queen Mother said, “These peaches bear fruit once every three thousand years. Dongfang Shuo has come three times to steal them.”

The phrase “Shanfu with dark hair, Yao Hong with green hair” means: Bo Xianfu (the name of an immortal; also written Bo Shanfu) kept his hair black, while Yao Hong (the last emperor of the Later Qin; legend says he cultivated the Dao and did not die) was covered with green hair.

The Baopuzi records: Bo Xianfu lived on Mount Hua. With sincere devotion he contemplated the Dao and did not eat the five grains; for more than two hundred years he still had black hair and did not grow old. Later he transmitted Daoist techniques to a woman whose face was like peach blossoms. An old man with snow-white beard and eyebrows arrived, and the woman struck him with a staff. Bystanders found this strange and asked her about it. The woman said, “This is my son. He refused to cultivate according to Shanfu’s Daoist methods, and so became old; that is why I struck him.”

The Tangji records: In the Tang dynasty a monk lived at Nanyue (the Southern Sacred Mountain). At night he saw a creature covered in green hair come straight to his seat. The monk said, “I, a poor monk, live here in meditation and do not disturb living beings. If you are a ghost or spirit and have awareness, do not come to disturb me.” The creature asked, “Do you know of the Jin and Song?” The monk answered, “From the Jin to the Tang is four hundred years.” The creature asked, “Does the master know Yao Hong?” The monk answered, “I have heard that Yao Hong is dead.” The creature said, “I am Yao Hong. At that time I feigned death, escaped, roamed blessed lands, ate only cypress leaves, and hair grew all over my body.”

The phrase “The Queen Mother beats time, Zideng plays the ao” means: the Queen Mother of the West beat time, and Wang Zideng played the ao (an ancient musical instrument).

The Jixian lu records: Jiowei Yuanjun (the name of a female immortal), Guishan Wangmu (a title of the Queen Mother of the West), Sanyuan Furen (a female immortal), and the assembled Perfected and immortals descended into the Crimson Chamber within the Xiaoyou Qingxu Upper Palace. Sanyuan Furen and Lord Wang received each other as host and guest, each commanding her attendant maids to perform complete suites of Juntian celestial music; the rhythms of the Nine Voids (the nine heavens) came into accord, the eight classes of instruments produced wondrous harmonies, and the Queen Mother beat time and sang. The Hanshi neizhuan records the same: the immortals descended into the Crimson Chamber of the Xiaoyou Qingxu Upper Palace, the Lady and Lord Wang were host and guest, and she commanded her maids to perform music; the Nine Voids kept time together, the eight tones were harmonious, and the Queen Mother beat time and sang. The book also records that the Queen Mother commanded the maid Wang Zideng to play the eight-lang jade ao (the ao being a jade instrument), Dong Shuangcheng to blow the Yunhe flute, Xu Feiqiong to strike the Lingxu reed-organ (the huang being a sheng-type instrument), and An Faying to sing the Xuanling melody.

The two phrases “chief secretary in the human world” and “prime minister in the mountains” can be seen in the affairs of Xu Mi and Tao Hongjing. The Zhengao says: the Chief Secretary was surnamed Xu, named Mi, courtesy name Sixuan, and was a seventh-generation descendant of Xu Zhao. He was broadly learned and outstanding in the examinations; at first he served as magistrate of Yuyao and later rose successively to be Minister and Chief Secretary for the Protection of the State. At the same time he secretly practiced superior Daoist methods, and true immortals descended many times. The female immortal Zhenfei bestowed a writing, saying: such immortal delicacies as jade nectar and golden syrup, the Jiaosheng divine pears, and the Fangwen fire-jujubes should be given to the Daoist Xu who cultivates the Way in the mountains, not to Xu Mi, who serves as chief secretary in the human world.

It also records Tao Hongjing, courtesy name Tongming, who passed the jinshi examination and was promoted to Reader-in-Waiting. By the age of thirty-seven he no longer had any intention of an official career, and said: Confucius spoke of “withdrawing into seclusion to seek one’s aspiration and practicing righteousness to attain the Way.” Now I have already understood the principle of practicing the Way; there is no need to follow another path. I wish to devote myself to the task of seeking my aspiration. He therefore called himself the Huayang Recluse, took off his court robes and hung them at the Shenhu Gate, wore a deer-hide cap and Daoist attire, entered Huayang, dwelt at Jijin Peak, and compiled the Zhengao. Emperor Wu of Liang summoned him repeatedly, but he did not come forth; whenever there were discussions of government affairs, the emperor would send envoys to consult him, and people of the time called him “the prime minister in the mountains.”

Wang Fajin was summoned before the Heavenly Emperor, while Wang Fengxian ascended into Heaven.

The Wang Clan Biographies of Immortals records that Wang Fajin loved the Dao from childhood. One day he suddenly encountered two immortal youths who told him, “You have immortal bones and have not forgotten to cultivate the Dao; the Heavenly Emperor has commanded us to welcome you and bring you to Heaven to receive an office.” Without knowing it, he followed the two maidens through the air and came before the Heavenly Emperor. The Heavenly Emperor said to him, “Among the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, it is very difficult to obtain human existence. Now I give you one scroll of the Xiezui Ke, a Keyi scripture on confession and atonement; go down and proclaim it to the people, and this too will be your merit.” During the Tianbao era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Wang Fajin ascended in broad daylight.

It further records that Wang Fengxian was a young woman of Xuanmin. In childhood she encountered more than ten boys in blue-green robes, with whom she played and laughed in conversation from night until dawn. Her parents suspected a monstrous anomaly and questioned her closely. Fengxian said, “What I, your daughter, encountered is the Dao; what I saw were high immortals. At first, in Heaven, I saw celestial beings arranged in ranks, and one immortal said, ‘You have immortal bones; after fifty years you should return here. However, the fruits of the hundred grains will damage one’s true Qi.’” From then on Fengxian abstained from food and often told people, “The celestial immortals I saw are no different from the Daoist fold.” She then painted a picture of celestial beings assembled at court and titled it Huntian Tu.

The phrase “Yuan Yi squeezing into a gourd, Changfang casting away his staff” refers to the immortal traces of Xie Yuanyi shrinking his body into a gourd and Fei Changfang throwing down his staff—legend has it that Fei Changfang’s staff transformed into a dragon.

The Dantai Xinlu records that Xie Yuanyi, called Hu Gong, was one of the number of Confucius’s three thousand disciples. He constantly hung an empty gourd at the market and sold medicine. After sunset, Hu Gong would shrink his body and leap into the gourd, and no one in the whole market could see him; only Fei Changfang, from an upper storey, saw it. He then went to pay his respects and served Hu Gong with the etiquette of a disciple toward a teacher.

Fei Changfang was from Runan. When he was a minor official in charge of the market, he met Hu Gong. Hu Gong knew that he sincerely believed in the Dao and said to him, “When I shrink my body and leap into the pot, you should do the same, and you will naturally be able to enter.” Fei Changfang did so and entered the pot; he no longer saw the pot, but only jade towers and golden palaces, with beautiful scenery, and jade boys and jade girls standing in attendance on either side. Hu Gong said to him, “I am an immortal. Do you wish to cultivate the Dao?” Fei Changfang pleaded earnestly, so Hu Gong transmitted to him the arts of exorcising ghosts and curing illness, but this was not the way to become an immortal. Hu Gong also gave him a bamboo staff and told him to ride it home; after arriving home, he was to throw the bamboo staff into Gebei (the name of a body of water). Fei Changfang did as told and threw the staff into the pond, whereupon the bamboo staff turned into a dragon and flew away.

Wang Qiao, courtesy name Zijin, met Master Fuqiu (an immortal) and attained the Dao and became an immortal. His friend Huan Liang met Zijin on Wei Mountain (the name of a mountain). Zijin said to Huan Liang, “On the seventh day of the seventh month I am to ascend to heaven, and I can take leave of my old friends.” On that day, Zijin and his old friend Wei Guan climbed the mountain. Everyone saw Zijin abandon the horse he was riding below the ravine and then ascend to heaven and depart. After Wei Guan bowed farewell and returned, he again saw that horse also fly up into the sky and depart. Therefore this place is now called Baima Jian.

Lü Shang (that is, Jiang Ziya) was a native of Jizhou. Clever from childhood, he could foreknow life and death. To avoid the turmoil of King Zhou of Shang, he lived in seclusion in Liaodong for more than twenty years; later he traveled west to the territory of Zhou and hid in Fanhan (a place name; as in the original), where he fished for three years without catching a single fish. Neighbors urged him to give it up, but he said, “This is not something you can understand.” Later he obtained a military secret text from the belly of a fish; some say it was the Yuling (Jade Bell). King Wen of Zhou dreamed of obtaining a sage and also heard that Lü Shang was worthy, so he carried him in a carriage back to Zhou and governed the state together with him. After the task was accomplished, Lü Shang manifested his departure from the world; when the coffin was opened, no corpse was seen, and only six chapters of the Yuling remained in the coffin. This is the Daoist legend of shijie (liberation from the corpse) and immortal ascent.

“Shizi to the Eastern Bureau, Guangli to the Southern Palace” means that Bai Shizi was assigned to the Eastern Bureau and Li Guangli to the Southern Palace immortal bureau. The Zhengao (a Shangqing Daoist classic) records the Great Lord Mao saying: formerly Bai Shizi took stone as his essence, and people called him Master White Stone; he was a zhiren (utmost person), and now he has been appointed Right Immortal Minister of the Eastern Bureau. He entered the mountains and cut off grain, cooking stones to eat; the cooking of white stones has its own method, which was transmitted by Shi Sheng. The Middle Lord Mao also said: Han Taihua was the younger sister of Han Anguo and also the wife of the Han general Li Guangli; while alive, Li Guangli had merit toward all things, and now he receives instruction in the Southern Palace. The final sentence, “Ziyang commands, Lu Lian soars upward,” roughly refers to immortal deeds such as the Ziyang immortal perfected commanding ghosts and spirits, and Lu Zhonglian flying upward into the sky.

The Tianpeng Ruan Xu records: Deng Ziyang entered Mount Magu and day and night recited the Tianpeng Divine Spell (Tianpeng shenzhou), the spell of Marshal Tianpeng (Tianpeng yuanshuai) of Daoism. Moved by this, a golden-armored divine being said to him, “I am the Envoy of the Six Heavens of the North. Because you recite the numinous text, the Imperial Lord has already registered your merit.” He then commanded that the true form of a black-seal divine talisman (heizhuan shenfu zhenxing) be sent down. The upper part of this talisman is guarded by immortals; the middle part can command ghosts and spirits; the lower part can heal illness. You should keep it secret and treasured; later you will become a teacher of emperors. The next day, he indeed obtained this true-form talisman and seal in a stone chamber, and upheld and used it according to the method; it proved quite efficacious.

The Wang Family Biographies of Immortals records: Wang Lulian was the daughter of the immortal Wang Gang. She inherited her father’s Daoist methods and entered Mount Luhun, where she lived in seclusion and did not come out. Later she met the True Man (Zhenren) Taiyi, who transmitted to her the method of flying ascent (feichong zhi fa). After cultivating it, she ascended to Heaven in broad daylight.

Guo Wen could tame tigers, and Lord Qu (Qu Jun) could harness dragons.

