《三洞群仙录》Vol. 5

A certain immortal was skilled in divination (bu shi); he later withdrew to Mount Tianmu to live in seclusion, met the immortal Huichezi, received elixir scriptures, and completed his cultivation. He now serves in the grotto-heaven as Dianbing Lang—a celestial post in charge of registers and examination—testing those who have attained the Way.

Han Kang’s flight from fame and Dai Meng’s change of surname are both examples of immortals hiding their names.

The Hou Han Yishi (Apocryphal History of Later Han) records: Han Kang, courtesy name Xiubo, often went to famous mountains to gather herbs and sold medicine on the roads of Chang’an, fixing one price and never haggling, unchanged for more than thirty years. Once a woman came to buy medicine; Han Kang held to his fixed price and would not budge. The woman angrily said, “Aren’t you Han Kang Xiubo? And you still won’t bargain on price?” Han Kang sighed and said, “I meant to escape my name; now even women know of me—what point is there in selling medicine?” He then went into seclusion in Mount Baling. The court repeatedly summoned him with the official guest carriage (gongche, the vehicle used to summon scholars to office), but he never went.

The Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records: The Daoist priest Dai Meng was originally surnamed Yan and named Ji, a man of late Han times. He held that those who cultivate life should conceal their names and hide the era of their birth, so he changed his surname to Dai and pretended to have served in the court of Emperor Wu. In youth Dai Meng loved the Way and was filial in serving his mother. When the mourning period for his mother ended, he entered Mount Hua, took medicinal herbs and trees, met the Perfected Pei, who transmitted to him the Yupei Jin Dang Jing, and thereafter could travel light-bodied among famous mountains, walking seven hundred li in a day.

Yellow talismans (huang fu) could treat plague; su incense could call back departed souls (restore the dead to life).

Collection of Mysterious Sights records: In Chang’an there was a man named Huang Gong who once bought a servant and had him carry loads and follow him for about a year or two. The Huang household was poor, and husband and wife sighed in grief together. When the servant heard this, he asked: “Master, how much money do you need?” Huang Gong replied: “Five hundred thousand cash.” The servant said: “I know a little minor technique; I can get it for you.” He then bought good paper, brush, inkstone, an earthen jar, and a bundle of kindling. The next morning they went to the market together. The servant folded the paper into hundreds of layers, took up the brush, and said to the crowd: “I will now draw a talisman on this paper so that the ink seeps through layer after layer. Next year Chang’an will suffer a great epidemic; this talisman can cure illness. Each sheet sells for fifty gold.” In the end they indeed received five hundred thousand cash. Then the servant blew his breath onto the kindling until it burst into flame, bright enough to light up people’s faces; he covered his head with the earthen jar, sat down in the fire, and was gone—no one knew where. The next year Chang’an truly had a great epidemic, and those who held this talisman were spared the plague.

Records of the Subtle Cave records: Su Degge was skilled at preparing “soul-recalling incense” (incense that summons the spirits of the dead), but if the deceased had been gone more than eighty-one years, they could not be called back. At that time Xu Zhao, chief clerk of the Bureau of Astronomy (in one place the text reads Xu Bi), wept and begged him: he wished to see his deceased parents and great-grandparents. Su Degge agreed, took from his robe a packet of fragrant powder like white sandalwood, pinched it into the censer, and the smoke rose straight up, denser than borneol (camphor). Su Degge murmured in a low voice: “Xu Zhao wishes to see his forebears; may this incense smoke serve as their guide.” After about the time it takes to eat a meal, suddenly a chill wind stirred the curtains, and Xu Zhao’s grandparents and great-grandparents appeared. Xu Zhao wept and prostrated himself. Looking closely, their hats and robes were exactly as in life. They said: “To meet today is truly rare.” After tea and wine, they slowly passed beyond the curtain and dissolved into mist and vanished. Su Degge’s later fate is also unknown.

Lady of the Jade Goblet was an immortal of Jinhua.

According to the Record of Mysterious Wonders, Scholar Cui met a young woman at Luogu Pass in Eastern Zhou and formally betrothed her. His mother said the new bride was unnaturally lovely and must be a fox spirit seducing him, which would bring him harm. The woman replied: I came to be a wife and keep house, hoping we would stay together for life; since your honored mother treats me as a fox enchantress, I will leave tomorrow. The next day she went into the mountains and disappeared without a trace. Later a foreign monk said: The wife you married was the immortal Lady Yuzhi (Jade Cup); if you had kept her for one year, your whole family would have become immortals. Cui could only sigh with regret.

The Great Cave Jade Instructions say: In Taichu Heaven (a name for a Daoist celestial realm) there is the Pool of Flowing Tears; in it stands a jade tree, with lotuses ten zhang across around it; the pool is a thousand li wide and its water is fragrant and fine. Immortals of Jinhua often dwell within the lotuses; drinking the water of the Flowing Tears clears the five viscera and a purple cloud appears on the face. The closing line, that Zhang mistakenly ate something defiling and therefore ought not to eat meat or strong-smelling food, means he had ingested something unclean and, on that account, should avoid flesh and pungent fare.

Records of the Strange (Kuoyizhi) relates that Zhang Tao of the Hall of Dragon Designs was the son of Zhang Kui, a Hanlin Academician Extraordinary and Commissioner of Military Affairs. When Zhang Kui served as Vice Censor-in-Chief, he attended court daily in the capital while renting a house and often kept the door shut. One day someone knocked urgently and shouted: “The young master has gone in—why have you not let him out yet?” Zhang Tao rose to look and saw an old Daoist priest; suspecting madness or drunkenness, he did not argue, and only after a long while did the priest leave. Zhang Tao’s mother was already pregnant; that night she gave birth to Zhang Tao. Zhang Tao passed the highest civil examination in the first year of the Jingyou era. Later he accidentally ate dog meat (a ritually impure food forbidden in Daoism). He dreamed that a messenger in yellow pursued him to a government office, where a Daoist priest asked: “Why did you eat something impure?” Zhang Tao pleaded: “Not on purpose—it was accidental.” The priest said: “Since that is so, stay here for now; I will speak for you.” Shortly the priest came out and called Zhang Tao: “You may give thanks.” He led him before the hall to report: “Zhang Tao accidentally ate something impure.” Zhang Tao thanked the court, bowed again, and woke, sweat covering his whole body. His spirit and bearing were clear and fine, his mind broad and open—might he have been an immortal official banished to the human realm?

Biographies of Eminent Daoists (Gaodaozhuan) relates that the mother of the priest Ying Yijie dreamed a shooting star entered the window; startled awake, she saw light in the room and became pregnant. From birth Ying Yijie disliked meat; he received registers of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) and Zixu lineages (Daoist ordination registers marking stages of entry into the Way) and practiced with diligence. He once told disciples: “Because I uphold the teaching, I cannot hide every trace of my conduct; cultivation that does not violate human relations can gradually reach fulfillment. How far apart are the Jade Capital and Golden Gates of heaven (the celestial immortal citadel) and the dark realm of Fengdu in the underworld (the nether administration)? They appear only as the mind presents them—apply yourselves.”

The text also mentions “Zi Jin peering into a well, and Shi Ze knocking at the door.” According to Records of Gathered Remains (Shiyiji), in the first year of the Great Beginning, when the Wei emperor was still King of Chenliu, the state of Pinisi had a cinnabar-stone well not dug by human hands; how far its bottom lay from the capital also depended solely on what the mind manifested.

Records of Gleanings (Shiyi Ji) records that in the first year of the Great Beginning era—when the Wei emperor was still King of Chenliu—there was in the land of Pinsi a cinnabar-stone well that no human hand had dug; it ran down to a leaking spring, and the water often boiled and surged. When immortals wished to drink, they drew it up with long ropes. The people of that country were all very strong; they ate no grain, cast no shadow at noon, and lived on hanging dew, cloud-mist, and the like, wearing garments of feathers. Their hair was as coarse as thread, tough as sinew, and when stretched could reach nearly ten zhang; released, it would shrink back again. Like splicing human hair with a shell scoop, they made ropes to draw water from the cinnabar well. White frogs with two wings lived in the water and often flew back and forth above the well; immortals ate them. When Prince Zijin came to the well and looked in, a blue sparrow brought him a jade ladle; as soon as he took it, clouds rose and snow flew. He waved his sleeve, and the clouds and snow stopped at once; the white frogs turned into paired doves and vanished into the clouds.

Records of Dramatic Talk (Jutan Lu) records that Yan Shize served as Director of Imperial Wardrobe (Shangyi Fengyu, in charge of the emperor’s garments) under Emperor Muzong of Tang. While gathering herbs in the mountains, he saw amid smoke-wreathed vines a thatched hut enclosed on all sides. A man lay on a stone. Shize stepped forward to greet him; the man replied: “Since the An–Shi rebellion I have lived here in seclusion—I know neither year nor season, and I kindle no fire. Seeing you have come from afar, I have nothing to fill your stomach.” He took from a paper pouch something shaped like a flat bean, drew spring water to cook it, and after a long while it was fragrant and done; he had Shize eat it, and Shize felt fully satisfied. The man also said: “That you could reach this place is due to karmic ties from a former life. You will one day rise to regional governor (fangbo); if you can leave worldly glory behind, long life is also within reach.”

End of Volume Eleven. Volume Twelve was compiled by the Zhengyi Daoist priest Chen Baoguang. “Lord He Pours Wine, Daozi Splashes Ink” is the title of the opening entry of Volume Twelve—literally the immortal trace of Lord He pouring wine and Daozi splashing ink with the brush.

The Zongxian Ji (General Record of Immortals) records that He Hou lived in seclusion on Cangwu Mountain in the age of Emperor Yao. When Shun toured the south, he stayed in He Hou’s home. The Great Emperor and the Five Old Ones (Wulao) came to visit Shun and said that the time for Shun to ascend as an immortal was already fixed. The next day the Five Emperors descended to receive Shun, and Shun rose to heaven in broad daylight. The Five Emperors gave He Hou a vessel of elixir and told him to mix it into wine; more than three hundred members of He Hou’s household drank from it, yet the supply never ran out. They then poured what remained onto the roof and walls, and the whole dwelling rose into the air. For this He Hou was enfeoffed as the True Person of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji zhenren), a rank among Daoist immortals. On Jiunong Mountain there is still a temple to He Hou, beside the temple of Shun.

The Xiaoxian Zhuan (Biographies of Lesser Immortals) records that Wu Daozi mastered arts of the immortals, and his painting was so fine it seemed divine. Emperor Taizong of Tang heard of him and summoned him to court. In the palace was a plaster wall several xun high, and he was asked to paint a landscape on it. Wu Daozi screened the wall with curtains, splashed ink on the surface, and covered it again with the hangings; after a long while he said, “Your Majesty may view the painting.” Mountains, forests, grass and trees, human figures, birds and beasts—all appeared complete. The emperor looked for a long time and noticed a small cave beneath the rocks. Wu Daozi pointed and said, “Many immortals dwell in this cave; if you knock, they will surely answer.” He struck the rock once, the cave mouth opened, and a boy attendant stood at the side. Wu Daozi said, “The scenery inside is excellent; I beg Your Majesty to enter and see.” He leapt into the cave and beckoned the emperor with his hand, but Taizong did not dare go in, and the cave mouth closed again. From that time Wu Daozi was never seen again.

“Jianqiong as the Wine Star, Zhang Lu the Rice Thief” is a compressed line of appraisal: Jianqiong is likened to the Wine Star (jiuxing, the star or immortal associated with wine), while Zhang Lu is disparaged as the “Rice Thief”—Zhang Lu having been the leader of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice (Wudou midao), whence the epithet.

Records of Lost Histories relates that when Zhang Qiu Jianqiong (a compound surname: Zhangqiu; a frontier commander of the Western Circuit under Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) held the west, he had people seek out those skilled in the Way. There was a man who drank heavily—more than his companions—and was in no hurry for profit; he had run up many debts on credit. Four men wearing gauze caps, leaning on staffs, and wearing straw sandals often came to drink. Each drank several dou; in all they owed more than ten shi of wine, and he paid every debt for them. The four joked and bantered, drank their fill, and left. When Zhang learned of this, he sent men to watch in secret. For more than a month afterward the four did not appear. Then one day they came again. Zhang drove out quietly in official dress and approached. The four leapt up and bowed, looked at one another, then rose slowly—and at once vanished. Emperor Ming of Tang (Xuanzong) was fond of Daoist arts; Zhang memorialized the court, and the emperor questioned Master Sun, who said: “These were the Taibai Wine Star”—the star that presides over wine.

Biography of the Celestial Master records that Zhang Lu, styled Gongqi, served as governor of Hanzhong and Nanzheng. He regularly used the Way and its methods to treat illness; the sick recovered on the spot. Whenever he transmitted a method to cure someone, he asked the patient to give one hu of rice. Little by little the amount grew enormous. When the King of Wei (Cao Cao) held power as regent, he called Zhang “the rice bandit” and sent generals with troops against him. Disciples saw the army arrive and ran to Zhang in fear. Zhang traced the ground with his hand tablet (huban, here used as a ritual implement), and a swift river appeared on the earth so the soldiers could not cross; they then tried to come by water. Zhang traced the empty air with the tablet, and ninefold peaks rose straight into the clouds so the army could not advance. Later the King of Wei sent envoys with apologies, appointed him governor of Liang and Yi, General Who Guards the South, and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Guanzhong. Zhang Lu later ascended and became an immortal.

“Guizhen displays the document; Bochou expounds the Yi” means that Guizhen showed the written text and Bochou discussed the principles of the Book of Changes.

According to Xiangshan Wild Records: In the Bingchen year of Emperor Shenzong’s Xining reign (1076), bandits from Jiaozhi raided Yong Prefecture (roughly today’s Nanning region in Guangxi). Tang Zhuzuo (style Zizheng), a deputy official there, and his entire household were killed. Tang was a native of Guilin; during the Zhiping era he had gone to the capital to take the civil-service selection examination. On the road, when he reached Quanzhou, he wanted to hire a manservant and passed through Yuanzhou, where he ran into a former bondsman who had once served him in Yuanzhou. That man carried a heavy load yet moved as if flying; even when Tang whipped his horse in pursuit, the man stayed more than a hundred paces ahead. Fearing the man would run off, Tang sent him away. That same day the servant went from Quanzhou to Tangzhou—nearly twenty-seven hundred li—and arrived by midday. He left a note with the post clerk: “When Tang Xiucai from Guilin arrives, give this to him.” More than a month passed before Tang got there. He dismounted and entered the station; the clerk came forward and asked, “Are you not Tang Xiucai? Someone left a letter here a month ago,” and handed it over. The seal read “Sealed by Gui Zhenzi.” Tang opened it and found only a poem: “We met at Yuan Mountain and met again at Quan; / Without meeting the master, the Way is not yet round. / Those who set their hearts on wealth and rank / In the end have no share in learning immortals. / The spirit medicine in the basket—give it often; / Do not rashly pass on cinnabar in the cauldron. / Wait until the Horned Dragon year for the swallow’s feast; / Then seek the yellow cliff and retire to forest springs.” When Tang asked what the letter-leaver looked like, it was exactly the servant he had dismissed at Quanzhou. Later, when Tang met his death, it was indeed the Bingchen year—matching the poem’s “Horned Dragon” (the chen branch is the Dragon). The poem’s gist: meeting again at Yuanshan and then at Quanzhou without encountering the master meant the Way was unfinished; those who chase fortune and office ultimately have no portion in the immortal path; the elixir in the chest should be dispensed generously, while inner-alchemy cinnabar must not be transmitted lightly; when the Horned Dragon year comes, one may seek the yellow cliff and withdraw to the woods and streams.