The Supplementary Records of Immortal Traditions records: Guo Wen, courtesy name Wenju, was a Luoyang native who lived in seclusion at Dabi Cliff. One day a tiger came before him with its mouth open, as if it had something to report. Guo Wen reached into the tiger’s mouth and removed a bone. The next day the tiger carried a dead deer in its mouth and placed it outside his stone chamber; from then on the tiger often stayed near him, tame and close, allowing itself to be stroked and played with. When Guo Wen left the mountains, the tiger followed; even among crowds in the city, it lowered its head and went along, not daring to show fierceness, like a sheep or dog. Sometimes it even carried his books, salt, and rice back to the mountains for him. When the Jin emperor heard of this, he summoned him to court and asked, “Sir, do you have some art for taming tigers?” Guo Wen replied, “It is merely natural. If people have no intention to harm beasts, beasts have no intention to injure people—what art is there? Treat it well, and a tiger is as docile as the common people; injure it, and the common people too will turn and bite like a tiger—what difference is there?” The emperor esteemed his words and offered him an official post, which he did not accept, and he lived in seclusion at Aoting Mountain.

It also records Master Qu, a Nan’an native who during the Zhanghe era of the Han lived in seclusion on Pinggang Mountain. The Yellow Emperor descended and bestowed on him the Way of Dragon Straddling (Longqiao zhi Dao), a technique for controlling cloud dragons; he could control and ride cloud dragons. Later he entered Mount Emei to cultivate the Dongfang Mingyi technique (a Daoist internal cultivation method). When he was about to ascend to heaven, he took leave of relatives and friends and rode off on a dragon. Today in the Pinggang area there remain dragon-related place-name traces such as Longyan Mountain and Xilong Han. The phrases “beneath the Yellow Stone Bridge” and “in Li Zheng’s cave” cite the place where Huang Shigong bestowed his book and Li Zheng’s cave dwelling as allusions to traces of immortals.

The Biographies of the Former Han (Qian Han Liezhuan) records: when Zhang Liang was crossing a bridge, an old man deliberately let his shoe fall under the bridge and, turning to Zhang Liang, said, “Boy, go pick up the shoe.” Zhang Liang picked up the shoe and handed it to him, and the old man said, “You, young man, are worth teaching.” He then made an appointment with Zhang Liang: “Come meet me here again in five days.” They arranged this three times, and Zhang Liang arrived on time each time. The old man said, “That is how it should be.” He then brought out a book and gave it to Zhang Liang, saying, “Read this book and you can become a teacher of emperors and kings. Thirteen years from now, go to the foot of Mount Gucheng north of Qi; when you see the Yellow Stone, that will be me.” The Lady of the Southern Peak (Nanyue Furen, namely Wei Huacun, a Daoist female immortal and patriarch of the Shangqing school) commented: sincerity is the key to gain and loss; Zhang Liang’s arriving on time for the appointment three times can be called sincerely cultivating the Dao and clarifying his mind and purpose.

The Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected) also records the words “at the foot of Mount Gucheng north of Qi, the Yellow Stone is me.” The Lady of the Southern Peak said: sincerity is the key to gain and loss; Zhang Liang’s arriving on time for the appointment three times can be called sincerely cultivating the Dao and clarifying his mind and purpose.

In the Zhen’gao, the Lord of the Middle Mao (Mao Gu, one of the Three Mao Perfected Lords) says: Li Zheng of Henei formerly cultivated the Dao of “guarding the One” (shouyi, a Daoist cultivation method of concentrating the spirit and maintaining single-minded focus). He was first in Luoyang and later moved to Huayang Cave, where he was in charge of examining and recording human affairs.

Zhao Sheng once camped in the open outside a gate, and Ma Xiang (a Tang-dynasty Daoist) once slept leaning against a wall.

The Shenxian zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) records: the Celestial Master Zhang Daoling (founder of Zhengyi, Orthodox Unity) possessed the “Great Essentials of the Nine Cauldrons” (an important alchemical secret), which he transmitted only to his disciple Wang Chang, saying, “Hereafter there should be a man coming from the east who will receive it; this man will certainly arrive at noon on the seventh day of the first month.” He also described in detail the man’s height and appearance. Later, indeed, Zhao Sheng came from the east; he and Zhang Daoling had never met in their lives, yet his appearance was exactly as Zhang Daoling had described. Zhang Daoling then tested Zhao Sheng seven times, and Zhao Sheng passed them all; only then did he transmit the alchemical scripture to him. The first test was this: when Zhao Sheng first arrived at the gate, the gatekeeper would not announce him and even sent people to curse him for more than forty days, yet Zhao Sheng camped outside the gate and did not leave.

Ma Xiang, courtesy name Ziran, possessed Daoist arts. When he arrived in Changxi County seeking lodging, the host joked that there was no place to stay, but that if he could sleep on the wall, he was welcome. It grew late, and his disciples were anxious to find somewhere to stay. Ma Xiang said, “You can sleep among the crowd; I will sit until dawn.” After everyone had gone to sleep, Ma Xiang leaped onto a roof beam, hung from it by one foot, and slept upside down. The host rose in the night and, seeing this by candlelight, was greatly astonished. Ma Xiang said, “If I can sleep on a beam, what difficulty is a wall?” In a moment he entered the wall, and only after the host apologized did he come out again.

Lord Jiqiu was a Daoist at the foot of Mount Tai. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, he received imperial gifts because of his Daoist arts; his hair turned white and then black again, and his teeth fell out and grew back. When Emperor Wu made an eastern tour to Mount Tai, Lord Jiqiu wore a zhangfu cap—an ancient ceremonial cap—and yellow robes, and carrying a qin, came forth to welcome him.

The governor of Xunyang, Sun Mian, saw by the water a light boat skimming the waves, now visible and now hidden. Soon he saw an old fisherman fishing, tapping his oar, and giving a long whistle in the clear void. Lord Sun asked, “Are there fish?” The answer came, “I do not fish for fish; how could there be fish?” Lord Sun found this strange, lifted his robe, and waded into the water to say to him, “I see that you resemble a man who possesses the Dao. Now is a time of civilized governance; why not assist this bright age?” He answered, “I am a madman among the mountains and seas, ignorant of worldly affairs, unable to distinguish poverty from lowliness, much less to discuss wealth and honor.” Then he sang: “With a bamboo pole bound with thatch, the river waters flow on; to forget one another is joy. Fish eat bait and swallow the hook; I am neither like Bo Yi nor like Liuxia Hui, but for now I use this to forget sorrow.” After singing, he tapped his oar and departed.

The phrase “Daokai ate coarse food; Shitan wore shabby clothes” means that Daokai ate poor, rough food and Shitan wore worn-out garments, showing that cultivators of the Dao do not crave material things and are content with simplicity.

The Maoting Ji records that Shan Daokai ate coarse food and wore tattered clothes, did not fear hunger or cold, and liked to dwell in the mountains. Mountain deities and tree spirits tested him repeatedly, yet he was never afraid. Later he moved to Mount Luofu, a famous Daoist mountain, where he lived alone in a thatched hut (maoci), detached from the dust of the world; he lived to more than a hundred years old and then underwent shijie (liberation from the corpse, in Daoism the casting off of the physical body to attain transcendence).

The Jin Yishi records that Shi Tan claimed to be a man of Beihai and had no fixed dwelling. He did not maintain a settled residence or seek fine clothing; his clothes were worn and torn, and when people gave him garments he passed them on to others. Sometimes he went to offer condolences and attend funerals, going on foot with a staff; regardless of the distance of the road or changes of cold and heat, he carried a bell with him and would arrive on the same day at the same time. People could not fathom it and took him to be a spirit. Later no one knew where he had gone.

“Sima Baiyun, shamanic talk of purple qi” is a summary-style encomium: the first phrase refers to Sima Chengzhen, whose sobriquet was Baiyunzi (Master White Cloud), while the latter alludes to talk of the auspicious purple qi.

The Shenxian Zhuan records that Sima Chengzhen was skilled in seal script and created another script called “Golden Scissors Script.” He lived in seclusion on Jade Empyrean Peak of Mount Tiantai and called himself Baiyunzi. When Emperor Ruizong of Tang summoned him, and when he returned to the mountains, court officials composed poems to see him off; the poems were compiled as the Baiyun Ji (Record of White Clouds).

Wu Tan, courtesy name Zidu, a Han dynasty Commandant of the Imperial Equipage (Fuma Duwei; an official title), was a native of Beihai (a commandery). When Emperor Wu of Han was traveling, he met Zidu at the Wei Bridge. Seeing purple Qi (vital energy) above his head, the emperor summoned him and asked, “How old are you?” Zidu replied, “Your servant is one hundred and thirty-eight years old.” The emperor asked Dongfang Shuo, who said, “This man possesses the Yin-Dao art (an ancient regimen for nourishing life and preserving Jing [essence]).” The emperor then dismissed those around him and questioned him. Zidu said, “When I was sixty-five, I often suffered from waist pain, dry mouth, dry tongue, and runny nose. Since I obtained this method seventy-three years ago, I have had thirty-six sons, and my body is as robust as a youth’s.” Emperor Wu accepted his method but did not practice it fully; nevertheless, his lifespan was still longer than that of ordinary emperors.

Qin Gao often roamed the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region and frequently walked in the water; people of the time took him for a water immortal. He once refined an elixir south of Zhejiang. After the elixir was completed, he poured its ashes into the river, where they turned into small fish, which people therefore called “Qin Gao fish.” Later he traveled to the Wu region and ascended to heaven riding a red carp.

The Liexian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) says: Huang An was a corvée laborer from Dai Commandery and often sat on a large turtle about three chi wide. Someone asked how old the turtle was. He said, “In the time when Fuxi made nets and fishing traps, he gave it to me, and the turtle’s shell has already become flat. This turtle fears the light of the sun and moon; it pokes its head out only once every three thousand years. I have sat on it and have already seen it poke its head out five times.”

The two phrases “pearl garments and peach pits, a reply written on pomegranate peel” refer to marvels in the lore of immortals, such as garments of pearls, peach pits, and using pomegranate peel to write a reply.

When Wang Chu served as magistrate of Wangwu County, he often read the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Scripture), a Daoist classic of internal cultivation, as many as six thousand times, yet still did not fully penetrate its profound meaning. After he was dismissed from office, he cut off the five grains, regulated his breathing and swallowed Qi, and entered a mountain cave. There he saw a stone chamber set into a cliff, with an ancient scripture placed on a stone desk. Wang Chu bowed repeatedly and said, “I have entered a Dongtian (grotto-heaven) without permission; this is a rare encounter not met in ten thousand kalpas. Today I have been allowed to see a mysterious classic, and I beg that you permit these worldly eyes to read it through once.” Suddenly someone said, “I am Shuji Zhenren (Perfected) Wang Taixu, a Daoist immortal. I annotated the Huangting Jing, and I now transmit it to you.” He also gave him a peach pit as large as a vessel holding several dou, telling him to grind it up and take it, for it could cure illness and prolong life. The Zhenren said, “You cannot yet dwell here; wait another twenty years.” Wang Chu then took the peach pit and the scripture and returned.

The father of Shen Xie, a xiucai (licentiate) of Huzhou, in his later years called himself “Shu Lao.” He widely invited guests and brewed a great deal of wine for feasting. Whenever a visitor came, whether noble or lowly, he would pour wine and entertain him. One day a man named Yan came to visit and drank with Shu Lao. He talked and laughed loudly, his voice clear and resonant, and he understood subtle principles; this went on day and night, and the wine pots were repeatedly emptied. The attendants saw that his expression was composed and asked his surname, but he never answered. Then with pomegranate peel he wrote on the wall: “The western neighbor is already rich yet worries about insufficiency; Shu Lao, though poor, has joy to spare. White wine is brewed because he loves guests; yellow gold is scattered to collect books.” Behind this he signed himself “Huishanren” (Mountain Man of Return). After Shu Lao became drunk, the man disappeared. After he left, many people thought he was Lü Gong (Lü Dongbin). The characters written on the wall would reappear even after being scraped away, and Dongpo (Su Shi) wrote a poem recording the matter in detail.