According to Collected Remnants of Immortal Biographies: Yang Bochou loved to read the Book of Changes and lived in seclusion on Mount Hua. The Sui scholar He Tuo once asked him from whom he had learned the Yi. He replied, “In the Jintian Cave beneath Mount Taihua, Fuxi taught me the Changes.” He added that it shares one source with the great Dao and exhausts countless subtleties—how could one bandy it with ordinary Confucian scholars to gauge the intent of immortals?

“Ge’s talismans up and down, Zheng’s winds south and north” means that Immortal Ge’s divine talismans could move with or against the water, while the tale of Zheng Hong left a wind that blows south by day and north by night. According to the Dantai xinlu, when Ge Xuan (Ge Xuan, a Daoist immortal) was on a boat, a disciple saw more than ten talismans in his chest and asked what they could accomplish and whether he might see them. Ge Xuan said divine talismans could do anything. When the disciple insisted on seeing, he took one talisman and cast it into the water. The current was swift and the talisman went downstream with it. Ge Xuan asked what they thought; the guest said several people throwing talismans would do the same. He cast a second talisman; this one went upstream against the flow. Ge Xuan asked again; the guest said it was marvelous. He cast a third; it stood still in the water, neither rising nor sinking. After a while the upper talisman came down, the lower one came up, and they met in the middle; all three joined and no longer drifted away.

The biography of Zheng Hong cites the Huiji ji: south of Mount She is White Crane Mountain, where white cranes fetched arrows for immortals. When Han Grand Commandant Zheng Hong was gathering firewood he picked up a lost arrow; soon someone came for it and he returned it. The visitor asked what he wished in return. Zheng Hong knew he was a divine being and often found it hard to haul firewood across the Ruoye stretch (a place-name, or the area around Ruoye Stream), so he asked for a south wind in the morning and a north wind in the evening—and afterward it was so. Hence the wind on the Ruoye water is still called “Lord Zheng’s wind.”

“Dai Yang is short and homely, Li A is poor” means Dai Yang was small and ugly in appearance and Li A lived in poverty. The History of Jin records Dai Yang, courtesy name Guoliu, a man of Wuxing, who found it hard to transport firewood on the Ruoye water and wished for south wind by day and north wind by night; it later came true as he asked. Therefore the wind on the Ruoye water is still called Lord Zheng’s wind.

Dai Yang, styled Guoliu, was a native of Changcheng in Wuxing. At twelve he died of illness; five days later he revived and said that after death a celestial envoy had appointed him wine-store clerk (a minor official in charge of the wine treasury), conferred fu-lu (Daoist ritual credentials) upon him, and had him follow banners and ceremonial guard, intending to take him to mountains such as Penglai, Kunlun, Jishi, Taihuang, Dan, Lu, and Heng. He was then sent back; on the road an old man told him he would later attain the Dao and win the esteem of eminent patrons. When grown, Dai Yang excelled at fengjiao (divination from wind direction and related signs), was skilled in prognostication and reckoning, loved Daoist arts, and was short and plain in appearance.

Li A was from Shu. He often begged in Chengdu and gave what he received to the poor. He left at night and returned in the morning; no one knew where he lived. Later one day he told people he had been summoned to Kunlun and was leaving—and never appeared again.

Liu Kuan was a man of generous character; Xia Qi held the title Ming Lord (a honorific divine office). The Zhen Gao (Declarations of the Perfected) records that Liu Kuan of the Later Han rose to Grand Commandant under Emperor Ling. Once, while entertaining guests, he sent a household servant to buy wine; the servant was long absent and returned very drunk. The guests could not bear it and cursed him as “beast-born.” After a while Liu Kuan sent someone to check on him, fearing the man might kill himself from shame, and said to those around him: “This man was called ‘beast-born’—is there a greater insult? So I fear he may die.” Liu Kuan’s wife wished to test him and provoke anger. As he was about to go to court, already dressed in ceremonial robes, she had a maid bring meat broth and deliberately spill it on his court dress. The maid hurried to tidy up; Liu Kuan’s expression did not change, and he said slowly: “Did the broth scald your hand?” Such was his temperament and bearing that all under heaven called him a man of generous character.

The Chanyouwei (Disclosing the Subtle) chapter states that Xia Qi, King Wen of Zhou, Duke of Shao (Shaogong Yi, a worthy minister of early Zhou), and Ji Zha of Wu (an worthy prince of Wu in the Spring and Autumn period)—with Xia Qi as Dongming Lord—would all four later ascend to the immortal ranks and oversee ghostly affairs in the four directions.

The phrase “Li Ying in the jiao chamber, Simiao in the dragon palace” alludes to the immortal lore of Li Ying’s encounter with the jiao chamber and Sun Simiao’s tie to the dragon palace.

Li Ying once met a divine woman who gave him a bolt of white silk, saying it had been woven in the Jiao Chamber—the dragon palace. Later he met a merchant from the Western Regions who offered three million cash for the cloth and said it was woven from the fine whiskers beneath a dragon’s jaw, each filament taking thirty minor kalpas (an immensely long span of cosmic time) before a single thread would break.

When Sun Simiao saw someone about to kill a snake, he took off his garment to redeem it, then treated the wound with medicine and released the snake back into the grass. Several months later, someone suddenly invited him to a walled city that looked like a king’s residence. A man in deep-red robes thanked him, saying, “Your humble servant was once saved by your kindness.” Sun Simiao quietly asked those beside him what place this was; they answered that it was the Jingyang Water Palace—the seat of the Jingyang water god. The palace entertained him with wine and asked what he desired. Sun Simiao said, “I dwell in the mountains and delight in the Dao; I want nothing.” They then produced thirty prescriptions from the dragon palace, saying these formulas could save the world and heal the sick. After he returned, he tried them one by one and saved countless lives; when he compiled the Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold (Qianjin Fang), he scattered these dragon-palace formulas throughout the work. Emperor Gaozong of Tang heard of his fame and offered him the post of Remonstrance Grandee; he did not accept. Later he achieved corporeal liberation (shijie—a Daoist mode of transcendence in which one leaves garments behind and ascends): only empty clothes remained—the figure known today as Sun Zhenren (Immortal Sun).

Ge Qi could pray for rain; Zhao Bing could summon wind. Huang Luzi, surname Ge, given name Ge Qi—when he treated illness, people a thousand li away need only send their names to request care, and all were cured. He lived to two hundred eighty years, could chant over water so that it flowed backward, lift a thousand jin, and when he walked could keep pace with a galloping horse; above his head there was often a column of five-colored luminous qi more than a zhang high. In great drought he would go to a deep pool, call the dragon forth, and urge it to ascend to heaven; then rain would fall for several days. One day he mounted a dragon, took leave of kin and friends, and departed, never to return.

According to the General Record of Immortals, Zhao Bing (courtesy name Gong’a, a native of Shuyang) once met an old friend while traveling far from home. He used stream water from Shuyang as wine and shaved mulberry bark into strips to serve as dried meat to go with it; both men drank and ate their fill as if at a feast. On another occasion he wanted to cross a river and asked a boatman on the bank for a boat, but the man refused. Zhao spread out his sitting mat and sat on the water’s surface, called up wind to churn the current, and rode the disturbance across; not a drop wet his body, and people at the time took it as divine.

Huang Ruanqiu, a Daoist of Mushan, wore a fur coat and wore his hair loose. His ears were six or seven inches long and he had no teeth in his mouth. He could walk four or five hundred li in a day, and for years made a living in the mountains planting scallions and selling medicine. He lived more than a hundred years, yet no one knew who he was until Zhu Huang identified him as a transcendent being. When people went to seek him again, he had vanished without a trace. Wen Bin of Taichiu made a living selling straw sandals. One day he abandoned his wife and entered the mountains, took chrysanthemum as food, and did not come out again. When his wife, grown old, went into the mountains to find her husband, she saw Wen Bin looking even younger than before, and she too refused to leave the hills. Wen Bin said she also had affinity with the Way; he had her take chrysanthemum and nurture her breath, and husband and wife both attained the Way together.

Xie Fu (courtesy name Qingxu, of Kuaiji) stayed on Mount Taibai for more than ten years. The regional commander summoned him to serve as chief clerk, and the central offices invited him to be a Erudite; he accepted neither post. Earlier, the moon had encroached upon the star Shaowe—also called the “Hermit Star,” which stands for recluses—and astrologers thought the omen would fall on a hidden worthy. Dai Kui of the state of Qiao was outstanding in talent, and some worried the sign pointed to him; in the end it was Xie Fu who died, so the gentry of Kuaiji mocked the people of Wu: “A lofty man of Wu—even if he wanted to die, he could not manage it.” Li Zhi once composed a Rhapsody on the Kang Constellation (Kang being one of the twenty-eight lunar mansions). In the preface to the rhapsody he wrote that in youth he was often ill and his body was too frail and weak to bear much.

Yuhu Qinghua (Clear Talk from the Jade Pot) records that Li Zhi, while serving in a southern post, once wrote Rhapsody on the Horn Constellation. In the preface he wrote: In youth I was often ill, so frail that my clothes hung loose on me. In the gengyin year I suddenly dreamed that I was visiting a Daoist palace, all gold and jade splendor, with a great hall and a throne upon which a golden dragon was coiled—blue whiskers, golden mane, its radiance filling heaven and earth. Beside the throne stood a young Daoist priest whose gaze flashed like lightning. He said to me: “This is the Palace of the Horn Constellation (Kang is one of the Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions; in Daoism it corresponds to the Horn Golden Dragon). The turning of heaven’s patterns never rests; you should bow in worship at once. You are destined to serve this dragon in due time, and your long-standing illness will also be cleared away.” I was about to bow to the dragon, but I bowed first toward the supreme Way (zhidao). Later, Emperor Taizong of Song installed Zhenzong as crown prince and appointed Li Zhi of the southern post and Li Kangxiang together as tutors to the heir. Taizong admonished Zhenzong: “These two are venerable scholars of high standing; you must not treat them lightly. With upright men chosen to guide you, I need not worry about the foundation of the realm.” Zhenzong respectfully obeyed his father’s instruction and bowed to them first whenever he met them—exactly matching the omen of the Horn Constellation palace in his dream.

Youyang Zazu (Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang) records that Wang Qiong possessed Daoist techniques. He drew the pattern of a turtle shell on a tile and tucked it in his robe; shortly afterward he took it out and set it on the ground, and it became a real turtle crawling about the courtyard. After a few days it turned back into a tile again.

Xishan Ji (Record of the Western Mountains) records that Perfected Lord Huang, personal name Renxian, style Ziting. One day he received an edict from the Jade Emperor summoning him to ascend to heaven, while his two younger brothers were still out hunting. Ziting hurried to call them back. They said: “By nature we love roaming free; we cannot bear the life of immortals. We only wish the whole family to rise together—we do not want to leave the human world.” They also feared that the allotted span for their hunting of deer was not yet complete, and so clung stubbornly to this course. Ziting knew their karmic lot was fixed thus; he transmitted to them the arts of the earth immortals (dixian—practitioners who cultivate perfection while remaining in the world) and taught them how to refine and transform. He also broke off grass and shaped it into deer, to check their deluded fixation. The two brothers later went into seclusion on the Western Mountains.

Wang Guanxiang perfected the Way of “Escaping the Net” (Tuowang), and Xu Ying mastered the method of “Jiedong.” According to the Zhengao, Wang Guanxiang was the daughter of the Spirit King and younger sister of her brother Qiao; she received from Qiao the Way known as “Flying Release and Escaping the Net” (feituo tuowang), cultivated in the mountains with him for thirty-nine years until she attained the Dao, was granted a writ and appointed Consort of the Purple-Green Palace (ziqing guanfei), overseeing the Eastern Palace (xianguan).

According to the Dantai Xinlu, Xu Ying was the elder brother of the Chief Clerk; he resolved to dwell in the mountains and devoted himself to cultivating the Dao. He met Wang Shilong, who transmitted to him the Way of “Jiedong,” practiced the method of “Return Practice” (fanxing), and ingested refined jade fluid while nourishing brain essence in the morning (neixiu terms). Within two or three years his face took on a luminous glow and he reversed aging to youth; he regretted only that his endowment was not deep enough to reach the highest grade of immortal attainment. The Director of Fates recommended him, reported upward to the higher authorities, had his name moved to Eastern Islet (Dongzhu), and established him as an Earth Immortal (disxian, one of the immortal ranks).

A Zhou surname immortal drove away evil spirits and demons; a Liu surname immortal commanded ghosts and spirits. According to the Xishan Ji, the Perfected Lord Zhou was named Guang, styled Huichang; he entered Shu and obtained the art of expelling evil and chasing demons, which he used to relieve suffering. He also heard that Perfected Lord Xu (Xu Xun, patriarch of the Jingming Way) was treating illness with talismans and incantations at Jingyang, and people from near and far flocked to him; he therefore went from Yuntai Mountain in Shu to Jingyang to seek an audience and wished to enter his gate. Master Xu consented, and Zhou fully received the essential teachings; afterward he ascended with Master Xu (feisheng chengxian). Because he possessed high-grade Dao attainment, the Director of Fates recommended him, reported to the higher authorities, had his name moved to Eastern Islet, and established him as an Earth Immortal.

The Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) records that Liu Gen gave up office and studied the Way during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, entering a stone chamber on Mount Song to cultivate. Wang Zhen asked him about his path to immortality in those days. Liu Gen said: I once entered the mountains with utmost sincerity, seeking the Way and searching everywhere. Later, on Mount Huayin, I met someone riding in a white-deer carriage, with more than ten attendants and jade maidens on either side holding colored banners and talismanic registers. I bowed repeatedly and begged for a single word of teaching. The spirit-person said: Have you heard of Han Zhong (an ancient immortal)? I answered: I truly have. The spirit-person said: I am he. He then transmitted to me the essentials of the Way. The Way has levels such as ascending to heaven, treading clouds, traveling the Five Sacred Peaks, long life without death, and shijie (leaving the physical body behind while the spirit departs as an immortal). The finest elixirs include the nine-turn returning elixir and Taiyi golden fluid (names of supreme Daoist medicines); taking them can lift one to heaven at once, without long accumulation of merit. Next come substances like mica and realgar: though they do not immediately let one ride clouds and dragons, they can command spirits and demons, transform the body, and extend life. Below that are herbs and other plant medicines, which can cure myriad illnesses, supplement deficiency, preserve youthful appearance, and sustain qi through grain abstinence (duangu), but cannot make one undying. The closing praise says Li Zhen was obscure yet close to the Way, and Zhang Hao ascended to become a true immortal.

The Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records that Li Zhen’s household was very poor. One day the Daoist Zhang Qiwu came to visit and asked for lodging; Li Zhen treated him very well. Zhang Qiwu often got drunk and, when drunk, sometimes scolded people and spoke of things like “not dying.” The piece ends with “Li Zhen obscure and near the Way, Zhang Hao ascends to truth,” meaning Li Zhen was hidden yet close to the Way, and Zhang Hao achieved true immortality.

The Biographies of Eminent Daoists records: Li Zhen’s household was very poor. One day the Daoist Zhang Qiwu came to visit Li Zhen and asked for lodging; Li Zhen received him with great generosity. Zhang Qiwu often got drunk, sometimes cursed people, and vomited, soiling his outer garments and utensils; the servants all disliked him, but Li Zhen never minded. Zhang Qiwu then said to Li Zhen: “I have been treated with such kindness—now that I am leaving, can you see me off for a few li?” Li Zhen went with him. Zhang Qiwu said: “In fifty years of wandering the human realm, I have never met anyone as benevolent as you.” He then transmitted to Li Zhen the art of huangbai (the technique of refining gold and silver). Li Zhen declined on the grounds that his fate was thin and did not dare accept. Zhang Qiwu said with regret: “Your attainment in the Dao is beyond what I can match.” He then drew out a hairpin, transformed it into a sword, and with a casual stroke cut the ground—the earth split open at his touch. He said: “From here we part,” and threw himself into the fissure and vanished. Li Zhen was deeply astonished.