Jiao Guang boiled stones like taro; Yang Xi gathered cloud mushrooms. Jiao Guang lived in the mountains and often cooked white stones until they were like taro and ate them; sometimes he went into the mountains to cut firewood and gave it to others. By the time the Wei dynasty received the abdication, he was living by the river in a thatched hut, using no mat, and the grime on his body was like mud and lacquer. Sometimes he ate once every few days, kept silent, and his appearance was sometimes old and sometimes young. He remained like this in the human world for over two hundred years; later no one knew where he had gone.

The Xu Xian Zhuan (Continued Biographies of Immortals) records that Yang Qing often resided on Kuocang Mountain (in present-day Zhejiang) and later traveled to the cliff at Ruanlang Pavilion, a pavilion connected with the legend of Ruan Zhao of the Eastern Han entering Tiantai and encountering immortals. On the cliff, more than ten zhang above the ground, there was a stone inscription in seal script, its characters extremely large. It was said to have been inscribed by Ruan Zhao of the Han dynasty; after verification, it was known to have passed more than a hundred years. Later, Yang Qing’s whereabouts became unknown.

Another record is more detailed: this cliff inscription was determined by textual research to have been written by Li Yangbing, a Tang dynasty calligrapher who once served as magistrate of Jinyun. Li Yangbing once visited this pavilion and wrote a poem: “Where does the Ruan visitor come from? Immortal clouds lie across the cave mouth; where human inquiry does not reach, today I walk in this very place.” Yang Qing was drinking beside the pavilion with Daoists from Jinyun when the flowers were blooming, and suddenly fell to the ground as if dead. He was carried home and did not awaken until seven days later. Yang Qing said: At first a man wearing a blue-green headcloth and crimson garments, who called himself Lingying, invited him into a cave dwelling. He saw towers and terraces, luan-birds and cranes, and other strange and wondrous scenes. Something flew out from a stone cavity, and Lingying pointed to it and said, “This is Qingyun Zhi (Azure Cloud Mushroom); if you eat it, you can become an immortal.” Yang Qing ate it and felt his body become light and buoyant, so that he walked as if flying. Later he lived in seclusion on Weiyu Mountain, a famous Daoist mountain in present-day Taizhou, Zhejiang.

The foregoing concludes fascicle four of the Sandong Qunxian Lu (Comprehensive Record of Immortals of the Three Caverns). Fascicle five is inscribed “compiled by the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoist Chen Baoguang” and gives entry headings such as “Shanjun and the Black Dragon” and “Shuqing and the White Swan,” indicating two sets of immortal accounts: Shanjun and Wulong, and Shuqing and Baihu. The Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) says: The Daoist Wei Shanshi traveled through famous mountains seeking the Dao, encountered immortals, and was granted ritual objects such as the Three Sovereigns’ proclamation.

The Gaodao Zhuan records: The Daoist Wei Shanjun traveled through famous mountains in search of the Dao and encountered an immortal who transmitted to him “the Three Sovereigns’ writs of summons” (Daoist documents and talismanic proclamations used to summon deities and command ghosts and spirits), and thus he cultivated the way of the immortals. He often kept a black dog named Wulong, and wherever he went he would divide his own food to feed it. One day he was going to Shaolin Temple. The monks were taking their meal, and Shanjun stood nearby with his dog, sharing his meal with it. A monk said, “Before people have eaten, you feed the dog first—is that acceptable?” He replied, “That was my mistake,” apologized to the monk, and immediately left the temple. The crowd watched him go farther and farther away, while the dog grew larger and larger; suddenly it transformed into a black dragon, and Wei Shanjun rode it away.

The Shenxian Zhuan records: Wei Shuqing consumed mica (a mineral that Daoists regarded as a substance for immortality practices) and became an immortal. On the renchen day of the eighth month in the second year of Yifeng of the Han, Emperor Xiaowu (Emperor Wu of Han) saw in the hall a person seated in a cloud chariot drawn by white swans, which stopped before the hall. The emperor asked in astonishment who he was, and the answer came: “I am Wei Shuqing of Zhongshan.” The emperor said, “You were originally Our subject; you may come forward and speak.” Wei Shuqing had originally come to pay his respects to the emperor, believing that the emperor favored Daoist arts and would surely receive him with honor; now that the emperor called him his own subject, he was greatly disappointed. He remained silent and gave no answer, and suddenly vanished. Emperor Wu regretted it deeply.

“Ge Xiang sold medicine; Ji Zhu practiced divination” refers to such matters as immortals mingling in the marketplace.

The Xu Xian Zhuan records: Luo Wanxiang was of unknown origin. He had long lived on Mount Wangwu, and later traveled south to Mount Luofu. He sighed and said, “This mountain is the Zhuming Grotto-Heaven; Ge Zhichuan (Ge Hong, courtesy name Zhichuan) once dwelt here. Although there is no Deng Dai to keep me, I should stay here myself.” So he built a hut and lived in seclusion. Sometimes he wandered through cities, selling medicine and drinking wine, coming and going without fixed pattern. Sometimes in one meal he ate as much as several people and did not feel it was much; sometimes he ate nothing, and no one knew how many months or years had passed. He could walk three or four hundred li in a day. Later he no longer came out.

Sima Jizhu made his living in Chang’an by divination. Song Zhong and Jia Yi took advantage of an official rest day to go together to see him. Sima Jizhu’s conversation and sensibilities were lofty and marvelous, and Song Zhong and the others suddenly felt they had lost composure; dazed and pale, disconcerted and silent, they were unable to speak. They therefore straightened their clothes and caps, rose, bowed twice, and took their leave. After leaving the market gate, they barely got into the carriage, leaned over the front crossbar with their heads lowered, and could hardly breathe. Three days later, Song Zhong met Jia Yi outside the palace hall gate and said to him: The higher one’s cultivation of the Dao, the more secure one is; the higher one’s power and position, the more dangerous. When one occupies a conspicuous and powerful post, losing oneself and falling into ruin may be expected any day.

Tai Jingxian, no one knew where he was from, lodged during the Huichang reign of the Tang in the market at Kuaiji (around present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang), did not keep a fixed dwelling, and sometimes drank and feigned madness; this went on for about ten years. Curious people gradually suspected he was an extraordinary man, and the household of Mr. Zhang of Kuaiji often showed him reverence and courteous treatment. One day he suddenly took up a steelyard weight, pressed it with his hand for a long time, and when he lifted it, it was as soft as tin; he also took an iron pestle and beat it into a flat cake, and after a short while both returned to their original form. Mr. Zhang had always been poor, and Jingxian said, “I am leaving.” He then had Mr. Zhang smash a cauldron, and with charcoal he surrounded and stacked the broken cauldron inside the furnace; with a roaring fire he added medicinal ingredients, shut the door, and told Mr. Zhang: “After the charcoal fire goes out, you may take the transformed substance and use it to enrich your household; always keep the Dao and helping others in mind, and your household may enjoy wealth for generations.” The next day Mr. Zhang looked, and all of it was purple gold—a purple metallic substance in Daoist alchemical lore.

Zhao Ming and Zuo Ci both could use the Qi-prohibition technique—a method of using Qi (vital energy) to restrain external things—to prohibit water and make it flow backward. They also lit a fire on a thatched hut to cook a hawk (a bird of prey); the hawk was cooked through, yet the thatch did not burn. They placed water that had been subjected to the prohibition in the courtyard, and even when left exposed in severe cold it did not freeze; by applying the prohibition over an area of one li, they could make a person being scorched feel no heat.

The people of Qin fled the turmoil and lived in the Peach Blossom Spring, while Lord Tian dwelt in Willow Valley.

The Record of the Peach Blossom Spring states: During the Taikang era of the Jin dynasty, Huang Daozhen, a fisherman of Wuling, sailed upstream along the Yuan River and entered a mountain region. He saw peach blossoms on both banks, with fallen petals scattered in profusion. From a stone cave a clear trickle flowed out, and the sound of the water was clear and cool, like jade being rinsed. There, houses stood in rows and ponds and pavilions were connected. Although the clothing and headgear of the men and women were roughly the same as those outside, their garments were fresh and clean and their faces were radiant. The people were delighted to see Daozhen and took turns inviting him into their homes, setting out wine and food to entertain him and asking what dynasty and era had now arrived. Daozhen told them the truth, and they all sighed at how greatly the human world had changed. After Daozhen took his leave and emerged, he later sought again the path to the flower source, but became lost and could no longer find it.

The Zhen’gao (an important Shangqing Daoist scripture) records: North of Leiping Mountain was formerly called Willow Valley, where a Lord Tian came to dwell. North of it is Liuji Water, also called Lord Tian’s Spring; it is said to be the fluid flowing from jade sands, and drinking it can expel the three worms in the abdomen (the Three Corpses worms that Daoism describes as causing mischief within the body).

“Wei Gu and the green crow, the female Perfected and the white ape”—this refers to traces of female immortals accompanied by spiritual creatures in cultivation, such as the female immortal Wei Xiangu having a green crow as her companion, and a female Perfected having a white ape as her mate. The Ducheng Ji records: Wei Xiangu was from Changsha. After entering the Dao she lived on Mount Heng, and in her eighties her appearance was still youthful. At the immortal altar of Lady Wei (Wei Huacun, a female immortal of the Shangqing tradition), she devoted herself to incense and cultivation, alone and without companions. Several years later, a green crow shaped like a dove or pigeon, with a red crown and long tail, flew to her dwelling and said of itself: “I was sent by the Lady of the Southern Marchmount. Because the immortal lady cultivates the Dao with bitter intensity and dwells alone in the deep forest, she has ordered me to come as your companion.” It also said that the Queen Mother of the West had the surname Wei and was the immortal lady’s ancestor; the place of the Wei clan in Henan was the old mountain where the Queen Mother of the West had cultivated the Dao. Whenever someone visited the mountain, the green crow would always announce that person’s name in advance. Wei Xiangu also foresaw that the world would face many troubles, and so she withdrew to Mount Jiuyi (a famous mountain in present-day Hunan).

It is unknown where Xue Nüzhen was from. In the decline of the Jin dynasty, when the capital was unsettled, many Daoist cultivators withdrew to the mountains and forests to avoid the turmoil. She lived at Xunzhen Terrace on Mount Heng, the Southern Sacred Mountain; outwardly she was no different from ordinary people, but inwardly she cultivated the true Dao (the Way). When she traveled, she was often followed by a yellow crow, a white ape, and a white leopard. Later she ascended to heaven and departed.

“Nie discusses Zongxing, Zhang expounds Huanyuan” is the summary: the Daoist master Nie wrote the Treatise on Zongxing, and Zhang Wumeng lectured on the Huanyuan pian.

During the Five Dynasties, the Daoist master Nie, whose name was Shaoyuan, built a dwelling on Wenzheng Mountain and lived there, not following worldly customs; he called himself Wumingzi (Master Nameless). He wrote the Treatise on Zongxing and the Secret Essentials of Cultivating Perfection. Xu Zuan greatly admired him, saying that Wu Yun and Shi Jianwu—both famous Tang-dynasty Daoists—were no match for him.