Zhang Hao: During the Yongchu era of the Han dynasty, the court issued an edict summoning recluses (yiren, hidden worthies) to serve as Daoist priests; Zhang Hao was twenty at the time and was among those selected. One day Feng Heng suddenly arrived; at first sight Zhang Hao bowed in reverence and asked to be shown what he had not yet understood. Feng Heng then observed his mind and sent him into deep waters where sharks and whales closed in—yet Zhang Hao’s expression did not change. He also tested him with beauty and tempted him with wealth, but Zhang Hao’s heart did not waver. Feng Heng said: “You may be taught.” He then entrusted to him the Qingyao Zishu, the Jingen Shangjing, and half a liang of divine elixir, and admonished him: “Persevere in practice and you will obtain it; slack off and abandon it and you will lose it.” Zhang Hao prostrated himself and accepted the charge. Later he entered Mount Chicheng, took the elixir, and practiced the Way; by the Taichu era of Wei he ascended as a perfected immortal (dengzhen). Consort An was an honored guest among immortals; Sun Deng was a singular figure.

The Zhen’gao records: In the second year of the Xingning reign, Lady Ziwei of the Purple Tenuity and Consort An together descended to Yang the Perfected One’s dwelling. Lady Ziwei said: “Today an honored guest comes to visit.” The divine woman Consort An was the daughter of Lady Li. Formerly she went to Mount Gui to study and practice the Shangqing Way (Shangqing school cultivation); after her Dao was complete, she received scriptures conferred by the Most High, was appointed Nine Splendors True Consort, was granted the surname An, and travels in Taiqing (Great Clarity, one of the celestial realms of Daoism).

The Baopuzi records that Sun Deng was an extraordinary man with no family; he often lived in caves dug in the mountains. In winter he wore only a single layer of clothing, and in severe cold he let his hair hang loose to cover his body. The Zhengao also says that Sun Deng could produce the eight tones of the scale with a single string—truly a remarkable adept.

“Dao is the millet broom; the master is the cloth towel” refers to Yong Fazhi curing illness with a millet-stalk broom and Xuanyuan Ji curing illness with a cloth towel.

The Maoting ji records that Yong Fazhi once made offerings to a stone image of Lord Lao and constantly recited the Tianpeng incantation (a Daoist spell for expelling evil and healing illness). One night he dreamed that a divine being before the stone image handed him a millet broom and said: “Whenever there is a sick person, sweep him with the broom.” When he awoke, a patient came; he brushed the person with the broom and the illness was cured at once. People praised him in verse: “Daoist Yong—sweep the blind and they see; brush the lame and they walk.” Seekers of healing flocked to him.

The Dantai xinlu records that Xuanyuan Ji lived on Mount Luofu, styled himself Master Luofu, and was said to be several hundred years old. When he entered the mountains to gather herbs, dragons and tigers followed him. He could divide his body and transform his shadow, going anywhere at will. When he went out he always carried a cloth towel; whenever he saw a sick person he would brush them with the cloth, and they recovered immediately. Later his whereabouts became unknown.

“Tiantai’s Liu and Ruan, Hepu’s Yuan and Liu” names the immortal-affinitied figures Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao of Tiantai, and Yuan and Liu of Hepu.

The Shenxian zhuan records that Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao once went to Mount Tiantai to gather herbs, lost their way, and met two women of surpassing beauty who invited them home, set out sweet wine, and served sesame rice and dried goat meat—the food was delicious. They were kept in the mountains for about half a year. When they returned home, their native place had declined; more than seven hundred years had passed.

Chuanqi (Tales of the Marvelous) records that during the Yuanhe reign of the Tang, Yuan Che and Liu Shi lived on Mount Heng (the Southern Sacred Peak). Wishing to cross the sea, they built a boat at Hepu (an ancient coastal commandery on what is now the Guangxi coast). Suddenly a hurricane struck and swept them out to sea; they had no idea where they had drifted. Before long they washed up on a lonely isle, and the wind died down. The two went ashore and at once saw two maidens with paired topknots. They kowtowed and pleaded to be sent back to the human world. The maidens took pity on them and led them to pay their respects to Lady Nanqi (a female immortal of the South Sea, sometimes written Lady Nanming), where they gave their names. The Lady smiled and said, “Long ago there were Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao [the classic tale of entering Mount Tiantai and meeting immortals]; now there are Yuan Che and Liu Shi—is this not heaven’s intent?” She then ordered the two maidens to escort the guests away, presenting a jade pot (yuhu) and inscribing a poem upon it: “You came aboard a leaf-boat; you will go off toward the Hundred-Flower Bridge. If in the human world you strike the jade pot, the mandarin ducks will speak words plain and clear.” Before long a bridge several hundred paces long appeared, its railings hung with extraordinary blossoms. The two crossed and reached Hepu; when they looked back, the bridge was gone. As they made ready to return to Mount Heng, they struck the jade pot as instructed—and indeed the spirit creatures within (the mandarin ducks) spoke: “When you wish to eat, go forward and you will meet food of itself.” Suddenly they saw a lavish spread of dishes beside the road; they ate and were no longer hungry. Later they encountered an old man called Master Taiji (Taiji xiansheng) and told him about the jade pot. The Master said, “That is the vessel in which I store jade elixir (yuye); I lost it long ago.” Thereafter the two followed this elder into reclusion on Zhurong Peak (the highest summit of Mount Heng), and from that time they presumably attained immortality and became transcendent beings. The closing line, “Shaojun’s brows and eyes, Zirong’s nose and mouth,” roughly praises the distinctive look of Shaojun’s gaze and brows and of Zirong’s nose and lips.

Li Shaojun was a native of Qi. Hearing that Emperor Wu of Han favored divine immortality techniques and alchemical methods, he sought an audience with the emperor by means of miraculous formulas, claiming that cinnabar (zhusha, a key ingredient in elixir compounding) could be refined into gold and that ingesting it would enable one to ascend to heaven. When he saw bronze vessels beside the emperor’s seat, he said they had belonged to Duke Wei of Qi; the emperor checked the inscriptions on the vessels and found it was so, and thus knew that Shaojun was already several hundred years old. His skin was lustrous, and his brows, eyes, mouth, and teeth all resembled those of a child.

Zhao Ru, styled Zirong, was stricken with leprosy and near death. Disgusted with his body, he went into the mountains intending to offer himself to tigers and wolves and never return home. Suddenly he met an extraordinary person who transmitted to him a method of ingestion and nourishment; his illness was completely cured, his body became light, strong, and robust, and he lived to one hundred seventy years while still looking like a youth. Later he often saw two beautiful women enter and exit through his mouth and nose, and heard the sound of zithers and lutes in his ears. He remained in the human world for more than three hundred years, his complexion still like a child’s.

“Zhenduo practices chaoyuan and may dwell in zhandou” means that Li Zhenduo cultivated the method of chaoyuan (paying homage to the Origin and returning to the true source—an inner cultivation term) and could settle in and align with the number of the Dipper constellation (zhandou, a cultivation technique related to the asterism of the Dipper).

Li Zhenduo was the younger sister of the immortal Li Tuo. She followed her elder brother in cultivation, and he transmitted to her the essentials of chaoyuan. After only a century of practice her appearance was like someone in their twenties; later she again encountered the descent of Taishang (Taishang Laojun, the Supreme Venerable), who conferred upon her the Way of ascent and flight. The Zhenduo Zhi (a Daoist religious establishment or abbey) in Shu today is the trace left where she practiced the Dao.

Gaodaozhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records: The Daoist Ren Keju’s origins are unknown. At forty he was plain-spoken, sparing with words, sincere and honest, carrying a bundle as he served the Daoist Xiang Daorong. Xiang Daorong took pity on his resolve and transmitted to him the Zhenyuan Ce and Lingbao Jue (secret formulas of Daoist ritual and practice), warning him: only after eighteen years might he show them to others; when predicting fortune and disaster, the results must not be traded for glory or profit, and the art must not be passed on recklessly. Whoever obtained this Way could become an immortal; whoever leaked it would die young and in vain. After that Ren Keju gradually gained the ability to speak of people’s good and ill fortune, and sometimes performed rangjiao (rituals to avert calamity and seek blessing) for others. Each time he divined, he first had the seeker keep zhai (purification fast) and face a wall, set up an image of the Dipper’s leading stars (Doukui, the “Bowl” of the Northern Dipper), and sit before it; then fortune and misfortune, weal and woe, stood clear as if seen with the eyes.

Li Mi was doused with garlic juice; Shu Mao planted chives.

Ye Hou Jia Zhuan (Household Records of the Duke of Ye) records: In youth Li Mi’s body was extremely light; he could stand on a painted screen. A stranger said: “This child will ascend at fifteen.” His parents disliked the remark. Suddenly a strange fragrance came from the air, and they made garlic juice and splashed it on him, fearing he would soar away. When Li Mi grew up he practiced bigu (abstaining from grain), often did daoyin (guiding Qi and stretching the body), and his joints made a ringing sound—people called him “Master Clattering Bones.” He once composed a song: Heaven covers me, earth bears me—did heaven and earth beget me with intent or without? Either cut off grain and rise to heaven, or hustle in the imperial capital; how can one neither win rank nor leave, and vainly play the lofty hero?

Zhen Gao (Declarations of the Perfected) records: In Qin times Marquis Jiang Shu Mao of Baling came to dwell at the foot of Mount Gouqu. He planted the five fruits and the five pungent vegetables (onion, garlic, chives, and the like), and often sold produce to buy dansha (cinnabar for alchemy). On the mountain today there is still chive tangle—descendants of his planting. In the time of King Xiao of Qin he was enfeoffed as marquis; the place now called “Jiang Ba” is named for him.

“Lord Dragon’s Orange Altar, the Fisherman’s Apricot Platform”—a paired title of immortal tales: the Lord Dragon with the Orange Altar, and the Fisherman with the Apricot Platform.

Xianzhuan Shiyi (Collected Records of Immortals) records that Liu Yi lived in the Jiang and Xiang region. During the Yifeng reign period (of Emperor Gaozong of Tang), he failed the civil examinations and was about to return home. An old friend who was staying in Jingyang came to see him off. Six or seven li from the city they saw a beautiful woman herding sheep in the wild. Astonished, he asked her why she was there. She said she was the youngest daughter of the Dragon Lord of Dongting, married to the lesser dragon of Jingchuan, and ill-treated by her husband; when she complained to her in-laws, they favored their son and sent her away to this place. She asked Liu Yi to deliver a letter to a large orange tree on the north shore of Dongting Lake—the “Orange Shrine,” a tree the local people venerated. When he arrived, he was to strike the tree three or five times with something, and the letter would reach its destination. Liu Yi did as she asked. A warrior emerged from the waves to question him and led him into the water; the palaces were like a king’s residence. Liu Yi stayed for feasts in the dragon palace for many days; on parting he received rare and wondrous gifts too numerous to list.

Nanhuazhenjing (the Zhuangzi) tells how Confucius was wandering in a mulberry grove, seated on the Apricot Altar, while his disciples read and Confucius played the zither and sang. Before the piece was half finished, a fisherman came from his boat: white hair and brows, hair loose, sleeves trailing. He climbed the high bank to dry land, left hand on his knee, right hand supporting his chin, and listened until the end.

“Zhang Bi drank water; Boyang took elixir” is a brief allusion to how immortals nourished themselves: Zhang Bi drank pure water; Boyang (the style name of Laozi) ingested elixir.

Xianzhuan Shiyi also records that Zhang Xie was from Wuling. From youth he loved learning and often devoted himself to meditating on Taoyuan Guan (the Taoyuan temple in Wuling), hoping to meet immortals and attain transcendence. He had occasional intimations of spiritual responsiveness but did not speak of them lightly. During the Qianfu reign (of Emperor Xizong of Tang), Zheng Kua took office as prefect of Wuling and offered sincere prayers and formal petitions. Because Zhang Xie was among the yajiang (low-ranking military officers) as one who had long diligently practiced the Dao, the prefect ordered him to examine the prayer texts and conduct a ritual fast. Before the rite was finished, immortal music and five-colored auspicious clouds appeared; shortly afterward a glazed bottle descended from the sky. Zhang Xie received it in his hands; inside was only a bottle of water. He drank it all—it was incomparably sweet—and suddenly leapt up and ascended to heaven.

Someone at the opening of a damaged passage mentions holding a bottle of water, drinking it all, finding it incomparably sweet, and suddenly leaping up to ascend. The Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) then records that Wei Boyang (an Eastern Han alchemist and author of the Zhouyi Cantong Qi) entered the mountains to refine the divine elixir and brought three disciples. When the elixir was complete, knowing their resolve for the Dao was not yet firm, he tested them, saying: though the elixir is done, it should first be given to a dog; only if the dog can ascend may a person take it; if the dog dies, it must not be taken. He fed the elixir to the dog, and the dog died at once. Wei Boyang said: we turned from the world and left our homes for the mountains; if we do not attain the way of immortals, we would be ashamed to return; whether we live or die, I will take it. He took the elixir and died as well. The two remaining disciples discussed: refining the elixir was to seek long life, yet taking it led to death—better not to take it. They left the mountain to arrange coffins. After they left, Wei Boyang at once rose, and together with the disciple surnamed Yu who had taken the elixir and the white dog came out; meeting woodcutters entering the mountain, he asked them to write to their home village and send word to the two disciples. Only then did the two disciples understand and regret deeply. Stories of this kind often use “dying temporarily after taking the elixir” to test commitment to the Dao; those who truly believe are ultimately saved and transformed.

“Mule rider pushes open the door; Hu Zong opens the gate” can be read as a paired line leading into what follows: the mule rider enters by pushing the door, and Hu Zong welcomes him by opening the gate.

The Shenxian Zhuan also records: Huang Zunshi of Maoshan (“Zunshi” is an honorific for a Daoist master) was highly accomplished in learning and virtue. Once, while lecturing with a great crowd gathered, someone suddenly pushed the door open and shouted: slave of a Daoist—it's hot; why gather a crowd? Why not go deep into the mountains to study the Dao—how dare you prattle here? Huang Zunshi did not answer. After a long while the visitor's manner softened somewhat, and he said: don't you want money for repairs? Bring all the broken pots and scrap iron. The master did as he said. The visitor had people dig a furnace in the ground, melt the iron with a fierce fire, stir in a small amount of medicine, and soon put out the fire; white metal (a silvery metal—in this case the refined silver) had been produced. The master thanked him; the visitor smiled and went out the door, destination unknown. Later someone saw him in the capital with a whip at his waist, driving a mule that moved like the wind; people therefore called him the “mule rider.”