The Daoist Zhang Wumeng, whose sobriquet was Hongmengzi, once traveled to Tiantai Mountain and climbed Chicheng Mountain, where he built a hut at Qiongtai and practiced Chisongzi’s daoyin (guiding-and-pulling) exercises and An Qisheng’s huandan (returning-elixir) method. Emperor Zhenzong of Song summoned him to lecture on the Yi (Book of Changes), and he lectured only on the Qian (Modesty) hexagram. The emperor asked why he spoke only on the Modesty hexagram. He replied: At the very time of Dayou (Great Possession), when there is abundance, one should all the more uphold the way of modesty. The emperor then ordered him to lecture on the Huanyuan pian. Zhang Wumeng said: The state is like the body. When the mind is wuwei (non-action), Qi (vital energy) is harmonious and peaceful; when Qi is harmonious and peaceful, the ten thousand spirits coalesce. When the mind is active, Qi becomes disordered; when Qi is disordered, the flowering essence scatters and is lost. This is the main purport of huanyuan (returning to the origin). The emperor praised his exposition and bestowed on him the title “Master An, the Recluse” (An Chushi Xiansheng).

Lü Dongbin once sat for the jinshi examination; twice he went to the Ministry of Rites to take the examination, but both times without success, so he said: Since the civil examinations in the human world are unfavorable, I should cultivate the “heavenly examination” instead. “Dongbin returns to Peng Island; Jingshi and cloud cakes” is a summary highlighting his immortal traces: Lü Dongbin returned to the immortal island of Penglai; the legends of Jingshi and cloud cakes (immortal cakes) symbolize the wondrous traces of the immortals.

The Dan Jue (Alchemical Formulas) records: Lü Dongbin (a Tang dynasty Daoist and one of the Eight Immortals) sat for the jinshi examination. Twice he went to the Ministry of Rites (the government office in charge of the imperial examinations) to take the test, but both times he was unsuccessful. He then said, “Since the earthly examinations are unfavorable, I should cultivate the heavenly ‘examination.’” In the late Tang he traveled to Mount Lu, where he met Mr. Zhongli (Zhongli Quan, one of the Eight Immortals) and received transmission of his Dao (the Way). He constantly guarded and cherished his primordial Qi (vital energy). He sold writing brushes and ink, traveling between the capital region and Mount Heng, and most people did not recognize him as Lü Dongbin. Mr. Zhongli imparted to him a secret formula, saying: “When the Three Flowers (Jing [essence], Qi [vital energy], and Shen [spirit], or the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown) are harmonized and united, they transform into a fire dragon and directly transcend the dark, dusty road. The work must be completed in a thousand days; when the work is accomplished and verified, then ride a crane carriage and first return to the immortal island of Penglai.”

The Zhen Yu records: On Mount Shan there were Dao-seekers Zheng Jingshi and Zhang Chonghua. In the early Jin dynasty they received oral instructions from the immortal Meng Deran, entered the mountains, and practiced the “method of guarding the Five Viscera in accord with the days” (a cultivation method of inwardly guarding the Five Viscera and coordinating with the days). They also took huma (sesame) and immortal elixir. Over time they stopped eating and drinking; their bodies became light, healthy, and strong, and their former appearance changed. Then one day, the Northern Lord Lao sent Taiyi (the Great One, a Daoist deity) to welcome them with a cloud carriage (the original reads “cloud plow,” meaning an immortal conveyance), and they ascended to Heaven in broad daylight.

The phrases “Fang meets Xibai, Xu encounters Dongzhuan” refer to stories of encountering immortals and attaining the Dao, such as Mr. Fang meeting Xibai and Mr. Xu meeting Dongzhuan; Xibai and Dongzhuan are both names of immortal perfected beings.

The Shi Bin Lu records: In the Tang dynasty, Fang Shanchang’s Preface to the Great Volume of the Yinfu Jing says: “In my youth I loved learning the Dao and admired long life. I saw that the Yinfu Jing speaks of ‘above there is the way of the immortal embracing the One (guarding the One and uniting with the Dao),’ yet later people studied only the methods of securing the state and governing, and few knew the arts of the utmost bliss of immortals. In the third year of the Zhenguan era, I traveled to Mount Tai and met an old man who called himself Xibai; I did not know his surname. He then spoke of how the Yinfu Jing consists entirely of the supreme essentials of the great elixir of immortals, which people of the world cannot know. Thereupon he transmitted to me the commentary by the Mother of Mount Li (Lishan Laomu, a Daoist female immortal), and the way of the immortal embracing the One became manifest.”

The Shenxian Zhuan (Records of Immortals) records: Xu Dingci was a native of Pengzhou. During the Xianping era of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, he served in the prefectural government and, carrying documents and cloth, entered the pass. At night he lodged in an inn in Huayin, where he met a scholar who called himself “Dongzhuan.” After bowing to him, the scholar sat down, and the two found each other congenial; Xu kept him drinking and enjoying their company for several days. At parting, the scholar said, “I am Chen Tuan (a famous Daoist master of the early Song). Because your bone physiognomy is extraordinary, we met here.” Xu was both delighted and startled, and begged him to transmit uncommon arts. Chen Tuan said, “The Daoist arts do not prize the strange and marvelous; it is enough to cherish your essence and spirit and not let likes and dislikes inwardly injure your emotions.” He then took a small amount of medicine from his sleeve—one daogui, an ancient measure for medicinal powder—and said, “If you take this medicine, you may live a hundred years.” When Xu went looking for him the next day, the man had vanished. Later Xu Dingci also achieved shijie (corpse liberation, the Daoist term for discarding the physical form and ascending as an immortal).

“Qixu, the Three Peng; Shangyuan, the Five Natures” is a summary pointing to key cultivation topics such as Qixu and the Three Corpses. The Xuanwang Zhi records: Qixu’s temperament and bone physiognomy were pure and extraordinary. He lived in a Buddhist temple in Chang’an and, to escape the turmoil of An Lushan’s rebellion, entered Mount Taibai. There he suddenly encountered a perfected person, who urged him to travel and stay at the residence of Zhichuan. One day he climbed to the mountain peak and saw a city with palaces and gate-towers. In the hall was a divine man wearing a hairpin crown and ceremonial robes, of majestic appearance, leaning on a jade table while attendants surrounded him. The divine man asked, “Have you cut off the harm of the Three Peng (Sanpeng, the Three Corpses, which Daoism regards as lurking in the human body, recording transgressions, and obstructing cultivation)?” Qixu could not answer, and the divine man said, “You must not stay long.” He then led him away. Qixu later withdrew from the world and departed, and no one knew where he went. Zhichuan was none other than the Perfected Person Ge Hong.

In the Hanwu Neizhuan (Inner Biography of Emperor Wu of Han), Lady Shangyuan (a Daoist female immortal) said to Emperor Wu of Han: Do you love the Dao (the Way)? You have repeatedly summoned fangshi (technicians and immortal-seekers), climbed mountains and offered sacrifices, and the spirits have been moved by this. Yet in your innate disposition there are five defects—violence, licentiousness, extravagance, cruelty, and thievery—and these five constantly dwell within your Ying and Wei (nutritive and defensive Qi [vital energy]) and inside your five viscera. If from now on you can abandon these five dispositions, return to gentleness and goodness, constantly practice hidden virtue, rescue others from death and calamity, refrain from recklessly discharging Jing (essence) fluid, maintain fasts and precepts, diligently examine yourself, sound the Heavenly Drum (a health practice of clicking the teeth, covering the ears, and striking the pillow), drink Jade Nectar (swallowing saliva), agitate the Flower Pond (rinsing and refining the saliva in the mouth), and strike the Golden Beam (clicking the teeth or tapping the palate), and cultivate according to these methods, you should obtain extraordinary results.

You Jian served as Sizhi and Lü Hui as Jiuzheng (both are names of offices in the immortal bureaucracy).

The Liexian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) says: You Jian first served together with Zhou Fu as a menting zhang (chief of a gate-pavilion), later was promoted to Lingguan Hou (Marquis of Lingguan) under the Northern Emperor, and then promoted to Sizhi of Gaoming. The office of Sizhi of Gaoming corresponds to that of Shangshu Puye (Director of the Imperial Secretariat) in the human world.

The Hanfu Mingtan says: Lü Hui (courtesy name Xianke) was sent out to Anzhou because he discussed political affairs. One day, as he sat alone in a small pavilion and closed his eyes, he saw something: a boy in blue-green clothing said, “The Jade Emperor is touring south to Yanzhou (the Blazing Continent); you, sir, will accompany him and hold the office of Jiuzheng Weixian (‘Correcting Immortal Wei’; an immortal office title).” From then on his mouth ate immortal food from the celestial kitchen, and he roamed the Purple Palace, an immortal mansion. Yanzhou is fiercely hot, so the Supreme Emperor bestowed on you one Qingdong Dan (Clear-Freezing Elixir). Master Lü bowed, received it, and swallowed it; at once his throat felt as cool as ice and snow. He knew that he would not remain long in this world. Later, Zhu Mingfu met hundreds of officers and soldiers in golden armor (divine troops) on the road by the Xiang River; Master Lü was riding a jade-horned green deer. Zhu Mingfu bowed and asked, “You have probably already become an immortal, have you not?” Master Lü smiled and did not answer, then improvised a poem: “My merit and practice were by chance inscribed in the Jade Portal; countless caps and gowns are buried in dust. Now I follow the Emperor as Sixie—who else, then, keeps duty at the Cypress Terrace?” The meaning is: my merit and practice were by chance recorded in the jade registers of immortality; numberless scholars and officials in cap and gown ultimately lie buried in dust; now I follow the Jade Emperor and serve as Sixie (an immortal office); who else is on duty at the Cypress Terrace (the Censorate)?

“Jiwei fixes the registers, Sihe protects life” means that Jiwei oversees Dinglu (Fixing the Registers) and Sihe oversees Baoming (Protecting Life); both are names of immortal offices.

The Record of the Mao Lords states: Mao Zhongjun, the Middle Mao Lord, was named Gu and had the courtesy name Jiwei. Having been recommended as xianliang fangzheng (Worthy and Upright), he entered official service and rose repeatedly to the post of Jinwu (the office responsible for capital security). When he learned that his elder brother, Mao Dajun, had already attained the Dao, he abandoned office and entered the mountains. Later, through his brother’s introduction to Wangjun of Xicheng, he achieved the immortal Dao and was appointed to the post of “Dinglu Zhenren” (a Daoist immortal office).

The Younger Mao Lord was named Zhong and had the courtesy name Sihe. He rose in office to Wugeng Dafu and, together with the Middle Lord, entered the mountains to seek out Siming Jun. Siming Jun led him to pay respects to the Wangmu of Guishan, transmitted to him the essentials of Dao methods, and afterward he was appointed “Baoming Zhenren.” The Elder Mao Lord admonished: “Now that I have departed, I hold an official post and cannot come and go frequently. On the eighteenth day of the third month and the second day of the twelfth month each year, I will invite teachers and friends to descend upon Juqu Mountain (that is, Mao Mountain). If men who study immortality and love goodness come up the mountain on these days, I will attend to them in passing and instruct those who have not yet awakened.” The pilgrimage assembly at Mao Mountain began from this.

Dong Jun was a man of Linhuai. He practiced circulating Qi and refining elixirs, and though over a hundred years old he was still not aged. One day, because of some matter, he was thrown into prison; he feigned death, and his corpse became foul, rotten, and worm-eaten. Later he returned home and came back to life, and in the end became an immortal.