Records of Searching for Spirits relates that Hu Yongzong, daozheng (a Daoist office in the temple) at Taiping Guan (a Daoist temple) in Jiangzhou, went blind in both eyes and was removed from his post. He had people help him walk about the compound. One day, in heavy snow, someone told him that a poor man was sitting on the steps selling ink—one cun of ink for one gold piece, and few were buying. Hu Yongzong asked why; the man said that with the snow he could not get into the city and was resting there, so few customers came. Hu Yongzong took pity and gave him fifty gold pieces, and did the same every day after that. Then one day the man knocked to say goodbye, but the door would not open; they could only speak through it. The man said: I leave you one cun of ink—keep it carefully and use it when you need it; if you are ill, grind the ink and take it, and you will not suffer again. Hu Yongzong thanked him and asked his surname; the man said: The sign on my ink stall is my surname. He set down the ink and left, his voice fading away; when they opened the door, they could not overtake him. Hu Yongzong ground the ink and drank it, and at once both eyes felt clear and bright. Later someone worked out from the strokes of the character kou (“mouth”) that it was Lü, and suspected the man was Lü Dongbin (one of the Eight Immortals).

“Shen Bin’s Stone Outer Coffin; Yuan’s Record of the Copper Coffin” is the title of the entry. Tales of the Jia Clan records that Shen Bin, langzhong (an official title), was devoted to the Dao in his youth; on his deathbed he told his sons: The exact center of the hall where I live is an auspicious spot—bury me there. His descendants did not dare disobey. When they dug the grave, they found a stone outer coffin (shiguo), very large, and three blue-stone lotus lamps, finely carved; there was also an inscription on stone that read: “In the second year of Kaicheng (reign of Emperor Wenzong of Tang): though opened, it is still not buried; the lacquer lamp has not yet shone—it waits for Shen Bin.” Later someone saw Shen Bin living at Tianbao Cave on West Mountain. “Yuan’s Record of the Copper Coffin” refers to the copper-coffin story recorded in the Yuan family’s account.

The Record of the Temple of Lord Yuan states that Lord Yuan (an honorific for a county magistrate or a deity) lived in the Later Han period. According to the Northern Qi Imperial Readings of the Yiwen Era, when Yangxian (an ancient county in what is now the Yixing area of Jiangsu) was first established as a county, a man of Kuaiji (an ancient commandery in the Shaoxing region of Zhejiang) named Yuan Yisheng possessed miraculous powers. Lord Yuan first served there as county magistrate and could foretell floods and drought; he declared that after death he would become a spirit. At times he slept for days on end, as if feasting with spirits in dreams. One day he died suddenly without illness. After the funeral procession set out, wind and rain rose and the sky darkened; the coffin vanished. Some heard at night what sounded like thousands of people toward Jingshan Mountain (later renamed Jun Mountain); when people looked in the morning, the coffin was there. The people hurried to report to the county; officials and commoners went, but the coffin had already hidden itself supernaturally—only a stone altar and stone tomb remained. Jingshan was then renamed Jun Mountain; it is still popularly called Bronze Coffin Mountain, said to be because when Lord Yuan died a bronze coffin descended from heaven, similar to the tale of Wang Qiao as magistrate of Ye, when a jade coffin came down from heaven.

The “riding the wind on purple clouds” story appears in the Records of Notable Events: In the second month of spring in the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan of the Tang, the emperor was at the Eastern Capital (Luoyang) and appointed Li Shizhi Governor of Henan (chief of Henan prefecture). That day a great wind blew, and a female Daoist priest (nüguan) came riding the wind to Yuzhen Abbey and stopped on the bell tower; onlookers packed like a wall, and someone reported to the Governor of Henan. Li Shizhi was a rough man; angered that she drew a crowd, he stripped to the waist and whipped her. The one who had come on the wind neither pleaded nor showed injury, her face unchanged. Li Shizhi was greatly alarmed and only then received her with ritual courtesy. After memorializing the throne, the emperor summoned her to the inner hall and asked the reason; he learned she was a priestess of Ziyun Abbey in Puzhou (an ancient prefecture in the Yongji region of Shanxi), who had long practiced bigu (grain avoidance) and whose body was light and strong, and who had flown here on the wind. Later, when a great wind came, she flew away and did not return.

The “Huangmei falling into the well” story appears in the Broad Records of the Strange: When Zhang Lianqiao, a priestess of Huangmei County (modern Huangmei in Hubei), was eight or nine, she often drew water with a jar and suddenly saw a lotus in the well, like a small dish, slowly rising above the rim. The text also says she had long practiced bigu and her body was light and strong, flew here on the wind, and later when a great wind came flew away and did not return.

Guangyi ji (A Record of Broad Marvels), a work in the zhiguai (tales of the strange) genre, records that when Zhang Lianqiao, a female Daoist of Huangmei County, was eight or nine years old, she often took a jar to draw water. Once she saw in the well a lotus about the size of a small dish slowly rise above the mouth of the well; when she reached for it, it withdrew, and when she did not, it appeared again—this happened many times, until she fell into the well. Her family wondered why she was so long in returning; when they looked, they found her standing on the surface of the water. After that she ate no food, and her parents had her enter the Dao and become a Daoist. At eighteen, sitting alone in the monastery by day, she saw money fall from the sky, then yellow pills; she swallowed two and felt her spirit twice as sharp as usual.

“The line ‘Lu Cong summons thunder; Wang Xiang divides his shadow’” is a summary tag: Ye Qianyao (style name Lu Cong) could summon thunder, and Wang Xiang could divide his body into forms and shadows. Xuxian zhuan (Continued Biographies of Immortals) says Ye Qianyao possessed the Daoist arts. In drought years people asked him to pray; he burned incense and invoked, and rain fell in a moment. When asked to call thunder, he rubbed the ground with his foot and a deep rumbling rose from beneath. Once in the city he suddenly shouted to show authority; when others asked, he said he had seen a fire somewhere and was putting it out—and later this proved true.

Liexian zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) says Wang Xiang was born handsome and unusual, often gazing at the high peaks of Mount Zhongnan and telling his parents, “When I grow up I will surely live in these mountains.” People held him in high regard. As an adult he refused office, took “sitting in forgetfulness and leaving the light behind” (zuowang yizhao—forgetting the body and resting in inner illumination) as his practice, met the immortal Master Meng who transmitted the Dao, and could transform himself, dividing into forms and shadows. The closing phrase “Xie’s cloud one stream, Wang’s surge ten thousand acres” is praise: one may read it as cloud like a single river, waves like ten thousand acres of water—an image of vast, imposing presence.

The Jixian Lu (Record of Assembled Immortals) records: In Guozhou (in the area of present-day Nanchong, Sichuan), Xie Ziran practiced bigu (abstaining from grain) and often spoke of Daoist matters; her bearing and words were lofty and extraordinary. When Prefect Han Yi arrived in the commandery, he doubted her claims and had her brought to the prefectural city, where she was kept under lock for several months. Later he led old and young to unlock the door and release her; seeing her complexion and body calm as before, Han Yi had his daughter Ziming serve her with the rites due a teacher. He also set up an altar on Mount Dafang and invited the Daoist priest Cheng Taixu to preside over the Sandong lu (the ritual recording of scriptures of the Three Caverns of Daoism), and moved Xie Ziran to live in the prefectural city. In the ninth year of the Zhenyuan reign (during the Zhenyuan era of Emperor Dezong of Tang), when Prefect Li Jian left office, Xie Ziran told him that dwelling in the walled city was inconvenient and that she wished to live by springs and rocks. Li Jian then built her a chamber on Mount Jinquan. One day she came to the prefectural city to bid Li Jian farewell and then, on Mount Jinquan, ascended in broad daylight. Several thousand men and women looked on together; for a moment five-colored clouds stretched across the whole valley.

The Moke Huixi (Brush-wielding Scholar’s Wit) records: In the guichou year of the Xining era, Wang Pingfu was on night duty at the Chongwen Hall. He dreamed that someone invited him to the sea, where he saw a central palace of great magnificence; inside, music was performed, with many musicians playing sheng and xiao and beating drums. The palace gate bore the inscription “Lingzhi Palace” (Palace of Divine Fungus). Pingfu wanted to go along, but someone beside the palace said across the water: The time is not yet; for now let him return—another day they will come to welcome him. At that he woke with a start; the bell in the hall had already sounded. He composed a poem: “Ten thousand leagues of billows, leaves flying— / Palaces of sheng and xiao named Lingzhi. / Wielding the brush is nothing like the human world— / The eternal joy of bells, the moment the dream breaks.”

“Xiuchuan Iron Fan, Guanfu Golden Cake” lists two names: Xiuchuan Iron Fan and Guanfu Golden Cake—apparently titles of immortal treasures or allusions in lore.

Peng Xiao, styled Xiuchuan and calling himself Master Zhenyi (Zhenyi Zi), served as Vice Minister in the Ministry of Rites. He often told people: I am a descendant of Qian Keng (that is, Peng Zu); generation after generation my family has produced those who attained the Dao. Though I wear official robes and draw a salary, I have never slackened in cultivation—I mean to be a lofty person of my age and would never willingly end up among the lowly ghosts. While he was magistrate of Jintang, he often rode a white ox back and forth on Changli Mountain; there seemed to be a place where immortals gathered, and white cranes often cried and flew before and behind him. Peng Xiao annotated the Yinfu Jing and explicated the Cantong Qi (both are classics of Daoist cultivation practice). Whenever he drew a talisman, he called it the “Iron Fan”; sick people who took it often recovered.

The Jixian Lu (Records of Assembled Immortals) records: Huang Guanfu’s family was poor. She often burned leaves as incense and ate wild fruits and herbs, disliking the five grains. When her parents wanted to marry her off, she suddenly said to them: “There is something very strange in the well in front of the gate.” When they looked, the water in the well was indeed churning violently; she then threw herself into the water and did not emerge for a long time. People dredged the well and recovered an ancient image of a celestial lord (a Daoist divine figure)—its appearance was no different from this young woman’s—and the water at once became clear and still. The family placed the wooden image by the roadside and went home weeping. Her mother often came to visit, unable to stop longing for her. Suddenly there were auspicious clouds, immortal music, and a great retinue of guards; Huang Guanfu descended into the courtyard with three other women and said to her parents: “Your daughter was originally an immortal of Shangqing (a Daoist paradise); because of a minor fault she was banished to the human world. Her term is finished and she now returns to heaven—there is no need to grieve.” She also said: “Many people here will die of plague this year; you can move to Yizhou (the region of present-day Chengdu in Sichuan) to escape this ill-omened year.” She then left several gold cakes and ascended to heaven. Above is the end of fascicle twelve of the Sandong Qunxian Lu (Records of the Immortals of the Three Caverns).

Volume 13 of the Collected Records of Immortals of the Three Caverns was compiled by the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) priest Chen Baoguang. The opening line, “In Shāyuàn the crane spreads its wings; at Huayang it nurtures its pinions,” refers to immortal traces of a crane soaring in Shāyuàn and tending its feathers at Huayang.

The Record of Eminent Daoists states: west of Yizhou city stood a temple where only those devoted to cultivation could dwell. Xu Zuoqing claimed to be a Qingcheng Daoist and visited three or four times a year. On the Double Ninth Festival in the Tianbao reign, Emperor Ming of Tang was hunting at Shāyuàn when he saw a lone crane flying among the clouds and shot it. The crane fell with the arrow lodged in it, then suddenly spread its wings again and flew southeast. That same day Xu Zuoqing arrived at the temple carrying that arrow, looking troubled. He told the assembly, “I was walking in the mountains and was accidentally struck by this thing; I am well now. This arrow is no ordinary object of the human world. Next year its owner will come here—you should return it to him.” He left the arrow by the rear wall of the temple and inscribed the date: “The ninth day of the ninth month, the thirteenth year of Tianbao.”

Later, when Emperor Ming fled to Shu during the An–Shi Rebellion, he came to this temple and entered the courtyard. Seeing the arrow from before, he had it fetched—it was indeed his own imperial arrow. Greatly astonished, he questioned the Daoist, who told him the truth. The emperor then understood that the crane he had shot at Shāyuàn the year before had been Xu Zuoqing. Reading the inscription on the wall, he also learned that on that day Xu Zuoqing had flown in one stroke from Shāyuàn to this place. Today there is Feixian Ridge, said to be where Xu Zuoqing landed while carrying the arrow; at its foot Feixian Temple still stands.

The Zhen Gao records that when Jiang Shumao served as Marquis of Baling, he resigned his office and entered Mount Gouqu (a renowned Daoist mountain in the Mao Shan region of present-day Jiangsu) to cultivate the Way. He wrote to his colleagues: “I once studied the Way at Ghost Valley, realized the Way at Shaoshi, nourished truth at Huayang, and at Yicheng await feathery ascent; I often ride the whirlwind chariot to Mount Gouqu for feasts and wanderings, which moves me to sigh at how swiftly life turns and passes.”

“Feng Chang turns yellow, Shi Jing guards white” is the heading for the two accounts below. Feng Chang, styled Yanshou, mastered yin-yang divination and prognostication at fifteen; moved by this, the True Person Deng conferred scriptures upon him, enabling him to “turn yellow to red” (circulating yellow and red qi in practice), until a jade-like luster appeared on his face; when the Way was complete he became a True Person of the Western Marchmount. Chen Shijing practiced the Way of “guarding the mysterious white”: each morning at dawn he sat outdoors and freely visualized black qi in the mud pill (the head), white qi in the heart, and yellow qi at the navel; the three qi rose like clouds covering his entire body, then turned into fire that burned through him inside and out until all was thoroughly luminous. He did this once a day, stopping after twenty rounds of fuqi (breath ingestion). This is “know the white, guard the black, and you shall not die; know the black, guard the white, and the myriad evils are dispelled”—Shi Jing later became an immortal.

The Xu Xian Zhuan records: Pei Yuanjing was calm and restrained from childhood; when she came of age she wished to enter the Way, but her parents, believing a woman must eventually marry, forced her to wed Li Yan. The couple lived in mutual respect for several months; then she told her husband: “The divine beings do not permit me to be your wife—please allow us to end our marriage and let me live alone in a room.” At midnight laughter and conversation were often heard; her husband grew suspicious and peeped in, and saw the whole room filled with light. At daybreak she took leave of her husband; clouds and mist swirled, immortal maidens played music, and Yuanjing ascended and became an immortal. Lady Qi, styled Xiaoyao, loved the Way and recited scriptures without cease; when she came of age her parents forcibly married her to Ji Xun, yet she still lived alone in a room, and later likewise manifested immortal wonders with brilliant roseate light.

Qi, styled Xiaoyao, loved Daoist practice and never missed a day of scripture recitation. After she came of age, her parents forced her into marriage with Ji Xun as his wife, yet she still kept a room to herself, abstained from grain, and cultivated in seated stillness; others could not fathom her attainment. One night a sound like thunder splitting the house shook the room; only her garments remained inside. Looking up, clouds and light blazed brilliantly—Qi Xiaoyao had ascended to heaven.

“Zhengdz, the wild man of the hills; Hanguang, the pure guest of Jade Clarity” is an evaluative couplet: Wu Jun, styled Zhengdz, was a “wild man” who had left the dust of the world; Li Hanguang was a “pure guest” of the Jade Clarity heaven. The Biographies of Eminent Daoists records that Celestial Master Wu Jun reached the capital in the early Tianbao era, was entered on the register of Daoists, and went to Mount Song to study the Dao under Pan Shizheng. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, hearing his fame, summoned him; their talk pleased the emperor greatly. When the sovereign asked questions, he answered with what was most essential in Laozi’s five thousand words. Asked about the arts of immortal refinement, he said such things were the work of “wild men in the hills,” requiring years of pursuit—not what a ruler should fix his mind on. Wu Jun spoke much on name and teaching and worldly affairs, using indirect words to remonstrate with the Son of Heaven, and thus won great esteem. The Daoist Li Hanguang was skilled in seal and clerical script; when someone said he surpassed his father, he never wrote again for the rest of his life. Later he studied under the Zhenyi Master, received transmission of cloud-script precious writings, and mastered the whole tradition; the Zhenyi Master called him truly “a guest of Jade Clarity.” The closing line “hidden pillar, Luo Yuan; entering the chart, Liu Cheng”—Luo Yuan and Liu Cheng are figures recorded in immortal biographies.

Yishi (Records of the Lost) relates: The Daoist Luo Gongyuan was once summoned by Emperor Ming of Tang (Emperor Xuanzong), who asked him about the art of invisibility. Luo replied: Your Majesty’s name is already inscribed in the jade registers and golden ledgers of the Nine Pure Immortal Realms of the heavens—how could you lightly try petty arts while bearing the heavy charge of the state? Xuanzong grew angry. Luo Gongyuan rebuked him and hid inside a hall pillar, enumerating the emperor’s faults. Xuanzong grew angrier still and split the pillar to pursue him; seeing him enter the jade base of the pillar, he smashed the base into more than ten pieces, each piece showing Luo Gongyuan’s form and shadow. The emperor apologized, and only then did Luo restore himself. Xuanzong still pressed him without cease, so Luo taught him but refused to transmit the full technique. When the emperor tried invisibility on his own, his sash or shadow often showed. In rage Xuanzong had him killed. Later the palace envoy Fu Xianyu returned from Shu and met Luo Gongyuan’s carriage and retinue; they spoke, and from his sleeve Luo took out a letter and Sichuan danggui (Angelica sinensis—a herb whose name puns on “you ought to return”) to send back with him. Fu Xianyu reported this to the throne, and Xuanzong was deeply remorseful. Toward the end of the Tianbao era, the journey to western Shu indeed came to pass—the words about “return” (dang gui) were not empty.

Youyang Zazu also records: Near the end of the Zhengyuan era, the painter Ning Cai’s Gathering in the Bamboo Grove (depicting the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove) was extremely fine. Guests the scholar Guo Xuan and Liu Cheng often quarreled in competitive spirit. Liu Cheng suddenly looked at the painting and said: Today I’ll show a small skill for Master Guo—without five-colored pigments I’ll make the painting even more vivid; what do you say? Guo did not believe him. Liu said: I shall enter the painting and set things in order there—and leapt into the picture and vanished. The company was greatly alarmed. The scroll hung on the wall; they felt about but found nothing. After a long while a voice suddenly said: Guo Zi, do you believe now?—as if from inside the painting. About the time of a meal, he suddenly fell from the painting, pointing at the figure of Ruan Ji and saying: My effort only reached this point. When they looked, they felt Ruan Ji’s image alone was different, his lips as if about to perform the long whistle for which he was famed. Ning Cai saw that the painting was no longer as it had been; thinking Liu Cheng had attained the Way, he and Guo Xuan thanked him together. Days later Liu Cheng vanished without a trace.

Zixu studied the ancient Way; Tao Jun was versed in scripture and meaning.

The Records of the True Realm states: The Celestial Master Ji, named Qiwu and styled Zixu, studied ancient learning and was thoroughly versed in the classics and their commentaries. Later he took leave together with a Mr. Guo, and within a few days withdrew into seclusion. Zixu was known for his study of antiquity; Tao Jun was known for his mastery of the classics.

The Records of the True Realm also says: The Celestial Master Ji, named Qiwu and styled Zixu, studied antiquity and was versed in the classics and commentaries. At that time the Buddhist monk Fan Zhen inquired about the reasons Daoism and Buddhism arose. The Celestial Master distinguished their similarities and differences for him, saying: The Dao has no before or after; it is profound and cannot be fully put into words. Laozi stands for the immortal path of long life and belongs to the Left Office of the Supreme One (Taishang); hence the tradition that Laozi was born from the left armpit with his hand raised to the left, and therefore the left way is honored and people are taught to wear yellow robes. Yellow belongs to Yang; those who obtain this Dao hold life and death in their own hands, come and go without hindrance—great kalpas may end, but this Dao does not perish. The Prince (Śākyamuni) stands for the teaching of revolving through birth and death and of extinction (nirvana), and belongs to the Right Office of the Supreme One; hence the tradition that the Prince was born from the right armpit with his hand raised to the right, and therefore the right way is honored and people are taught to wear dark (black) robes. Dark belongs to Yin; when one’s allotted life is spent, there is death. The two teachings differ in path yet share one goal; within the Way of the Supreme One, only those of the highest attainment can see its depth. All who heard this were convinced.

The Declarations of the Perfected (Zhen’gao) records: Tao Shi (that is, Tao Jun), styled Wengzhong, in youth served as a clerk in the commandery, was thoroughly skilled in the classic arts, and in his later years became Governor of Jiaozhi. He met Shuoguo Youping, ingested the Nine Essences, refined Qi, and kept the Auxiliary Star (the companion star of the Northern Dipper) stored and guarded in the heart. He later cultivated and attained the Dao; he is now in a grotto.

The text also mentions Teng Gong’s fire clapper and Lord Xu’s lamp stand. Mianshui Yantan (Conversations along the Mian River) records: Teng Zongliang, while serving as Expectant Official and magistrate of Liyang, heard of a recluse living in a remote place who practiced refining Qi and the method of storing the Auxiliary Star in the heart; he later completed cultivation and attained the Dao and is now in a grotto.

Records of Mianshui Wine Talk relates: Teng Zongliang (a Northern Song official; "daizhi" was his court title) was stationed at Liyang (in the area of present-day Hexian, Anhui). Hearing of a recluse in the mountains, he sought him out in a remote place. The recluse was asleep; after being awakened, he bowed and invited Teng to sit, and their conversation was quite sensible. Teng asked how many years he had lived in the mountains. The recluse said he had come alone to escape wartime turmoil and knew spring only from flowers covering the hills, autumn from withering plants, and winter and summer from extreme cold and heat. After they had sat a long while, the recluse said night was near and Teng must be hungry; there were wild taro and chestnuts to stave off hunger. He pushed aside pine branches and weeds and roasted taro and chestnuts over a fire for Teng. Teng asked whether taking fire by hand was not troublesome and offered to give him a fire striker (a fire-making tool). The recluse smiled: long dwelling in the mountains, content in simplicity—he did not wish outer things to bind the inner mind; a fire striker would be useless. At dusk Teng left regretfully. Later he sent someone to inquire after him again, but his whereabouts were already unknown.

Record of Mount Xishan relates: Perfected Lord Xu (Xu Xun, a Daoist perfected one) and Lord Wu returned to Yuzhang (present-day Nanchang). They then withdrew to Mount Xiaoyao. Each day they discussed the Dao and its methods with disciples and taught the countryside; people reformed toward goodness, kept away from wrongdoing, and a spirit of benevolence and filial piety arose. Once someone brought an iron lamp stand to sell in the mountains; the Perfected Lord bought it. That night, when the lamp was lit, the light showed where lacquer had flaked off—on closer look it was gold. He hurried to find the seller and return it.

Declarations of the Perfected relates: Fan Boci suffered from a consumptive illness (a type of deficiency and chronic wasting). For years he lay sick; family wealth was exhausted and the illness still would not leave. He then resolved to enter the Way, set aside worldly affairs, and devoted himself to quiet sitting and cultivation. After fifty days he recovered. Later he entered Mount Tianmu, took elixir pills, and practiced refined visualization for nineteen years. True immortals descended and transmitted elixir to him; after taking it he ascended in broad daylight and was appointed Perfected One Yuanyi.

Zhang Lizheng, a practitioner on Mount Heng, at first received from Wang Jun of Xicheng formulas for elixir and methods of ingestion. Thereafter his sight grew clear and his body light; he walked with unusual ease. Later he was appointed Perfected One Yuanyi.

In Hengshan there was a man named Zhang Lizheng who studied the Way. At first he met Lord Wang of Xicheng, a Daoist immortal, and received from him elixir formulas and methods for ingesting them. From then on his eyes grew clear and his body light; he could travel five hundred li in a single day. Later the Lord of Donghua sent someone to welcome him, and he ascended to heaven in broad daylight, riding on clouds.

“Han Wudi’s Four Excesses; the Yellow Emperor’s Seven Muddinesses” are two separate headings. Xianzhuan Shiyi (Gathered Remains of Immortal Biographies) records that an envoy from Yuezhi said to Emperor Wu of Han: if the eyes look too much, one becomes greedy and unrestrained; if the mouth speaks too much, one easily invites disaster; if the mind stirs too much, one gives rise to lewdness, perversity, and harm; if the body is adorned too much, one sinks into extravagance. Never yet has anyone governed the realm well by relying on these four kinds of “excess.”

The Huangdi Neizhuan (Inner Tradition of the Yellow Emperor) states that the Queen Mother of the West transmitted to the Yellow Emperor the “Seven Muddinesses’ unfolding.” The Yellow Emperor asked what the seven muddinesses were. The Queen Mother of the West said: when the eyes are muddied, one does not see clearly; when the ears are muddied, one does not hear clearly; when the mouth is muddied, one does not speak aptly; when the nose is muddied, it does not breathe freely; when the hands are muddied, they are not steady; when the feet are muddied, they are not upright; when the heart is muddied, it is not true. Conversely, when the heart is not disturbed, it is true; when the eyes are not muddied, they are clear; when the ears are not muddied, they are clear; when the mouth is not muddied, it is apt; when the nose is not muddied, it is open; when the hands are not muddied, they are steady; when the feet are not muddied, they are upright. Thus the key to the seven muddinesses lies in the “One” (shouyi, holding to unity and keeping the heart single-minded); if the One is even slightly muddied, the other six muddinesses all close up, the whole body cannot be regulated, and one draws near to death.

“Huang Jue’s Farewell Banquet for a Guest; the Immortal Phoenix Attends the Gathering” means: Huang Jue held a banquet to send off a guest, and the Immortal Phoenix came to join the feast.

Liu Gongfu’s Shihua (Poetry Talk) records that Huang Jue was skilled at composing poetry. Once, when seeing a guest off outside the capital city gate, he arrived too late—the traveler had already gone and could not be caught up. At the inn he noticed a yushi (Daoist priest) nearby, took out the wine and food he had with him, and invited the priest to eat and drink with him. After the meal, the priest dipped a vessel in water and wrote the character “Lü.” Huang Jue then realized he was Lü Dongbin (one of the Eight Immortals). The priest said, “Next year I will see you in Jiangnan.” Huang Jue later did indeed receive an official post in Jiangnan. When his term was ending, he saw that priest take seven large coins from his robe, then three small coins, and say, “Your allotted span can no longer be extended.” He also gave him medicine about a few inches long and instructed him: “At the New Year, grind the medicine with wine and take it; you can stay free of illness for a year.” Huang Jue did as told. When he reached seventy, the medicine was nearly used up; he composed a poem saying, “The calendar days of the zhuangtou (top examinee, i.e., one’s own life as if numbered like a candidate’s rank) are not many left; counting on my fingers, next year I will be seventy-three.” He did indeed die that year.

Xianchuan Shiyi (Collected Remains of Immortal Biographies) records: Liu Xianfeng was a Daoist priest of Jiulong (a place name). He entered Bailu Mountain, received secret techniques from a divine person, and could foreknow that he would die at seventy-three. At Daxue Temple on Pengkou Mountain a great ritual assembly was being held; Xianfeng went with more than ten priests. The monks did not receive them with proper courtesy. They had just left when everyone in the refectory cried out in alarm, saying that inside and outside the fence more than thirty tigers were moving back and forth at will. People could not finish their meal and were so fearful they did not know what to do. The monks knew this was an extraordinary technique performed by Liu Xianfeng; they led the crowd and the monastic community to burn incense before him, repent, and apologize, and only then did the tigers subside.

“Yuanqing’s unicorn fat, Jie Xiang’s fin sashimi” is an anecdote about immortal fare: Xie Yuanqing (one who encountered immortals) entertained with unicorn (lin) fat; Jie Xiang (a Wu-period fangshi) has a immortal tale about fish sashimi.

Xuxian Zhuan (Continued Biographies of Immortals) records: Xie Yuanqing met an immortal; the immortal set a banquet with such immortal foods as phoenix-crown millet, dragon-essence rice, unicorn fat, patterned-glass marrow, Xuanzhou white na, hollow ling melon, Fusang cinnabar quan, Qinghe literary zao (all names of immortal dishes), as well as jade-lees wine, cassia nao, and yunying; they played the eight lang tally (a jade instrument), the congxiao panpipes, and the dongyin chime-stones, sang songs of the primal harmony, and danced the “returning phoenix, turning phoenix” dance.

Jie Xiang, styled Yuanze, discussed with the King of Wu which fish made the finest raw slices; he said the ziyu (a sea fish) from the open ocean was best. He also spoke of cave-yin chime stones, the song of the primordial ladle, and immortal dances such as the circling phoenix and turning wind. Jie Xiang also asked that a square pit be dug before the hall, filled with water; he fished in the pit and, in the time it takes to eat a meal, caught ziyu and prepared them as raw slices.

The mother of Empress Zhang of Emperor Wu of Chen, née Su, once met a Daoist who gave her a small tortoise with five-colored radiance, saying there would be a sign in three years. When the term came, the empress was born and purple light filled the room; the little tortoise was nowhere to be found. In her youth the empress was very beautiful in face and bearing; her fingernails were five inches long, red and white in color. Whenever she had to wear mourning of the qi or gong grade (ancient mourning graded by closeness of kin), one nail would break off first.

In the early Zhenguan reign, Wang Shouyi styled himself Wang Buyi, a man of Mount Zhongnan, and sold medicine in Luoyang. The wealthy Liu Xinsheng had a son with a fleshy growth on his eyebrow. Wang Buyi took a pellet from his gourd, applied it, and in a moment the growth split open and a small snake emerged, brilliantly five-colored; it gradually grew to over ten feet. Wang Buyi scolded it; the snake leaped up, clouds and mist darkened the sky, and he rode the snake away.

Wang Ni was the teacher of Nie Que and attained the Dao between the ages of Fu Xi and Shennong. The Yellow Emperor met him and received instruction in the essentials of the Way. Through the reigns of Shaohao and Zhuanxu he often walked among humans, practicing the flying step method (a Daoist technique of pacing the Big Dipper for ritual flight). In the time of Yao and Shun people still saw him; later he ascended to heaven in a single day. Xu He likewise rose and became an immortal.

Jun'ge Yatan (Elegant Talk from the Commandery Pavilion) records that Perfect Man Xu Que (Xu Que zhenren), in the late Tang, traveled to Zhaoxian Abbey on Mount Heng (Nanyue), and inscribed a song on a wall: Heaven and earth are like a great furnace refining human nature and life; vessels and tools differ in use, yet each has its allotted portion. Demons and ghostly beings may show off their powers, but they only invite delusion upon themselves and cannot encroach upon the upright Way. A child just learning to walk knows only that the sun and moon rise in the east and set in the west; yet the holy power of the myriad spirits can shift the moon to the south and the sun to the north. Jade remains jade and stone remains stone—even buried deep in mud, their essence does not change. Deng Tong starved to death and Yan Zilings lived in poverty; do emperors lack human power? The perverse cannot violate the upright. When a great man has not yet risen to prominence, do not encroach upon one another; clinging to the powerful and fawning on the noble only drains one’s spirit. Within days after inscribing the poem, Perfect Man Xu Que ascended in flight. L'e Zichang’s conduct accorded with the Dao; Chen Tun (Chen Tuan) achieved the fruition of the Way.