Gan Shi was a man of Taiyuan. He was skilled at circulating Qi and neither drank nor ate. He cultivated according to the “Yuansu zhi fa” (Method of the Elements) transmitted by Rong Chengzi (an immortal of ancient legend), and it proved effective. He treated illness without acupuncture, moxibustion, or herbal medicines. He remained among humans for more than a hundred years, and later entered Wangwu Mountain and ascended as an immortal.

Huang Zhenjun was named Renlan and had the courtesy name Ziting; his ancestors were from Wuling. He studied diligently and had a good reputation, and later abandoned office and entered the Dao. Ziting took Xu Jun (Xu Zhenjun) as his teacher, obtained his Dao methods, and at that time still held the post of Qingzhou congshi (a subordinate official of the province and commandery). After his Dao was perfected, he ascended together with Xu Zhenjun and was called “Zifu Zhenren.”

The Qing suo gao yi records: when Sun Mian, who held the office of Right Shijin (a Song military rank), served as riverbank official at Yuancheng (in present-day Daming, Hebei), many sections of the embankment had collapsed. A huge creature—called in the original text “giant lightning,” evidently a demonic being that burrowed beneath the bank—made holes under the bank and came out whenever the weather was clear. Sun Mian waited for it to emerge and shot it with an arrow, hitting it squarely in the neck. In broad daylight Sun Mian dreamed that a minor official summoned him, saying, “You killed that huge creature; now you are summoned to bear witness.” He followed the official to a palace gate, and the official said this was the office of the Zifu Zhenren (a Perfected Person of the Daoist celestial realm). Sun Mian asked what the Zhenren’s surname was, and was told that the Zhenren was Han Weigong (Han Qi of the Northern Song, enfeoffed as Duke of Wei). Sun Mian remembered that he had formerly received Duke Han’s patronage and thought that, on meeting him, he ought to ask for help. When he entered, he saw Duke Han seated in the hall, with green-robed youths standing in attendance on either side. Sun Mian knelt and bowed repeatedly, begging the Zhenren for protection. Duke Han glanced at his attendants, took a yellow document from a blue pouch, and a youth read: “Only after five hundred lifetimes is one comparable to the preciousness of a human body; that creature bored through and destroyed the riverbank, which was originally Sun Mian’s responsibility.” Duke Han then ordered that he be released and sent back.

Wang Hui plowed with tigers; Lu Yu weeded with crows.

The Gao dao zhuan records: the Daoist Wang Hui lived at Dongzhen Abbey on Xionglao Ridge of Mount Hua. He often planted Huangjing (a medicinal herb) beside the stream, and tigers and leopards plowed and weeded for him; when he went out or came in, he also rode tigers and leopards as other people ride horses. He wrote secret instructions to teach people self-cultivation, but the principles involved were abstruse and mysterious, and people could not understand them.

The Tang yi shi says: Lu Yu did not know who his parents were; a monk found him beside the water. After he grew up, he was intelligent and capable in literature. He divined using the Yi (Book of Changes) and obtained the Jian hexagram; taking the meaning of “the wild goose gradually advances to the land,” he made it his surname and name. He lived in seclusion at Minghan (a place name or water name) and styled himself Sangzhu Weng (Old Man of Mulberry and Ramie). He shut his door and wrote books; sometimes he walked in the wilds, singing as he went, chanting poems and tapping on wood, and people of the time called him “the present Jieyu” (Jieyu was an ancient recluse). Lu Yu loved tea and wrote the Chajing (Classic of Tea); people called him the Tea God. It is also said that when he farmed, there were strange occurrences: elephants plowed the fields and crows weeded them.

“Xianke Supplies Charcoal” and “Xuanping Carries Firewood” are the titles of two immortal anecdotes: one tells of Wang Xianke providing charcoal to a Daoist alchemist, and the other tells of Xu Xuanping carrying firewood to sell.

The Xianzhuan Shiyi (Supplementary Gleanings from Biographies of Immortals) records that Wang Xianke was a man from Hengyuan in Qingcheng. He delighted in goodness and generosity, and his family wealth was enormous. The mountain beside his home was well suited for gathering firewood and making charcoal. He suddenly heard that someone was stealing cut firewood, so he went to investigate and found that the thief was a Daoist. The Daoist said, “I am refining elixir pills in the valley and am often short of charcoal, so I stole this firewood to burn.” Xianke asked how much he needed, saying that he himself could deliver it all at once and need not trouble the Daoist to come fetch it in person. The Daoist gladly thanked him and said, “When the elixir is completed, I will certainly repay you.” After this, Xianke often went to visit him. One day, when the elixir was completed, the Daoist came to say farewell, left several elixir pills, and departed. Xianke took the pills and felt his Qi ethereal and his body light and nimble. Beside the gate there was a large cypress tree; he leapt up and had already reached the treetop, and in this way he ascended and departed.

The Guangji records that Xu Xuanping was a man from She County in Xin’an. During the Jingyun era he lived in seclusion in the southern valley of Chengyang Mountain. Sometimes he carried firewood to sell, and often, while drunk, he chanted: “Carrying firewood, I go out to sell at dawn; / buying wine, I return as the sun sets in the west. / Passersby, do not ask where I return; / I pass through white clouds and walk into the green haze.” The meaning is: in the morning I carry firewood out to sell, and in the evening I buy wine and return; passersby need not ask where I am going—I pass through white clouds and walk into the green mountain colors.

“Fei Gong’s Stone Ink” tells how Fei Changfang, a fangshi of Eastern Han legend, met Hugong, an immortal, obtained his arts, and practiced talisman drawing in the world. He lived east of Maoshan, a famous Daoist mountain, and drew talismans to save people, earning merit. One day, as he left the mountain, he poured the water from his inkstone into a stone gully; the stone turned black, and so it was called “stone ink.” To this day people collect this ink, and it can also be used to draw talismans.

The entry “Geng Woman and Snow Silver” tells of a wondrous immortal event concerning a woman surnamed Geng and snow silver.

The female Daoist priest Geng Xiansheng, recorded in Biographies of Female Immortals, was the daughter of Geng Qian. Once, during a heavy snowfall, she had official courtesans fill a golden plate with snow and mold the snow into the shape of silver ingots; when these were thrown into a large brazier, in a moment they turned into gold, with even the fingerprints still remaining. The Record of Extraordinary People, however, says that Geng Xiansheng took snow, packed it solid, pared it into the likeness of silver ingots, and put it into blazing charcoal; when it cooled, it had become radiant silver ingots. The two accounts differ, one saying gold and the other silver, but both indicate that she possessed the immortal art of transforming snow into gold and silver.

“In empty stillness the horse neighs; in great brightness the ox pants” is a laudatory phrase pointing to the marvels that follow, with the emphasis on Shu Xuji and the neighing of the bronze horse.

The Biographies of Eminent Daoists says that Shu Xuji, courtesy name Dezhen, lived at the Bronze Horse Abbey in Xinfan (in present-day Sichuan). He often told people: In former times the Yellow Emperor met with Master Xiao (the name of a Daoist immortal), the Heavenly Perfected August One (a Daoist high deity), and various perfected beings at this place; for this reason it was called the Three Meetings Terrace. A bronze horse was hidden among the trees, and what is now Dragon Bridge is the old site. Later people built a terrace at the place where the bronze horse was hidden as a memorial. On clear, crisp autumn nights, the bronze horse would suddenly leap and neigh; whoever saw it could attain the Dao. Xuji lived there for thirty years and was fortunate enough to see it once. One day he suddenly said to an old woman who lived next door: “I must go elsewhere soon and would like to entrust you with my funeral arrangements.” Pointing to a spot, he instructed her: “Bury me here, more than three chi deep; I will certainly repay you generously.” That very night he died. The neighbor followed his instructions and indeed dug up one yi (an ancient unit of weight) of gold. When the matter was reported to the authorities and the burial place was examined, only his staff and shoes were found; this is what Daoism calls “shijie” (corpse-liberation), departing as an immortal.

Feng Daliang was poor but fond of Daoist arts. Ordinarily he did not undertake any special cultivation, yet whenever a Daoist priest or someone versed in esoteric arts passed by his door, he would earnestly invite him in and entertain him. The household had only one ox, which turned a millstone to sustain their livelihood. One day the ox died, and his wife, née Yang, wept and sighed before him: “Our food and clothing depend entirely on this ox. Now that it is dead, what shall we live on?” There was a Daoist priest from Cimu Mountain who often came to their house and would stay for several days at a time. This time the priest indeed came again, and the couple told him about the ox’s death. The priest asked, “Are the hide and horns still there?” They answered, “They are.” The priest then pieced the hide and horns together into the shape of an ox, made legs of wood, tied it with rope, and shouted to drive it along; the ox stood up, as fat and strong as usual, and the priest did not appear again. Several years later, in the height of summer, this ox was panting hard. When the herd boy saw it, he secretly untied the rope fastened around its mouth and nose, and the ox instantly became nothing but hide and bones. This shows that the ox he had transformed was not a real ox: once the Daoist art was exhausted, it reverted to its original state.

“Taihe on a crane carriage, Fashan on a dragon chariot” is a phrase of praise, pointing to the immortal traces of Zhenren Taihe riding a crane carriage and Celestial Master (Tianshi) Ye Fashan riding a dragon chariot.

The Wang Family’s Biographies of Immortals records: Zhenren Wang was fond of the Dao and entered the mountains together with his wife, cutting off worldly human affairs and maintaining incense offerings with great diligence. Several decades later he encountered a divine being, who gave him a plain book (an immortal book, a Daoist text) and told him: “Your immortal name has already been fixed. If you simply practice this Dao, you will surely become a Zhenren.” Later the High God sent a dragon carriage and crane carriage down to welcome him; he ascended in broad daylight and was appointed to the rank of Zhenren Taihe.

The Biographies of Eminent Daoists records: Celestial Master (Tianshi) Ye Fashan was then living at Siming when he suddenly saw an old man weeping and begging for help.

The Gaodao Zhuan records: the Celestial Master (Tianshi) Ye Fashan, a famous Daoist priest of the Tang dynasty, was then living on Mount Siming when he suddenly saw an old man weeping and begging for help. The Celestial Master asked him why, and the old man replied: “I am the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. The Great Emperor ordered me to oversee the treasures of the eight seas. Recently a Brahmin (an ancient Indian practitioner) has been working illusory magic and binding spells, imposing restrictions from morning to night, and by the fifth day of the fifth month the seawater will be exhausted. Those treasures that govern heaven and pacify the seas are numinous objects made by the Supreme Lord, and he will surely take them. On that day, please save me with a cinnabar talisman (danfu, a Daoist Fulu—talisman and register).” Ye Fashan immediately sent forth a talisman, and the seawater returned to normal. Later the Dragon King brought treasures from the dragon palace to thank him, but the Celestial Master would not accept them. He said to the Dragon King: “These rocks are far from water; it would be good if a clear spring could be brought here.” That night wind and rain rustled, and by dawn spring water was flowing around the stone channels surrounding the mountain retreat; to this day it is called the “Celestial Master’s Channel” (Tianshi Qu).

The lines “Xian’an is on the jade tablets; the wondrous scripture is in the golden book” mean that Wei Huacun (courtesy name Xian’an)’s immortal name had already been recorded in the jade tablets (yuzha, registers of immortal names), and her wondrous method was contained in the golden book (jinshu, precious Daoist scriptures).