Zhenyu (Authentic Sayings) records that the Supreme Perfect Person told the chief secretary: I see that L'e Zichang of Nanyang is a simple, honest man—he did not seek a master or receive transmitted methods, he accepted heaven’s appointment as it came, and he did not understand methods of nourishing life; yet his conduct never committed evil, and his virtue accorded with nature. Though he could not prolong his years and attain long life, after death he could still enter the Hall of Blessings, refine his spirit and receive qi, and have his name entered in the registers of the Celestial Emperor; he has now been appointed to fill the post of Wenshi Lang (a literary officer in the heavenly administration). Innate endowment has its fixed allotment, and this also follows blessings accumulated by forebears. If one understands the principles of nourishing life and at the same time practices the formulas of the Supreme Ultimate, and seeks the Dao in this way, there is nothing that will not succeed.

Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records that Chen Bo, styled Tunan (the renowned Daoist of early Song), failed the jinshi examination and then gave himself freely to mountains and rivers for nearly twenty years. If one possesses the principles of nourishing life and concurrently practices the Supreme Ultimate’s methods, and seeks the Dao thereby, nothing remains impossible to accomplish.

According to Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists), Chen Bo—Chen Tuan, the renowned Daoist of the Five Dynasties and early Song, courtesy name Tunan—failed the jinshi examination and then gave himself over to wandering mountains and rivers for more than twenty years. One night in the courtyard he saw a divine being in golden armor holding a sword, who said: “Your path is already complete; you ought to have a ‘place of return and fulfillment.’” Chen Tuan asked what that meant. The spirit replied: “A place of return and fulfillment is where, in autumn, the myriad things gather in and are stored away. I shall probably go into seclusion in the west.” He then moved to Mount Hua. In the scheme of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), the west corresponds to autumn, and Mount Hua is the Western Sacred Peak—hence the idea of retiring to the west.

“Chunfeng Observes the Sun; Xue Ji Remonstrates on the Stars” is a heading that introduces the astrological wonders below. Guoshi Yizuan (Miscellaneous Records from the National History) records that in the Tang, Grand Astrologer Li Chunfeng, who oversaw astronomy and the calendar, was revising a new calendar and calculated that a solar eclipse should occur at the new-moon conjunction; the omen read as inauspicious, and Emperor Taizong was displeased. He said: “If there is no eclipse, how will you answer for it?” Li Chunfeng replied: “If it does not come to pass, your subject asks to be put to death.” When the predicted hour arrived, Taizong sent someone into the courtyard to tell Li Chunfeng: “I release you to take leave of your wife and children.” Li Chunfeng answered: “There is still one quarter of an hour.” Pointing at the shadow on the sundial, he said: “When the shadow reaches here, the eclipse will occur.” It happened exactly as he said, without the slightest error. He also once memorialized the throne: “The seven stars of the Big Dipper will take human form; tomorrow they will drink wine in the West Market—you should send men to wait and seize them.” Taizong complied and posted watchers. They saw seven Brahmin monks from India enter through the Gate of Golden Light and go up to drink in a tavern in the West Market. The envoy went upstairs and announced: “You are now requested, reverend sirs, to come to the yamen.” The foreign monks looked at one another and smiled: “It must be that fellow Li Chunfeng who spoke of us.” When they had finished their wine and came downstairs, the monks had vanished without a trace.

Xianzhuan Shiyi (Collection of Immortal Biographies) records: Xue Ji was a native of Fenyin in Hedong; he later lived in Weizhou, left the world to become a Daoist priest, and was skilled in astronomy and calendrical science. When Emperor Taizong of Tang was preparing to perform the fengshan sacrifices at Mount Tai, a comet appeared in the sky; Xue Ji remonstrated and dissuaded him, and the fengshan ceremony was therefore abandoned. Whenever he memorialized the throne about portents, calamities, or auspicious signs, his reports agreed with the calculations of Li Chunfeng (a Tang master of astronomy and calendrical reckoning). Later he died without illness; strange fragrance, cloud-borne cranes, and celestial music appeared, and people in the foothills and at the abbey both heard and saw them. When the time came for burial, the coffin was empty.

“Zihua in Taixiao, Yuanyou dwelling in Shangqing” is a caption summarizing immortal traces of the kind where Lu Zihua obtained the Taixiao Yinshu (Hidden Book of the Great Azure) and Xu Yuanyou took up residence in Shangqing.

Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected) records: Lu Zihua of Shanyang was a disciple of the Hidden Lord (a Daoist immortal lord); he took the liquid of rainbow elixir but had not yet read the Neijing (Inner Classic); later he followed the Grand Lady (a honorific for a Daoist female immortal) to receive the Taixiao Yinshu and recite it, and took delight in secluded halls and square terraces rather than ascending to the ranks of immortals. Master Xu Mai changed his name to Yuanyou; he was the elder brother of the Chief Administrator (Chief Administrator Xu); pure and empty-hearted, he cherished the Dao and lived in seclusion in the wilds. He met an extraordinary person who transmitted to him the method of “returning the form” (a practice of turning back and refining spirit and form); he took jade fluid and “morning brain essence,” and thus his complexion was lustrous and he returned to youth. In the Yonghe era of Eastern Jin he rejoiced in withdrawal and did not return; later he dwelt on the central peak of Mount Dadi. When his elixir was complete, a jade lad descended from heaven and a white deer came down to welcome him; today’s Nanling Courtyard is the trace of that event.

“Gongfang licking sores, Zhang Cang sucking breast milk” is the title of two ancient anecdotes: Gongfang licked another’s sores, and Zhang Cang sucked milk—both tell of enduring hardship, fulfilling filial piety, and moving others through humble obedience and loving kindness; they are listed here as entries in the immortal biographies.

Li Babai was a native of Shu who lived to eight hundred years, and so took “Eight Hundred” as his sobriquet. At times he withdrew into mountain forests; at times he walked the markets and streets. Tang Gongfang cultivated the Dao with sincere devotion but had not yet met a worthy master. Li Babai wished to test him and went to serve in his household as a hired hand. Tang Gongfang did not know he was the immortal Li Babai; he assigned him more tasks than the other retainers yet was fond of him. Later Li Babai feigned grave illness and impending death. Tang Gongfang summoned physicians and prepared medicines for him, spending hundreds of thousands without counting it a loss; worry showed plainly on his face. Li Babai then covered his whole body with foul sores so no one could approach, and said, “If you lick my sores they will heal.” Tang Gongfang licked them for him. Li Babai said again, “Your licking is not enough; they will heal only if your wife licks them.” Tang Gongfang had his wife lick them. Li Babai then said, “Very well—bathe the sores in thirty hu of fine wine and they will heal.” Tang Gongfang prepared the wine and washed the sores; when they healed, his skin was fine and white like congealed fat, with no trace left. Only then did Li Babai tell Gongfang, “I am an immortal. Because your heart was sincere, I deliberately tested you; you are someone who can be taught.” He then handed him a case of elixir scripture (danjing). Tang Gongfang entered Yuntai Mountain to refine the elixir; when the elixir was complete he ascended in broad daylight.

The Baopuzi says: the Han chancellor Zhang Cang happened upon a minor longevity method and lived to one hundred eighty by sucking a woman’s breast milk. That was only a shallow trick of the Daoist arts; Zhang Cang practiced it and still gained a lifespan three times the usual middle span—how much more, then, could one who fully cultivates the various secret and wondrous methods of the Dao fail to attain long life?

Stone drugs come from the Shifting Sands; jade drugs from Tangchang. The Shiyiji records: the Yellow Emperor ordered Feng Hou to carry documents on his back and Chang Bo to shoulder a sword; in the morning they roamed the Huan Sands, in the evening they returned to Yin Ford—a journey of ten thousand li in a single breath. In the Huan Sands there is the drug “stone leaf,” and in Tangchang, jade medicine.

Records of Gathered Remains relates that the Yellow Emperor had Feng Hou carry books on his back and Chang Bo shoulder a sword; they set out in the morning to roam Huansha and returned at evening to Yinpu—a distance of ten thousand li covered in a single breath. In Huansha there is a kind of stone leaf: one stem bears a hundred leaves, and it blooms only once in a thousand years. The place is also called Shalan, because the sand surges like rolling waves. In the sand dwell divine dragons and fish-turtles, all able to fly. The transcendent Ning Feng died after eating flying fish, then revived two hundred years later. So when Master Ning traveled the sea of sand he composed a hymn saying: green leaves gleam and flash; only after a thousand years do they unfold; a life of a hundred years is but a temporary death, for having eaten flying fish one is born again.

Records of Banter relates: At Tangchang Abbey in Chang’an there were jade-medicine flowers, and visitors came in an endless stream of carriages and horses. One day a woman of about seventeen or eighteen, in embroidered dress with hanging hair ornaments, of gentle and lovely appearance, was attended by two female Daoist adepts and three young servants—the servants all with topknots, their looks surpassingly fair, and a strong exotic fragrance about them. She lingered a long while, had her servants break off several sprays of flowers, and said, “There was an appointment at Jade Peak; now we may go.” She then lifted the reins, and in a moment they were half in the sky; the onlookers realized this was immortals out on an excursion. The phrase “the Daoist shakes out his robe, the general raises the dust” means that the Daoist flutters his garment and the general kicks up dust—each revealing the bearing and air of his own walk and station.

The Zhen'gao (Declarations of the Perfected) records that in one place dust had accumulated to more than an inch thick. When officials were about to inspect, the man suddenly shook off his clothes and rose—it turned out he was a fangshi (ritual specialist). He continued drinking with the company for more than a month before departing, and never came again.

In the Zhen'gao, Lord of Life Preservation (Baoming Jun, a title among the perfected immortals) said to Perfected Yang (Yang Xi, founding patriarch of the Shangqing lineage): “Xu Zi was able to cast off the bodily form and undergo secret shijie (corpse liberation, a form of transcendence in which the adept appears to die while the spirit departs). He once received the ‘Night Liberation Method’ from Zhang Zhennan (Zhang Lu, Celestial Master, who held the title General Who Pacifies the South). Xu Zi is Xu Yuan. After Zhang Lu’s shijie, he was buried at Linshu. Forty-four years later, in the Wei period, a great wind blew open the wooden coffin; the corpse looked as if still alive and lifted the face-covering and laughed.”

An emissary came to welcome Lord Mao; the Heavenly King inquired about the Xu family.

The Record of Mount Mao (Maoshan ji) states that emissaries of the Three Heavens rode purple clouds, carried jade tablets, wore embroidered robes, and came to Great Mount Mao to welcome the Great Mao Lord (Mao Ying). Lord Mao received his appointment to serve at Chicheng (a immortal mountain and celestial palace). Mount Mao today has the Embroidered Robe Pavilion (Xiuyi Ting), the very place where he received that highest honor (the text uses “nine bestowals,” a term for supreme ritual distinction).

The Zhen'gao says that the immortal Wang Zideng served as Shuqing (a ranked officer) under the Little Heaven Great King (Xiaoyou Tianwang, an official of a grotto-heaven). He knew that Director of the Bureau Xu (Xu Mi) was kind and strictly upright. Wang Zideng asked where this person was now; the Shuqing answered: “He is my fellow townsman—inwardly clear and genuinely upright, outwardly no different from ordinary worldly pursuits. He is fine talent; he is now cultivating the supreme Dao method.”

“Inserting flowers, drinking wine, striking bamboo in accompaniment to song” depicts immortals at leisure—arranging flowers, raising cups, and tapping bamboo as they sing in carefree harmony.

Li Mengfu was a free-spirited, unrestrained man of the early Kaiping reign (907–911) of the Later Liang in the Five Dynasties period—the era name of the founding emperor of Later Liang.

At that time Zhong Fu, the military and civil governor of Hongzhou (modern Nanchang in Jiangxi), held the region. Every day Li Mengfu drank with commoners in plain cloth, wrote poetry with wild abandon, and lived without restraint. In every season he wore fresh flowers in his hair, hung a fish from a fishing rod, went to shops in the market to sing “Yufu Yin” (a folk fisherman’s tune), and sold the lyrics he had written. People who loved novelty scrambled to buy them; as soon as he had the money, he went into the wine shop. He had more than a thousand such lyrics, which circulated in the Jiangbiao region (the lands south of the Yangtze). Here are one or two examples: “The village temple’s bell crosses the distant sandbank; half a waning moon sets before the hills; slowly he plies the oar and turns back toward the bay; wave on wave breaks the morning glow like shattered brocade.” He also wrote: “Fisher brothers rejoice at my coming; the boat-woman’s festival is over and we sit at the river’s edge; coconut-shell ladles and knotty-wood cups; boiled perch heaped high on the table.”

Zhong Fu thought him arrogant and misleading the public and meant to punish him. In prison Li Mengfu silently composed more than ten poems; one passage roughly said: “Wearing flowers and drinking wine does no harm; singing woodcutter’s songs and fisherman’s songs does not miss the hour.” Zhong Fu then dropped the case and released him. After that, no one knew where he went.

According to the Biographies of Divine Immortals, the figure known as Jizhuzi (Striking Bamboo)—whose personal name is unknown—often sat in wine shops in Chengdu, knocking two bamboo sections together with a ringing sound while singing in response; the meaning of his songs always accorded with the Way (Dao). This went on for more than ten years. One day he went to an apothecary in the market and said to Master Huang: “I know you, elder, are devoted to the Way; I wish in earnest to entrust you with one matter—may I?” Huang asked what he wanted to entrust. Jizhuzi said: “I am a qishi (a wanderer who cultivates through begging), living under Qili Pavilion Bridge; I am gravely ill and about to die. When I die, please cremate me, but you must on no account touch my heart.” The next day Master Huang went to the bridge; Jizhuzi thanked him gladly, then died at once. Huang provided garments and a shroud, placed him in a coffin, and cremated him in the open country. A rich strange fragrance arose at once, and birds kept calling until evening; his heart did not burn and was as large as a dou (a dry measure). Because it was late, Huang meant to go home but accidentally touched the heart with his staff; suddenly there was a thunderous burst, and people and horses were terrified. They saw a figure about a foot long emerge from the smoke and flames—it was Jizhuzi himself. He struck his bamboo sections, the sound clear and bright, then gradually went far off into the clouds. This is a typical shijie (corpse-liberation) story of immortal transformation in collections of immortal biographies.

The Biographies of Eminent Daoists records the Daoist priest Li Guizhen: in the late Tang he traveled to Xinguo Abbey in Hongzhou and saw the images of the Three Officials Hall (honoring the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water)—ordered by Emperor Ming of Tang to be made in jiazhu (a lacquer-and-cloth sculpture technique)—extremely fine; yet those in charge did not guard them strictly, and sparrows and pigeons often fouled the images with droppings. Li Guizhen painted a yao (a bird of prey) on the wall, and from then on sparrows and pigeons no longer roosted there. Later someone saw him dengzhen (ascend to perfection and become an immortal) on Mount Luofu. The section title “Li paints one osprey; Dong sighs at two geese” is a summary-style caption; “Li paints one osprey” should refer to Li Guizhen’s painting the bird of prey to protect the images.

Dong Yang (style name Zhongtong, a Jin-dynasty recluse from Junyi in Chenliu—roughly today’s Kaifeng area in Henan) came to Luoyang in the early Taishi reign period and did not seek office or worldly glory. During the Yongjia years, the ground subsided at Buguangli in the northeast of Luoyang, and two geese emerged from below: the green one flew off; the white one could not fly. When Dong Yang heard this, he sighed and said that in antiquity the Zhou alliance at Dir Quan (a Zhou-era meeting ground near Luoyang) had been at this very place; now that two geese had appeared—the green goose standing for the Hu peoples and the white goose for the Jin state—the full implication could not be spelled out. He turned to the gentlemen Xie Kun and Ruan Fu and said: the Yi (Book of Changes) holds that one who can read the faintest omens is truly marvelous; you had better withdraw deep into hiding and avoid calamity. He and his wife then shouldered carrying-poles and entered Shu (present-day Sichuan); no one knew where he finally went.

“De Cheng’s snake sword and Tao Kan’s dragon shuttle” yokes the two men’s tales of numinous implements—De Cheng’s serpent sword and Tao Kan’s (the famous Jin minister) dragon shuttle—as a paired allusion to their wonder-working objects.

Records of Immortal Traditions Lost and Found (Xianzhuan Shiyi) records that Deng Decheng was a native of Linchuan in Fuzhou (present-day Fuzhou, Jiangxi). His family had worshipped the Dao for generations. Whenever he burned incense, he often vowed to serve the state and uphold the Way; he later entered the religious life on Mount Magu (a famous Daoist mountain in present-day Nancheng, Jiangxi). When relatives and friends heard of his resolve, someone said to him: “The merit of serving the state is not something anyone but civil and military officials can achieve; you have withdrawn to become a Daoist priest—how can you fulfill that aim?” He smiled and said: “This aim is not something ordinary people can understand.” One day, returning from the mountain to his private residence, he met a huge serpent blocking the road. He scooped water and sprinkled it toward the creature, saying: “If you are a dragon, rise with the water and do not block the path.” The serpent suddenly turned into a sword, which he took home. Later a Daoist priest saw it and said: “This is a divine sword,” and taught him how to use it. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (Tang Minghuang) loved the supreme Way and widely sought Daoist arts; he summoned Deng to the capital. In conversation he said to Deng Decheng: “The region around Shibao Fort (a Tang frontier stronghold) has become quite a border menace.” Decheng said: “I am but a humble man of the wilds who has received extraordinary favor; how dare I not exert myself to set the sage’s mind at ease?” He then lit seven lamps arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper (a Daoist rite of prayer and supplication), burned incense, and prayed silently. Suddenly one lamp flew off like a shooting star, and Shibao Fort was reduced to ashes.

Declarations of the Perfected (Zhen Gao, a classic of the Shangqing lineage) states that Tao Kan was Marquis of Xihe. Tao Kan once caught a shuttle while fishing, hung it on the wall, and suddenly wind and thunder rose; the shuttle turned into a red dragon and leaped out of the house. This is recorded in Liu Qin’s Garden of Marvels (Yiyuan, an ancient collection of strange tales).

“Fine steed of the Jade Source, white mule of the hibiscus” are allusions to mounts of immortals.

Qing Suo records that when Vice Grand Councilor Liu was traveling to the capital to sit the examinations, he passed through Dumu Town. An old elder gave him a poem saying: “This year ride the wretched mule away; another day you shall return mounted on a fine horse.” He also said: “You are in origin the Jade Source Dao Lord (Yuyuan Daojun, a Daoist immortal title) of Mount Luofu (a famous Daoist mountain in present-day Guangdong).”

Ouyang’s Literary Anecdotes (Ouyang Shihua) relates that after Shi Manqing (the Northern Song writer Shi Yannian) died, someone in a trance saw him; he said: “I have now become an immortal and shall one day return riding a fine horse.” He also said: “You are in origin the Jade Source Dao Lord of Mount Luofu.”

Ouyang's Poetry Talk records that after Shi Manqing (the Northern Song writer Shi Yannian) died, someone in a trance saw him claim he had become an immortal and now governed Furong City—the legendary abode of immortals—galloping on a white mule. Later he appeared at the home of a examination candidate and left these lines: “The oriole’s song does not chase spring’s fading; the flower’s shadow ever moves with the sun’s foot.” That is, the oriole’s cry does not follow spring into old age, and the flower’s shadow always keeps pace with the moving sun.

“Three Friends in Misty Vines” and “Six Recluses of Bamboo Stream” are two sets of honorific titles for lofty recluses. According to the Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected), Zheng Ao (style name Yunshi) failed the jinshi examination; at the end of the Tang he put aside worldly dress and withdrew far into reclusion, becoming a Daoist priest on Mount Song. Two green youths, a crane, and a zither accompanied him wherever he went. He was on good terms with the Later Liang power minister Li Zhen, who wished to grant him office and salary; Zheng refused. When Li later fell from favor and was sent south into exile, Zheng walked a thousand li to visit him, so those who heard of it admired his character all the more. Zheng heard that pine resin from the five-grain pine of Mount Hua, fallen to earth for a thousand years, could turn into medicine able to expel the San Shi (the three corpse-worms or malign spirits within the body in Daoist teaching). He moved to Mount Hua and joined the Daoist priests Li Daosheng and Luo Yin in friendship as “Friends in Misty Vines”; people called them the “Three Lofty Worthies.”

It is also recorded that Li Bai excelled at the arts of vertical and horizontal strategy, loved swordplay and chivalry, was generous with wealth, and lived as a guest in Rencheng. With Kong Chaofu, Han Zhun, Pei Zheng, Zhang Shuming, and Tao Mian of Lu, he dwelt on Mount Culai, drinking deeply and singing loudly every day—they were known as the “Six Recluses of Bamboo Stream.”

“Wang Tan casting aside his hairpin” and “Wei Jie returning his seals” both mean resigning office and returning to reclusion: tou zan is removing the cap-pin; huan fu is handing back the official seal and cord. The Dantai Xinlu (New Records from the Cinnabar Platform) says Wang Tan, courtesy name Yangbo, was a man of Taiyuan, endowed with divine brilliance and inwardly steeped in obscure mystery, thoroughly versed in numinous and subtle methods, his Dao-qi pure—his ambition fixed on the jade steps of the empyrean, like emerald groves and stilled immortal waves—so he could rise above the crowd and turn toward plain, immortal Dao. At first, during Empress Lü’s regency, he held a palace attendant rank; when Emperor Wen took the throne, he resigned and left court. The Son of Heaven treated him with Daoist courtesy as a man of worth and called him a “Recluse” (yiren, a lofty hermit).

The Biographies of Divine Immortals (Shenxian Zhuan) records that the ritual master Wei Jie served as governor of Yangxia under Emperor Xiaozhuang of the Northern Wei. He took Daoist master Zhao Tong as his teacher, then returned his official cap and robes to the court, resigned his post to cultivate the Way, and received the sacred writings of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, Dongshen) together with divine recipes and secret methods. Later he chose to live at the southern foot of Mount Hua; people called him Huayangzi (Master of Huayang).

“Zemin’s banquet hall” and “Du Chong’s bedchamber” are short headings that introduce the two stories below. The Record of Famous Talk among Hanlin Scholars (Hanlin Mingtan) says that Zhang Zemin died and came back to life during the Yuanfeng era. He claimed he had been to a place like a world of jade and pearl, where a hall bore the plaque “Hall of Pure Banquets of the Five Chancellors.” He asked the gatekeeper whether he could enter; the clerk replied that this was where immortals gathered and that he could not go in. When he asked the five chancellors’ names, the answer was Lü Yizhi, Li Di, Liu Chong, Pang Ji, and Fu Bi. Before long, a cry to clear the way came from inside the hall, and a man on horseback emerged whose face resembled Vice Minister Kui; he beckoned Zemin to speak. Zhang asked: “After your death, have you become an immortal?” Liu said: “I am now a local earth deity—like a prefect or magistrate in the human realm. My merit and conduct are still insufficient; how dare I expect to become an immortal? I have just been summoned to supervise construction; the work is now finished—the doors, windows, steps, and terraces are all repaired. I have already ordered Wang Yuanze to compose the record and Shao Shu to cut the inscription.” Zhang asked: “Chancellor Fu Bi should still be alive—why does this hall exist first?” Liu said: “In three more years he will arrive.” Another passage says Zhang Zemin also lived at the southern foot of Mount Hua and was known as Huayangzi.

The New Record of the Cinnabar Platform (Dantai Xinlu) records that Du Chong took Master Wen Shi (Yin Xi) as his teacher. After ten years, Immortal Zhan was moved by his devotion and appeared in his bedchamber, giving him an elixir formula and saying: “The Earth Bureau has reported your merit and conduct; Lord Lao sent me to transmit the immortal scripture to you.” Du Chong cultivated accordingly; the method worked. He could drive tigers and leopards, command ghosts and spirits, penetrate the hidden and the manifest, and transform in ways beyond reckoning.

“Gan Ji heals the sick; Fa Man lies ill in bed” is a surviving fragment of an entry, meaning that Gan Ji treated people’s illnesses and Fa Man was confined to bed by sickness.

The Jiang Biao Zhuan (Records of the Jiang and Huai Region) records that during the time of Sun Ce (founder of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms) in the Wu region, a Daoist adept named Gan Ji (also written Yu Ji), a late Han ritual specialist, studied Daoist texts and prepared fu water (talisman script dissolved in water) to treat illness; many people in Wu commandery and Kuaiji served him. Sun Ce often received guests in the commandery city tower. When Gan Ji passed beneath the gate, about two-thirds of the officers and guests went downstairs to bow to him. Sun Ce could not stop them and had him arrested. Sun Ce’s mother said: “Master Gan also blesses the army and treats and protects the soldiers; he must not be killed.” Sun Ce did not listen. Before long Gan Ji died; when they later went to bury him, his body was gone.

The Zhenjing Lu (Record of the True Realm) records that ritual master Zhu Junxu, style name Faman, resided at Yuqing Guan (Jade Pure Abbey). He could settle disputes and rise above worldly attachments, and he honored Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) cultivation. He shut his door and lived in seclusion, drawing curtains in an empty room for quiet practice. His bearing was lofty and refined; a settled state arose from innate celestial light; his nature was deep and still, and his reputation spread like thunder throughout the Jiang and Huai region (the lands south of the Yangtze). Because Yuqing Guan was cramped and worldly affairs were distracting, while the ancient Tianzhu altar (a Daoist place of cultivation and sacrifice) was remote and tranquil, he shook off the dust, took his staff, and went there. Within a few years his various undertakings in cultivation were not yet complete when he suddenly fell slightly ill. One day he forced himself to rise, ordered water for bathing, put on cap and robes, burned incense, and sat upright. He told his disciples: “I have long seen Peng Zu (legendary figure said to have lived eight hundred years) and a child who died young, life and death, as equal; yet the wonder of the Dao is silent—those who can be moved by it understand; the principle of spirit is deep—those who can accord with it know. I have spoken; you also know. Hold fast to the scriptures, precepts, and discipline.” When he finished, he passed away in peace. After burial, his body could not be found.

Thus ends juan 13 of the San Dong Qun Xian Lu (Collected Records of Immortals of the Three Caverns). Juan 14 was compiled by Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoist priest Chen Baoguang, with entries such as “Qingxu Xiaoyou” and “Han Hua Damao” (mostly names of cave-heavens or immortal worthies).

Wang Bao (courtesy name Zideng) wore a deer-head kerchief and coarse hemp robes, wandering through famous mountains until his sincerity moved Heaven. At midnight he suddenly heard in the forest the sound of men and horses, mingled with flutes and drums; in an instant thousands of chariots and myriad riders floated through the air toward him. An immortal, riding in a brush of three clouds (a celestial carriage of the immortals) and holding a tiger tally (immortal talisman and credential), stopped and told him: “Your name has been entered in the registers of Upper Clarity and the golden books of the Eastern Flower; your name is inscribed in the Clear Void Immortal Mansion, your place is set in the Lesser Vacuity realm; you will further oversee the precious registers and serve as a Heavenly King.”

Sun Hanhua was a granddaughter of the Emperor of Wu and cultivated the Dao on Mount Mao. When immortal carriages descended, they told her: “Your name has been entered in the registers of Upper Clarity and the golden books of the Eastern Flower; your name is inscribed in the Clear Void, your place is set in the Lesser Vacuity; you will further oversee the precious registers and serve as a Heavenly King.” After her achievement she ascended into the void and departed; for this reason the mountain came to be called Mount Hua’s Grandmother. The Zhengao says that Hanhua was a disciple of the immortal Du Qi; she practiced the Yuanbai method (a Daoist cultivation technique) and her face did not age; she is still among the Greater and Lesser Mao mountains, sometimes appearing when she goes in and out, and some have seen her.

The entry title mentions Wang Xi obtaining sweet dew and Master Tian obtaining divine glue. The immortal Wang Xi once entered Mount Xishan to gather herbs during a great epidemic and distributed them to save countless people. Suddenly he met a Daoist who said to him: “You have the bearing of an immortal and have accumulated much merit.” He then transmitted to him the art of nourishing on wind and drinking dew (a method of ingesting qi and dew for immortality). One day sweet dew fell on the bamboo and tree leaves beside his dwelling; Wang Xi drank it and ascended to Heaven.

The Xianzhuan Shiyi records that Master Tian lived in seclusion at Pouting and taught at a village school. When the prefect of Raozhou, Qi Tui, had a daughter who married Li Mu, sweet dew fell on the bamboo and tree leaves; the immortal drank it and ascended to Heaven.

The entry titled “Master Tian” runs as follows: Master Tian lived in seclusion at Pouting. While teaching at a village school there, the daughter of Raozhou prefect Qi Tui married a man named Li Sheng and was several months pregnant. Li Sheng went to Chang’an to sit for the civil examinations. When his wife went into labor, she was killed by a ghost. Li failed the exams and returned to Raozhou. In the open country he met the ghost of his dead wife, who told him of the injustice and said he could go to Pouting and ask Master Tian—perhaps she could be brought back to life. Li came to the village school and pleaded with Master Tian. The master said her “dwelling” (her physical body) was already ruined. He then stepped outside and summoned the local earth-bound spirit officials. He asked: the prefect’s daughter was killed by a ghost during childbirth and her body is damaged—what can be done? They answered: as long as her soul can be recovered and reunited with the body, and “divine glue” is applied to seal the break, she can live again. Li’s wife was restored to life, and Master Tian was seen no more.

The phrase “Xiazhou’s poetic prophecy: Zhongshu, character Chao” can be read as the heading for the next item; the main text is about Li Xiazhou’s verse as prophecy. Biographies of Eminent Daoists (Gaodao Zhuan) states that Li Xiazhou possessed Daoist techniques. In the Kaiyuan reign he was summoned to court and stayed for a long time. Near the end of the Tianbao era he suddenly vanished, leaving only a prophetic poem on the wall of his residence, foretelling An Lushan’s seizure of power and Emperor Xuanzong’s flight into Shu. No one could interpret it until events proved it true. The closing lines—“The people of the Yan markets have all gone; the horses of Hanguan Pass do not return; if you meet the ghost below the mountain, a ring on the cord ties a silk robe”—work like this: “The people of the Yan markets have all gone” points to An Lushan raising his armies from Youzhou and Jizhou; “the horses of Hanguan Pass do not return” to Geshu Han’s defeat at Tongguan, when not a horse came back; “the ghost below the mountain” combines into the character wei, naming Mawei Post; “a ring on the cord ties a silk robe” refers to Yang Guifei’s childhood name Yuhuan (Jade Ring), and to Gao Lishi strangling her with a silk scarf at the Mawei incident. Most of his foreknowledge took this form.