The Guangji records: Lady Wei, named Huacun, courtesy name Xian’an, was the daughter of Wei Shu, Duke Wenkang of the Jin dynasty. As a child she studied the Dao (the Way), and she read through all the Nine Classics, books, and histories. At fifteen she admired the arts of immortality, breathing and guidance (tuna daoyin), and was not afraid of diligence and hardship. By the time she was twenty, her parents forced her to marry Liu Jiu, and she bore two sons. After Lady Wei had raised her two sons to adulthood, she took leave of her chamber and diligently cultivated the ultimate Dao. She moved the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) Perfected, Fangzhu Qingtong Jun (the Azure Youth Lord of Fangzhu), and others to descend, and they said to her: “Taishang (the Supreme One) has already inscribed your immortal name in the jade tablets; exert yourself.”

Lu Miaodian was a female Daoist priest at Mount Jiuyi. Naturally intelligent, in adulthood she met someone who transmitted to her the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Scripture), a Daoist classic of inner cultivation, and told her: this scripture is a golden book in the palace of the Great Emperor of Fusang; reciting it ten thousand times can bring immortality; it depends only on diligent practice with a focused mind. The scripture says: reciting it ten thousand times allows one to ascend into the Three Heavens (Santian, the highest Daoist heavens); a thousand calamities dissolve and ten thousand illnesses are cured. Reciting the scripture in the mountains is like chanting in unison with a thousand people; the only fear is that one cannot persevere. Miaodian then entered Mount Jiuyi and recited the scripture for ten years; true immortals descended, and she ascended to heaven in broad daylight. To this day her footprints remain on the stones of the immortal altar.

“The old man steams a child; Ruzi cooks a dog” are the gist of two immortal anecdotes: one tells of an old man steaming a “small child” that was in fact thousand-year ginseng; the other of Zhu Ruzi cooking “flower dogs” that were in fact goji roots.

The Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of Divine Immortals) records: a Daoist cultivator who could not master the wondrous scriptures entered Mount Jiuyi (a famous Daoist mountain) and recited scriptures for ten years. This moved a true immortal to descend, and he ascended to heaven in broad daylight; to this day his footprints remain on the stone of the immortal altar.

Another passage in the Shenxian Zhuan says: the Ten Friends of Weiyang, all from wealthy families, formed a Daoist companionship and took turns entertaining one another with wine and food. An old man in ragged clothes often came to their feasts, and they did not turn him away. One day, when the wine had flowed freely, the old man said, “Though I am poor, I too would like to prepare a feast in thanks. Would that be acceptable?” Everyone agreed. The next day he led them into a thatched hut and sat in a circle with several beggars. He had a large board brought out, covered with an oilcloth; when it was uncovered, there was a small child steamed to a pulp. The company was disgusted and would not eat. The old man said, “This is thousand-year ginseng, extremely difficult to obtain. I intended to repay you with it; since you will not eat it, that is fate.” Later, those who divided and ate it ascended to heaven.

The Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records: Zhu Ruzi studied under the Daoist Wang Yuanzheng and lived at Dada Cliff. One day by a stream he saw two small spotted dogs, found them strange, and chased them; they ran beneath a goji thicket. Zhu Ruzi and his master dug up the goji thicket and obtained two goji roots shaped like dogs; the master told him to cook them. Ruzi tended the fire for three days, first tasted the flavor, saw that the roots were thoroughly cooked, and ate them. Suddenly he walked outside, felt his body grow light, flew up to the peak, and was enveloped and borne away by cloud vapor. Wang Yuanzheng ate what remained and likewise obtained deathlessness. Today this peak is called Tongzi Peak (Boy Peak).

“Gao Wen laughs at crabs; Cao Cao is startled by perch” are the key motifs of two further tales of immortals and marvels. The Kuoyi Zhi (Records of Investigating Marvels) mentions that Gao Wei (that is, Gao Wen) obtained the art of nourishing life and could drink several dou of wine without becoming disordered; when Shen Langzhong served as the Jiangdong grain-transport commissioner, he too ate the remainder and thereby obtained deathlessness.

Gao Wei understood the arts of nourishing life; he could drink several dou of wine without losing his composure. Shen Langzhong, a man surnamed Shen who held the office of langzhong, served as Jiangdong grain-transport commissioner. Whenever he inspected his subordinates, he often invited Gao Wei to accompany him, and once they traveled by boat together. At Guichi Pavilion there was Li, a mountain recluse from Jiuhua, an old friend of Gao Wei. Because he came to visit Shen Langzhong, Shen invited them to drink; each drank more than two dou and showed no sign of intoxication. Gao Wei took up fishing rods and said, “Let each of us catch one fish to add to the conversation and laughter, but catching crabs is not permitted.” Then they put bait into a vessel of water before their seats. After a while Li the recluse pulled out a crab. Gao Wei laughed and said, “We agreed to fish, but you caught a crab—you should be fined.”

Zuo Ci, courtesy name Yuanfang, a fangshi of the Eastern Han, once attended a banquet of Cao Cao, the Minister of Works. Cao Cao calmly said to the assembled guests, “Today’s gathering is grand, and the delicacies are more or less all prepared; the only thing lacking is the perch from Songjiang in Wu.” Zuo Ci replied from the lower seats, “This can be managed.” He asked for a bronze basin filled with water and, hanging bait on a bamboo pole, fished in the basin. Soon he drew out a perch. Cao Cao and all those present were astonished. Cao Cao said, “One fish is not enough for the whole gathering to share; can you catch more?” Zuo Ci changed the bait and fished again, and soon drew out more fish, each over three chi long, fresh and delightful. Cao Cao had the cook cut the fish into sliced raw fish and distribute it to all the guests.

Feng Liang renounced the world, and Du Qi lived in seclusion. According to the Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected): Feng Liang served as a county clerk. Ashamed that he had no lofty ambition, he destroyed his carriage, killed his ox, and tore his clothes and cap, resolving to study the Dao; his resolve and conduct were strict and circumspect. The prefectures and commanderies summoned him to office with due ceremony, but he did not accept; when the court heard of him, the Three Excellencies vied to yield their positions to him, but he still did not accept. He was a man of the Later Han. At the age of sixty-seven he renounced the world, crossed east, and entered Mount Mao, a famous Daoist mountain. It is said that he is now in Deer Trace Cave, a cave-dwelling on Mount Mao.

In the early Jian’an era, Du Qi crossed the Yangtze and, attaching himself to Sun Ce, entered Kuaiji, where he served as a commandant under Sun Quan. Later there was a matter of yielding the position to Liang, which he did not accept. He was a man of the Later Han. At the age of sixty-seven he left the secular world, crossed east into Maoshan, and is said to remain even today in Deer Trace Cave.

Another account says that in the twentieth year of Huangwu, the era name of Sun Quan, Du Qi met Mr. Jie and was transmitted the technique of “guarding the Primal White”—a Daoist cultivation method—and thereafter lived in seclusion in the eastern part of Great Maoshan. He could become invisible and also repeatedly appeared. Sometimes he gathered wood and traded for clothing and grain, yet others did not know his true identity.

“The Taiyi Precious Cave and the Yuanzhen Immortal Abode”: these refer to the Taiyi Precious Cave and the Yuanzhen Immortal Abode, both cave-heavens and blessed lands where immortals dwell.

The Dantai Xinlu records: Zhou Liang, courtesy name Taiyi, studied his Daoist arts under Yao Tan. Some people could work demonic arts such as flying sand and moving stones; Zhou Liang would hold the scriptures and chant spells, whereupon the evil entities each returned to their original forms, and some died at his side. He often roamed the precious cave with immortals, whistling and intoning all day long.

The Guangji records: Xue Yuanzhen loved the Dao in his youth and often dwelt in the Five Ridges. He told people: Jiuyi (Mount Jiuyi) and the Five Ridges are dwelling places of immortals; their landscapes are secluded and wondrous, their mist and rosy clouds exceptionally fine. Peaks such as those of Yangshuo, tall and elegant, and cave-dwellings such as Boluo, pure, quiet, and empty, are all unforgettable. Thus Zhurong rested his spirit at Hengfu (Mount Heng), Emperor Shun ascended to immortality at Cangwu, Hexu left immortal traces at Goufeng, and the Yellow Emperor rose to heaven at Dinghu riding a flying wheel. Why is it that the other high immortals, perfected ones, and divine beings roam free and at ease? Mountains are secluded and numinous, waters deep and clear; pines and bamboo reflect one another, cloud-vines are dim and dark—these are not what mortal bones and vulgar hearts delight in. Moreover, within deep caves another heaven and earth opens; jade nectar and dripping milk, numinous herbs and exquisite ganoderma—how could mortal eyes see them or mortal feet reach them? To attain the Way of prolonging life and wander freely in such places is truly a joy.

People of the world say that immortals have feather fans, and that those mysteriously one with the Dao ride maple carriages.

Wu Meng, courtesy name Shiyun, was returning from Zhongling (in present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi) and wished to cross the Yangtze. Encountering fierce winds and raging waves, he drew on the water’s surface with a white feather fan and crossed; everyone considered it wondrous.

Xue Xuantong, styled Xuantongzi, persisted unceasingly in reciting the Huangting Jing (Scripture of the Yellow Court, a Daoist classic of internal cultivation). An immortal descended and told him: “You have merit from reciting the Huangting Jing; the Earthly Bureau (the underworld office that records human merits and demerits) has repeatedly submitted reports, and your name is already recorded in the Mansion of Purple Void (a celestial abode).” Thereupon he was transmitted essential instructions. In the Xiantong era of Emperor Yizong of Tang, the Purple Void Primordial Lady (a high female immortal deity) descended and bestowed the Nine Flower Elixir, saying: “After taking this elixir, a paper carriage will be sent to welcome you back to Mount Song.” That very night he underwent transformation and departed (shijie, liberation through transformation, leaving no corpse). The local authorities memorialized the court, and Emperor Xizong of Tang was astonished.

The phrases “Cheng Lian rowing the boat” and “Zhuan He striking the stone” refer respectively to the following. Boya studied the qin under Master Cheng Lian. Cheng Lian said, “My teacher Fang Zichun is in the Eastern Sea and can alter a person’s spirit and temperament.” He then went with Boya to Mount Penglai and left Boya there, saying, “I will go to welcome my teacher.” So he rowed away and did not return for more than ten days. Boya heard only the vast sound of the waters, the deep seclusion of mountain forests, and the mournful cries of birds. He sighed, “The master intends to alter my temperament.” He took up his qin and sang, and suddenly understood the profound meaning within the qin. Cheng Lian rowed back to welcome him, and Boya’s artistry on the qin became unsurpassed in the world.

The Taiyuan Woman was surnamed Zhuan and named He. From childhood she practiced the Dao and could open doors and locks; when she pointed at a mountain, the mountain fell, and when she pointed at a tree, the tree toppled. She often led disciples through the mountains. At dusk she would strike a rock with her staff, and the rock would split open, revealing doors, curtains, wine, and dishes. She could reach a distance of ten thousand li in an instant, and her transformations between old and young were unpredictable. Later she entered Mount Baodu and ascended to heaven.

Chongzi gained renown, and Fenglin cultivated the practice of bixi (breath retention).

The Zhenyu records that Lord Dongqing, a Daoist immortal, said: Formerly, Guo Chongzi and his brothers—four men in all—had their arms wounded by a villain. His three younger brothers were furious and wanted revenge, but Chongzi urged them not to be angry and let the man go. The gist was that in a fleeting moment human affairs and the changes of youth and age are impermanent, so one need not hold a grudge. Later Guo Chongzi entered Mount Baodu and ascended to heaven. Yet another passage says: the man later became an official, and Guo Chongzi repeatedly praised him, more than once. When the man came to thank him, Chongzi still praised him without stopping, and the man said, “I am a wicked man and cannot bear your kindness,” and so he killed himself. Although Chongzi later attained the Dao, the Taiji Zhenren (Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate) held that he had the fault of “killing a person,” and therefore he could not become a Zhenren (Perfected) or upper immortal. The encomium line “Chongzi bestows praise; Fenglin closes his breath” refers to Guo Chongzi dealing with people through praise and Liu Fenglin cultivating through breath retention.