Jade Pot Pure Talk records: Guo Zhongshu (a literatus of the Five Dynasties and early Song) was unrestrained and often gave offense. Nie Chongyi (an academic official in the Jianlong era and a Confucian master in the He-Luo region) served as an academic official in early Song; Zhao Han and others treated him with respect. Guo Zhongshu, drunk, mocked Nie by splitting the character for Nie and said: “Drawing near the noble becomes entirely deaf; climbing the dragon means deaf all along; though there are three ears, they still cannot make one clever.” The point was that the character nie has three “ears” yet cannot become cong (clever). Nie Chongyi answered on the spot, turning the joke with Guo’s name Zhongshu (“loyalty and forbearance”): “Do not laugh at three ears—I still beat hoarding two hearts.” Guo Zhongshu was deeply ashamed and in the end fell because of it. Later he was punished for slandering current affairs and pawning official goods without authorization; he was exiled to Dengzhou, died on the way, and was hastily buried beside the post road. When friends later gathered the bones and reburied him, they opened the earth and found the corpse like a cicada’s shed shell—no longer a thing of the human world.

“Old Wang the Empty-Body and Sima Jiao Who Faked Death” tells of an immortal surnamed Wang; no one knew his age. He called himself Wang and no one knew where he was from. Sometimes he would show death in one place and appear in another, again and again shedding the body like a cicada; people of the time called him “Old Wang the Empty-Body.” Records of Strange Persons of the Jiang-Huai Region says: Sima Jiao (also called “Yi”) wore shoes and walked; in a day he could cover a thousand li. His temper was fierce and no one dared approach. He could fake death—even swelling, turning blue, and rotting—then revive shortly after. Once he stayed at an inn in Xuancheng, summoned the innkeeper to drink with him, then took the chance to insult and bind the innkeeper, after which they fought each other. Sima Jiao suddenly fell to the ground; when people looked, he was dead, body cold, face changed. The whole market came to watch, so the townspeople bound the innkeeper to take him to the authorities. It was nearly evening; they planned to set out at dawn. At night there was suddenly a clamor in the shop: “Master Sima is gone!” Then people understood Sima Jiao had faked death.

“Marquis Wen’s cuckoo and Guo Pu scattering beans”: these are two brief notes on immortal lore, pointing respectively to the legends of Marquis Wen’s cuckoo and Guo Pu scattering beans.

Gaodao Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Daoists) records: The Daoist Niu Wenhou was gifted by nature and possessed extraordinary insight; his learning spanned ancient and modern times, and he often urged people toward goodness. Every deep winter he scattered grain on the ground so that birds and insects would have food to eat. He accumulated merit in secret and bestowed kindness quietly—great kindness reached people, small kindness reached creatures; in cultivating himself and accumulating virtue, the longer he persisted, the more steadfast he became.

Fangwei Zhuan records: When Guo Pu (Jin-dynasty adept) came to the home of Lujiang prefect Hu Mengkang and was about to pack up and leave, he took a liking to a maidservant in the household but had no way to obtain her. He took three sheng of small beans and scattered them around the master’s residence. In the morning the master saw thousands of figures in red clothing surrounding his house; when he drew near they vanished. Disgusted at heart, he asked Guo Pu to cast divination. Guo Pu said: Your household should not keep this maidservant. You may sell her twenty li to the southeast, and by no means haggle over the price—then the anomaly can be removed. The master obeyed. Guo Pu secretly had someone buy the maidservant, then drew a talisman and cast it into a well; the thousands in red all had their hands bound behind them and one after another threw themselves into the well, and the master was greatly pleased.

“Wang Zuan’s Flying Petition” and “Zhang Zhi’s Substituted Memorial” are titles of two immortal biographies. Wang Zuan’s flying petition (feizhang: the formal petition Daoists present upward to the Highest Emperor) relates that Wangshi Shenxian Zhuan records: Wang Zuan lived in a time when the Jin house was in turmoil; pitying the people’s suffering, every night he flew memorial petitions to report to the Highest Emperor. Before long the Most High (Taishang Laojun) descended from the void and told him: You pity living beings and express it in petitions; I can perceive and hear your intent. He then ordered an attendant boy to fetch the “Secret of the Three-Five Fasting” (a Daoist fasting regimen) and bestowed it on Wang Zuan, saying: Strive to practice it faithfully, and true immortals may be hoped for.

Guangji records: Zhang Zhi was a native of Daojiang in Pengzhou (in the Pengzhou region of modern Sichuan). He once encountered the Daoist Jiang Zhen.

Zhang Zhi was a native of Daojiang in Pengzhou. He met the Daoist Jiang Zhenbian, who taught him the art of summoning and commanding the Six Ding spirit officers (liuding yishi zhi shu). During the Dali reign of the Tang, the military commissioner of Xichuan, Cui Bichang, had a confidential matter and sent a mounted messenger to the capital to submit a memorial; the envoy had already been on the road for three days. Suddenly Cui found among the papers on his desk that the draft he had meant to send was still there, while what was sealed in the dispatch case was only a rough draft of the memorial. By then neither man nor horse could be overtaken; he was anxious and did not know what to do. Knowing that Zhang Zhi had occult arts, he summoned him and told him the situation. Zhang Zhi said, “The memorial can be exchanged; there is no need to worry.” He lit a censer of incense and held the written memorial in the smoke; the document at once flew away. After about the time it takes to eat a meal, the draft that had originally been sealed in the case fell before Zhang Zhi. When the messenger returned and was questioned, he had noticed nothing at all; when the memorial was presented at court, the seals and impressions on the wrapper were still exactly as before. Commissioner Cui was deeply astonished.

“The dragon needled by Master Huang, the serpent cauterized by Cui Wei” refers to Ma Shihuang treating a dragon with needles and Cui Wei treating a serpent with moxibustion. The Lie xian zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) records: Ma Shihuang was the horse physician of the Yellow Emperor’s time; he could tell whether a horse would live or die, and none of his treatments failed to cure. Once a dragon came down near him, drooping its ears and opening its mouth. Shihuang said, “This dragon is ill and knows I can treat it.” He took a needle and pricked the dragon’s lip, and the dragon left. Several years later dragons often appeared and carried Shihuang away on their backs—that is, bore him off to become an immortal.

Guangji (Taiping Guangji) records: During the Zhengyuan reign period (an era name of Emperor Dezong of Tang, usually written as “Zhenyuan”), Cui Wei met an old woman who said she was Bao Gu (traditionally said to be the wife of Ge Hong and skilled in moxibustion). She gave him a little mugwort and said that if he encountered warts or fleshy growths on the skin, a single application of moxibustion would suffice. When she finished speaking she vanished, and Cui Wei did not understand what she meant. One night he suddenly fell into a dry well and could not get out. Beside him a white serpent lay coiled, several zhang in length; he saw that its lips also bore warts. Wildfire happened to spread, and flames drifted into the well. Cui Wei took fire and, following what Bao Gu had said, moxibusted the serpent’s warts; the warts fell away at a touch. Realizing this was a dragon, he mounted its back. The dragon’s body shone with light, rose into the air, and carried him to a cave, where a boy in blue robes said: “This is the Jade Capital Lord (Yujingzi); he has brought Lord Cui here.” Cui Wei asked the boy: Who is Bao Gu? The answer: Bao Guannü (the text reads thus; tradition makes her the daughter of Bao Liang), wife of Ge Hong (Eastern Jin Daoist scholar), who often practiced moxibustion in the South Sea region. While Cui Wei was still startled, he asked again: Who is the Jade Capital Lord? The answer: Anqi Sheng (an ancient immortal) often rode this dragon to pay court at Jade Capital (a celestial realm of Daoism), hence the title “Jade Capital Lord.”

“He begged Mirror Lake; Ge sought Jurong County” refers to the story of He Zhizhang asking for Mirror Lake and Ge Hong asking to be magistrate of Jurong.

Biographies of Eminent Daoists records: He Zhizhang, courtesy name Jiju (the text reads thus), was a native of Yongxing in Yuezhou, with a temperament broad, easy, and unassuming. He first passed the jinshi examination and rose through several promotions to become a guest of the crown prince; he was appointed Director of the Imperial Library, and in his later years he became especially free and unrestrained. In the early Tianbao era, while ill he dreamed he visited the abode of the Heavenly Emperor; several days after waking he requested to become a Daoist priest and return home, and the emperor issued an edict allowing his residence to be converted into Qianqiu Guan (Thousand-Autumn Abbey). He further asked that Official Lake serve as a life-release pool, and the emperor again decreed that he be granted a bend of Yì Lake and Kechuan (referring to the Mirror Lake and Shanyin river region). When he set out, the emperor bestowed a poem as a mark of favor to see him off; people compared him to the “Two Shus” (Shu Guang and Shu Shou of Han, who retired after achieving success).

Ge Hong, courtesy name Zhichuan, was originally surnamed Zhuge. A remote ancestor campaigned in the Jianghan region and, encamping at Jurong in Danyang, settled there. He sighed and said, “Only I remain here—what need is there for ‘Zhu’?” So the character Zhu was dropped, and the rise of the Ge lineage began from that point. Ge Hong read widely in the classics and was especially fond of lore about immortals and transcendents. Relatives recommended him as suited to direct the national history, and he was selected as Sanji Shichang (attendant and adviser at the emperor’s side). Ge Hong firmly declined and would not accept; moreover, as he grew old he wished to compound elixir pills. Hearing that Jiaozhi (the northern part of present-day Vietnam) produced cinnabar, he requested appointment as magistrate of GouLou (an ancient county in the Guangxi region) and set out with his sons and nephews.

“Gongfang’s immortal wine and Fa Xian’s divine lamps” refer respectively to Tang Gongfang’s drinking immortal wine and ascending as a transcendent, and to Peng Zong (courtesy name Faxian) encountering manifest divine lamps. Tang Gongfang was a native of Xingyuan Prefecture (present-day Hanzhong area in Shaanxi). In Xingyuan there is Doushan Guan (Dou Mountain Abbey): a peak rises from the plain, its four faces steep as walls, the summit square like the bottom of a dipper—hence the name. Creepers and fir trees veil the slopes; the scene is wondrous. Long ago Tang Gongfang drank the immortal wine of Li Babai (a transcendent in Daoist legend), and his whole household, dwelling included, flew up to heaven. Later poets wrote: raising a cup of rosy clouds, he drank deep and felt buoyant joy, unaware that the whole family already dwelt in jiangxiao (the high immortal heavens); the world knows only that the chickens and dogs of the old house remain—who would believe the road to ascension is so far; in the vastness of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the highest immortal realm) he cast off worldly dreams, and amid the eight luminous clouds and rainbows he paid homage to the perfected; only the green trees of the old grove remain, dew-light and mist-veils locked in the rushing wind. The site of the old dwelling still exists today.

Peng Zong, courtesy name Faxian, once studied under Perfected Man Du Chong, upheld the true Way and embodied its subtlety, and his utmost sincerity connected human and spirit realms. One night while walking the ritual path, several divine lamps floated in the air and illumined his seat; their light gathered and flowed, and all who saw it felt wonder.

Ma Mingsheng was originally surnamed He, courtesy name Junxian. In youth he served as a county clerk catching thieves and was wounded by bandits, nearly dying; suddenly several lamps floated in the air above his seat, their glow condensed and streaming—everyone was astonished. The encomium “Junxian changed his surname, Gongshou hid his name” means Junxian altered his family name and concealed his public name; afterward he was known as Ma Mingsheng.

Ma Jun Neizhuan (Inner Biography of Lord Ma) states: Ma Mingsheng’s original surname was He, and his courtesy name was Junxian. In his youth he served as a county clerk catching thieves and was wounded by bandits, nearly losing his life. Suddenly he saw a woman by the roadside, about sixteen or seventeen, dressed in extraordinary finery and of peerless beauty, walking near him. Ma Mingsheng knew she was an immortal and kowtowed, begging her to heal him. The woman gave him a medicine the size of a small bean to swallow, and his wounds and illness healed at once. Ma Mingsheng then resigned his post, changed his name, and followed the divine woman back to Daizong (Mount Tai). Knowing he could be taught, she had An Qisheng (a Daoist immortal) transmit to him the golden-liquid elixir formula (the art of refining and ingesting elixir to ascend as an immortal). Ma Mingsheng later ingested the elixir and ascended to heaven.

Kuoyizhi (Broad Records of the Strange) states: When Fan Zhongyan was serving in Chenzhou, the prefect’s mother fell ill, and a Daoist was summoned to perform a zouzhang (a Daoist rite of presenting a memorial to the Jade Emperor). Fan laughed and said: How can a common man deliver a memorial to where the Lord on High dwells? The Daoist held a ritual tablet and lay prostrate on the altar all night without moving; when others touched him, his body was already stiff. At the fifth watch his hands and feet moved slightly; after a long while he said to the prefect: Your mother has six years of life remaining; her illness need not worry you. The prefect asked: Why did tonight’s memorial take so long? The Daoist said: I had just passed through the Gate of Heaven (the portal to the celestial realm) when I met the release of next year’s spring list of successful jinshi candidates (the imperial examination roster); the road was packed with onlookers, which delayed me. Fan asked: What is the surname of the top graduate? The Daoist said: The surname is Wang, a double given name—the next character was smeared with ink, and a note beside it was too far to read clearly. Later the prefect’s mother recovered; the next spring the top jinshi was Wang Gongshou, and the emperor’s own brush changed it to Gongchen. Only then was Fan amazed and convinced the Daoist could communicate with the divine.

“Guigu’s Dog from a Shoe” and “Shanyin’s Goose Classic” are titles of two immortal traces; “Guigu’s Dog from a Shoe” refers to the Guiguzi story quoted below.

Xianzhuan Shiyi (Collected Remains of Immortal Biographies) states: Guiguzi lived in the time of Duke Ping of Jin and dwelt in seclusion at Guigu in Songyang, hence his style Guigu. The master’s surname was Wang and his given name Hua. Su Qin and Zhang Yi (Warring States strategists) studied with him the arts of vertical and horizontal alliance and persuasion; they used schemes against each other and could not be led back to the ultimate Dao. When they parted, the master gave them a shoe; the shoe turned into a dog and guided the two, and they reached Qin that same day. The master lived among humans for several hundred years and later vanished without trace.

The Commentary on the Zhengao states that Wang Yixuan (Wang Xizhi, courtesy name Yixuan) was the son of Wang Kuang, elder brother of Wang Liao. He possessed refined charm and literary talent, excelled at calligraphy, and later served as Governor of Kuaiji. In the eleventh year of the Yonghe era, he left his prefectural post and withdrew from public life. He had earlier associated with Master Xu and held the Daoist path in high regard. The Book of Jin also records that Xizhi loved geese. A Taoist on the Shanyin road kept geese, which Xizhi went to see and took a great liking to; he asked to buy them. The priest said: if you will write out the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Classic, a Daoist text on nurturing life) for me, I will give you the whole flock. Xizhi gladly did so and carried the geese home in a cage.

Wo Quan (a transcendent recorded in the Liexian Zhuan, Biographies of Immortals) was an herb gatherer on Huai Mountain who loved to eat pine nuts. Hair grew on his body, he moved as swiftly as flight, and he lived to three hundred years. Liu Xiang praised him in verse: Wo Quan ate pine seeds, his body grew light and nimble, his gaze was square and steady, he tread upon luan birds and phoenixes, and in running he outpaced soaring steeds.

The Xianzhuan Shiyi (Collected Remains of Immortal Biographies) says that Ge Yongdu long resided on Shangqing Mountain in Shu, with his heart set on transcending the mundane world. Night light often appeared under a great pine tree; from this he obtained fuling (the medicinal fungus Poria), shaped like a human figure. After refining and consuming it, he could fly and transform at will; when the elixir was complete and he swallowed it, he ascended in broad daylight. For this reason people called Shangqing Mountain Ge’s Tomb Mountain.

The Celestial Master’s subjugation of demons: Celestial Master Zhang Daoling (Zhang Ling, founder of Daoism) once fought demons at Chengdu, seized twenty-four demon-prisons, and turned them all into blessed lands (fudi).