Lord Dongqing also said: Liu Fenglin studied the Dao on Mount Song for four hundred years. Three times he compounded a divine elixir, and each time it was ruined by malevolent creatures. He then moved to Mount Weiyu and practiced “closing the breath and not breathing”—controlling respiration, close to embryonic breathing. To date, more than a thousand years later, he still has not ascended to immortality. It is said that he only attained deathlessness and still could not command ghosts and spirits or transform freely at will.

The Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records: When He Zhizhang, a Tang literatus and official, served as Director of the Palace Library—an office in charge of books and archives—during the Kaiyuan era he encountered Mr. Tonghe, a Daoist priest, who transmitted elixir methods to him. The master admonished: first establish a covenant oath, and only then may it be transmitted; the ranks of immortals are like the grades of blue and purple official robes—using robe colors as a metaphor for high and low immortal ranks—and one cannot suddenly leap upward. One must put “retreat and restraint”—humility and moderation—first. If one can retreat and restrain oneself, one will have few desires; with few desires, the spirit becomes transcendent; with a transcendent spirit, one is Wuwei (non-action) and yet nothing is left undone. To seek the Dao in the opposite manner is like pulling a horse back while wanting to chase a galloping horse; I hope you remember this. He Zhizhang later abandoned office and requested to become a Daoist priest. The closing phrase “Tonghe, blue and purple; Qingxu, yellow and red” can be understood as highlighting the immortal ranks and levels of cultivation taught by Mr. Tonghe.

The Zhengao records: Qingxu Zhenren told Lord Yang that the Yellow and Red Way (a bedchamber sexual cultivation method) and the method of blending Qi (a technique for mixing breath and Qi) are merely the “seed” art that Zhang Ling transmitted to the people of the world (a method for reproduction and childbearing), not something that cultivators of the Dao should practice. I have often seen those who practice this art instead cut off their descendants, and I have never seen anyone attain long life by practicing the “seed” art. If one simultaneously fixes the mind on sexual-desire visualization and cultivates the higher Dao, it is as incongruous and dangerous as clutching fine jade and leaping into fire, or burying a dog in a golden coffin. The method of sexual-desire visualization is called Yellow and Red; the method of the higher Dao is called the Hidden Book.

Juanzi’s jade casket; Gongbi’s stone wall.

The Biography of Su Lin records: Juanzi was an immortal of antiquity. Once, while fishing by the river, he encountered the Boy Lord of the Eastern Sea, who told him: You have diligently sought the ultimate Dao; outwardly you borrow hunting and fishing as a pretext, using bait without making the catch your goal—this is the comprehensive way of nourishing life. If you catch a carp, try to cut it open. Having said this, he departed. Juanzi indeed caught a carp, and when he cut it open there was a green jade casket in its belly. Opening it, he found the method of the Three Primes and True Unity transmitted by Jinque Dijun (the Golden Gate Emperor Lord), a high Daoist deity. Cultivating according to it, Juanzi could summon clouds and bring rain, ride the void, and ascend into the clouds.

The Gaodao zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records: Zhang Gongbi was of unknown native place. Master Liu lived at Cloud Terrace and practiced Qi methods for more than twenty years. On each of the Three Primes festivals (Shangyuan, Zhongyuan, and Xiayuan), he often saw Zhang Gongbi come to attend the assembly, but he would always leave without speaking. Master Liu then asked him about it, and he replied, “I live beneath Lotus Peak.” Master Liu accordingly went along with him. When they reached a certain place, they saw a stone cliff towering high, rising a thousand xun (a xun was an ancient unit of length; “a thousand xun” describes extreme height). Zhang Gongbi knocked on the stone cliff; it split open, and inside there was another world, with all things arrayed. Zhang Gongbi said to his disciples, “The Master is here; you may prepare food and drink and put on some performances for the Master to see.” His disciples worked a spell with water, and soon they saw a pair of azure dragons and a pair of white elephants dancing, their movements very marvelous; a pair of vermilion phoenixes and a pair of blue luan birds sang, their voices clear and bright. They also gave Master Liu a bowl of water, into which they stirred a small spoonful of medicinal powder (daogui, a small spoon for measuring medicinal powder, used here for a small amount), and had him drink it; it tasted sweet and fragrant. After a while, Zhang Gongbi took leave of Master Liu and came out. When he looked back, he saw only the stone cliff.

Fascicle Five ends here. Fascicle Six is titled “Records of the Assembled Immortals of the Three Caverns, Fascicle Six,” compiled by Chen Baoguang, a Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoist. “Jade vessels fill themselves, while the clay gourd is often empty” literally means that vessels made of jade are naturally full, while a gourd made of clay is repeatedly empty.

The Gaodao zhuan records: The Daoist Wang Yan, courtesy name Ziyuan, studied under Zhenren (Perfected) Jiao Kuang at Yuntai Abbey on Mount Hua and received the secret formulas and true scriptures of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen), the esoteric transmission of the Daoist Three Caverns scriptural teachings. Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou admired the Daoist teachings and sent envoys to summon him. Zhenren Jiao said, “The Daoist teaching has declined and has long lacked anyone to save it; you should strive to propagate it and not let it remain in decline. I shall now depart.” After Wang Yan reached the capital, some time passed before he was permitted to return to the abbey, and the court further ordered that his dwelling be expanded and repaired. Because the mountain rock had no soil, obtaining soil was extremely arduous; he prayed silently to Heaven, and suddenly soil gushed forth beside the abbey, inexhaustible. He often lacked oil; he set out a vessel, and overnight it filled itself, so that after long use he still had surplus.

The Jin yishi records: Tao Gang (generally considered to be Tao Yuanming, sobriquet Mr. Five Willows) from youth had great aspirations and lofty interests, followed his true nature, and was self-content. Beside his house were five willows, so he wrote “Biography of Mr. Five Willows” to portray himself: “No one knows where this gentleman is from, nor is his name known in detail; since there are five willows beside his house, he takes this as his sobriquet.” He was calm and quiet, sparing of words, and did not admire glory or profit; he loved reading but did not seek profound understanding, and whenever he grasped the meaning he would rejoice and forget to eat. By nature he was fond of wine, but his family was poor and he could not often obtain it; relatives and friends sometimes set out wine and invited him, and when he went he would drink his fill and hope to become drunk; once drunk, he would withdraw and not linger. His house was empty and bare, unable to shelter him from wind and sun; his coarse clothes were torn and knotted, and his bamboo basket and gourd were often empty, yet he remained calm and at ease. “Song incense suffices for rain; the Hao talisman stops the wind” roughly means that Song incense can bring rain and the Hao talisman can stop wind, showing the efficacy of Daoist arts.

The Gaodao Zhuan records that during the time of the Daoist priest Song Yuanbai, Yuezhou suffered a severe drought. People were trying to seek rain by exposing themselves to the sun, issuing proclamations to summon the dragon deities, and other methods, but the long drought only grew worse. Song Yuanbai told people that whenever rain was to fall, one must wait for the “Heavenly Talisman” (tianfu, a heavenly warrant permitting rain); without petitioning Heaven, rain could not be summoned. He stayed at Yuanzhen Abbey, burning incense and offering prayers, and after one night sufficient heavy rain fell. The people of Yuezhou regarded this as miraculous. Xinzhou also suffered drought, and the situation was the same. He again said that one must wait for the Heavenly Talisman and that without a petition to Heaven it would be impossible; so once more he burned incense at Yuanzhen Abbey and offered prayers upward, and after a night there was ample heavy rain. The commandery general of Xinzhou specially invited him to pray for rain, and Yuanbai then performed the method of “Zuowei” (a Daoist ritual), praying before the statue of the City God (Chenghuang); in a moment rain fell.

The Xishan Ji records that Wu Meng, courtesy name Shiyun, was honored as Zhenjun (True Lord, an honorific for an eminent Daoist). Once a violent wind suddenly arose, and Shiyun drew a talisman and threw it onto the roof. A blue bird took the talisman in its beak and flew away, and after a short while the wind stopped. Someone asked why, and he replied: “A boat on South Lake encountered this violent wind, and two Daoists aboard called to Heaven for help, so I used this talisman to stop the wind.” Later verification showed that it was indeed so.

The Revered Master (Zunshi, an honorific for an eminent Daoist) can subdue fierce tigers, and the reclusive cultivator (Chushi) can tame dragons.

The Yeren Xianhua records that Yuntai Hua, a Daoist abbey in Weizhou, was a place once visited by Taishang Laojun (the Supreme Lord Lao) and Celestial Master (Tianshi) Zhang. In the abbey lived a Daoist priest named Pei Haozhong, whose native place was unknown. Over a hundred years old, he often ate pine branches or merely refined Qi (vital energy). He would constantly practice the wogu (firm-grip) hand posture—thumb pressed into the palm, hand clenched into a fist—and shuxi (counting breaths), sitting quietly with eyes closed; fierce tigers would circle him tamely, and those who lived with him saw this as well. One day he said to his disciples, “I am going elsewhere. Stay well and do not neglect your cultivation.” His disciples could not hold him back. Tucking up his robes, he climbed the sheer cliff as if walking on level ground, and like a flying bird or nimble ape went straight up to the summit and vanished. Later, when tiger trouble broke out in the villages, people vied with one another to paint the revered master’s image to suppress it, calling him the Revered Master Who Subdues Tigers (Fuhu Zunshi).

The Shangshu Gushi records: When Chancellor Niu was stationed at Xiangyang, there was a long drought, and there was a recluse scholar whom everyone said could rear dragons. Lord Niu asked him to bring rain. The recluse said, “There are no dragons in the Jiang-Han region. Only in one marsh is there a black dragon. If it is forcibly driven, I fear it will cause disaster and be difficult to control.” Lord Niu insisted, and sure enough heavy rain fell and swept away ten thousand households. The closing line, “Xiaoxian on the water, Derun in the jar,” alludes to the Daoist arts of two immortals: Xiaoxian displayed his art on water, while Derun manifested within a jar.

The Gaodao Zhuan records: Ge Xiaoxian (that is, Ge Xuan, courtesy name Xiaoxian, known as Immortal Ge) once followed the King of Wu’s boat to Sanjiangkou. They encountered a great wind, many boats drifted and were wrecked, and the immortal’s boat also disappeared. The King of Wu sighed and said, “The immortal has Daoist arts—how could he not escape this disaster?” He then sent envoys to search for him. After a night had passed, suddenly they saw the immortal walking on the surface of the water, his clothes and shoes not wet. When he arrived, he was somewhat tipsy. Asked the reason, he said, “Yesterday Wu Zixu (a famous minister of Wu, worshipped as a water god after death) forcibly detained me to drink, which caused Your Majesty to be delayed here.” When the King of Wu heard this, he was relieved.

The Tianshi Neizhuan records: Zhang Zhongchang, courtesy name Derun, was a great-great-grandson of the Celestial Master (Tianshi). He once answered a summons to court, but later quietly returned home and sighed, saying, “I nearly fell into the net of the world.” In his house there was always a buried jar. Ordinarily he ate meat and drank wine with his wife and children, but at night he would be inside the jar and not come out all day. This means that by day he followed worldly customs and mingled with ordinary people, while by night he secretly cultivated, concealed his form, and refined and nurtured himself.

The phrases “Chisong as Rain Master” and “Yuanzhi and the Water Mother” introduce two immortal anecdotes. The Liexian Zhuan says: Chisongzi was the Rain Master in the time of Shennong. He consumed water jade (a kind of jade like water essence) and taught Shennong with it; he could enter fire without being burned. He often went to the stone chamber of the Queen Mother of the West on Mount Kunlun, moving up and down with the wind and rain. The youngest daughter of the Yan Emperor followed him and also attained immortality, departing together with him. In the time of Gaoxin (Emperor Ku), Chisongzi again became Rain Master.

The Jin Yishi records: One day Zhao Yuanzhi went out and met a Daoist who bowed to him and led him into the water. Late at night, walking under the moon, the mud did not soil his body. Nearby he saw something shaped like a snake, emitting five-colored radiance. Yuanzhi was startled and asked what it was. The Daoist said, “This is called the Water Mother; those who see it can become immortals.”

“Dongyuan sounding the bell, Jianming hearing the drum” means that Dongyuan struck the bell and Jianming heard the drum. The sound of bells and drums among the immortals could be heard from one to another, displaying the phenomenon of sympathetic resonance in the immortal realm.

The Benzhuan records: Qu Baiting once studied under Master Huang Dongyuan of Taoyuan. One day he took his leave, and Huang Dongyuan asked, “Where will you go when you leave me?” He replied, “I am returning to my cave dwelling.” Huang wanted to keep him but could not; he only saw that Qu’s complexion was unusually radiant. Wearing a short cloth garment and a black silk headcloth, he hesitated, stepped back three paces, and suddenly vanished. Huang Dongyuan and the assembled Daoists were astonished and searched everywhere without finding a trace. They then rang the bell to assemble the temple personnel and made an extensive search of the mountain forest. When a temple attendant reached the northeastern edge of the forest, he encountered a large snake blocking the way and had to stop.

The Gaodao zhuan records: The Daoist priest Zhang Jianming was thoroughly versed in Laozi and Zhuangzi. Emperor Gaozu of Later Han, Liu Zhiyuan, summoned him and asked, “Can the Daoist school be used to govern the state?” He replied, “The Dao subtly permeates all things and is embodied in speech; one who grasps its root can govern the world even while dwelling quietly and sitting at leisure.” The emperor greatly admired this, invited him into the inner hall to lecture on the Daodejing, and took him as his teacher. One day Zhang Jianming suddenly heard the time-reporting drum in the palace and said, “Does Your Majesty hear the drum? Its sound is simply the One. Among the five notes—gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu—and the twelve pitches, the drum does not occupy any single note, yet it is the drum that harmonizes all the notes. The One is the root of all affairs; one who can guard the One can govern the world.” The emperor expressed approval and bestowed on him the title Master Tongxuan (Penetrating the Mysterious). Later, no one knew where he had gone.

“Wu Guang cuts chives, Gui Fu eats mallows” means that Wu Guang, an ancient high-minded scholar, fed himself by cutting chives, and Gui Fu, an ancient immortal, consumed mallow; both are allusions to cultivating the Dao and becoming immortal.

The Liexian Zhuan records: Wuguang (a Xia-dynasty recluse) was a man of the Xia dynasty. His ears were seven cun long; he loved playing the qin and regularly consumed leek roots. When Tang of Shang (Yin Tang) campaigned against Jie of Xia, he sought out Wuguang for counsel. Wuguang said, “This is not something I should concern myself with.” Tang asked, “Who, then, is capable?” Wuguang replied, “I do not know.” Tang asked again, “What about Yi Yin (Tang’s worthy minister)?” Wuguang said, “He is capable and can endure humiliation; beyond that I do not know.” After Tang of Shang defeated Jie of Xia, he wished to yield the realm to Wuguang, saying, “The wise plan it, the martial complete it, the benevolent keep and guard it—such has been the principle since ancient times. Why do you not take the throne? Let me assist you.” Wuguang declined, saying, “To depose a ruler is unrighteous; to kill another is inhumane. For others to go risk danger while I enjoy the profit does not accord with the way of ease. I have heard that one does not accept the stipends of one whose cause is unrighteous, nor set foot in the court of a ruler whose age lacks the Dao; how much less should I be honored as ruler? I cannot bear it.” Thereupon he carried a stone on his back and drowned himself in the Liao River (the name of a waterway), and afterward concealed himself. More than four hundred years later, in the time of Wu Ding (king of Shang), Wuguang appeared again. Wu Ding wished to appoint him minister, but he refused. Wu Ding sent a carriage to welcome him, but he avoided it and would not meet according to ritual; thereupon he cast himself into the water and drifted about, later roaming at Shangfu Mountain (a mountain). The Zhen’gao (a Shangqing Daoist classic) says, “Wuguang cut leeks and entered the Qingling Spring,” referring precisely to his consumption of leek roots.

There was also Gui Fu (an immortal), a native of Xianglin (a place name). His complexion was sometimes black, sometimes white, sometimes red, and sometimes yellow; the people of Nanhai (a place name) who saw him all revered him. He regularly consumed cassia and mallow, blended with turtle brains, making a thousand pills weighing ten jin. Gui Fu was seen by people in successive generations; even now, south of Jingzhou (a place name), cassia pills are still in circulation.

Tan Yi (a person’s name), one of the immortal company, is recorded as having sojourned away from home, hired himself out as a laborer, and lodged in a host’s household.

Tan Yi of the Tang dynasty was born at the end of the Kaiyuan era; at birth he could already speak. By the time he was a few years old, he was over six chi tall, had grown beard and hair, and his bearing was unlike that of ordinary people. He neither ate nor drank, and he walked so fast that he could overtake a galloping horse. Later he suddenly disappeared. People near and far found this strange and considered him a divine man, so the village built a shrine and offered sacrifices to him. During the Dali era he suddenly returned home, now wearing a rosy-cloud crown and feathered robes (immortal Daoist attire), clearly belonging to the ranks of true immortals. After taking leave of his parents, he rose into the air and departed.

Zizhu, whose native place is unknown, went to visit the Prince of Jiangdu (a title of feudal princes) and declared: “Master Xiao hired me to work for more than two hundred years, and I still have not become a Zhenren (Perfected Person; in Daoism, one who cultivates the Dao and attains realization).” The Prince of Jiangdu thought him mad and asked where Master Xiao lived; he replied, “On Longmei Mountain.” The Prince of Jiangdu sent an envoy to accompany him up Long Mountain, and at the summit they indeed saw Master Xiao: his body was covered with hair, his ears were large, and with his hair unbound he was playing the se zither. When Zizhu saw him he bowed his head, and the envoy conveyed the prince’s command. Master Xiao said, “This Zizhu is the ninth-generation descendant of my neighbor; do not meddle in the matter of my hired labor.” The envoy then went down the mountain.

Shi Wen’s literary talent surged like a spring; Chang Hong’s rhetorical brilliance flew like snow.

The Liezi records that Hu Ba, an ancient master of the se, played the se and birds danced to the sound while fish leaped from the water. When Zheng Shiwen heard of this, he left home to study under Shi Xiang, a musician of the Spring and Autumn period. Shi Xiang asked, “How is your qin playing now?” Shiwen replied, “I have attained something; please let me try playing.” Thereupon, in spring he plucked the Shang string to summon the Nanlü pitch—Shang being one of the Five Notes and Nanlü one of the Twelve Pitches—and a cold wind suddenly blew, while plants and trees bore fruit. In autumn he plucked the Jue string to arouse the Jiazhong pitch, and a warm breeze gently swirled as plants and trees flourished. In summer he plucked the Yu string to summon the Huangzhong pitch, and frost and snow mingled as rivers and ponds suddenly froze. In winter he plucked the Zhi string to arouse the Ruibin pitch, and the sunlight blazed as solid ice immediately melted. Finally he plucked the Gong string to harmonize the four strings, whereupon auspicious winds circled, felicitous clouds drifted, sweet dew descended, and sweet springs gushed forth.

The Shiyiji, or Records of Gleanings, records that in the twenty-third year of King Ling of Zhou, the Kunzhao Terrace was built, also called the Xuanzhao Terrace. It was a hundred zhang high, and from the terrace one could gaze upon cloud vapors. At that time Chang Hong—traditionally identified as the Zhou grandee Chang Hong—could summon wondrous and extraordinary beings. When King Ling ascended the terrace, he saw dense cloud vapors, and suddenly two men came riding on clouds. Their beards and hair were all yellow, and their appearance was extraordinarily wondrous—in the scripture this is phrased as “the brushwork of soaring dragons and flying phoenixes.” They rode upon azure glass, and their clothes were all sewn from feathers. King Ling welcomed them to seats of honor. At that time the world was in severe drought; the earth cracked and trees burned. One of them first uttered a sound and worked magic; he could produce frost and snow. He drew in Qi and blew it out, and at once clouds rose and snow flew. All those seated felt cold, and the ponds and wells in the palace froze solid enough to be carved. He also set out white fox-fur coats made from fox underarm fur and cushions patterned with purple bears; the cushions were tribute from the Western Regions. The other uttered a sound and worked magic, able to make the seats instantly hot. He flicked the mat with his finger, a warm wind entered the room, and the fur coats and cushions were all thrown down from the terrace.

The final line, “Xiao follows Nongyu; Duzi is matched with Lianmei,” is a summary of immortal couples paired together: Xiao Shi with Nongyu, and Duzi with the Lianmei Woman.

The Liexian Zhuan records: Xiao Shi was a man of the time of Duke Mu of Qin and could make peacocks and white magpies dance. Duke Mu’s daughter Nong Yu loved him, so Duke Mu married her to Xiao Shi, and Xiao Shi taught Nong Yu to imitate the cry of the phoenix. After several decades, Nong Yu played the flute and produced the sound of a phoenix; a phoenix came and perched on her roof. Duke Mu built the Phoenix Terrace, and the couple lived on it for many years. One day, they flew away together with the phoenix, so the people of Qin built the Phoenix Maiden Shrine at Yong Palace, and from time to time the sound of the flute could still be heard.

The Shenxian Zhuan records: The immortal Duzi of Black Mountain was a man of Zheng. He lived on Black Mountain, gathered pine seeds and fuling (poria) to eat, and had done so for several hundred years. At times he was in the prime of youth, at times aged; at times handsome, at times ugly—so people knew he was an immortal. Du Yang Nü (Du Nü) was also a person of Zheng. She lived on Black Mountain, gathered pine seeds and fuling and ate them for several hundred years; her appearance too was sometimes young and strong, sometimes old, sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly, and she was regarded as an immortal. Du Nü was born with joined eyebrows and long, slender ears; everyone found this strange, and popularly called her a heavenly immortal. Duzi sought a mate; Du Nü liked him and so stayed with him as his companion. When they went out, Du Nü would lead Duzi by the ear as they walked together, and no one could catch up with them. Zuo Taichong (Zuo Si), in his Weidu Fu, says, “Chang Rong’s refined complexion; Duzi paired with the joined eyebrows”; the matter of Chang Rong is recorded elsewhere.

Zhang Lao wore a rush hat, and Meng Qi wore grass garments. The Shenxian Zhuan records: Zhang Lao was a garden official in Liuhe County, Yangzhou, and married the daughter of his neighbor Wei Shu. One day he left with his wife and said, “I have a small estate at the foot of Tuju Mountain, and I must return there tomorrow morning; if in the future you miss her, you may have your elder brother go to Tian…”