《体玄真人显异录》

In Baipo Village, southeast of Laiyang, the wife of a man named Wang Jin, née Dong, fell ill with "acute bow wind" (jigong feng, a sudden-onset illness in which the body may convulse or become rigidly contracted). Wang Jin repeatedly invited renowned physicians to treat her, but nothing helped. After half a year of illness, Wang Jin heard that a certain Master Wang, known as the Perfected One Tixuan, had come to Baipo Hermitage. He rode there on horseback with a servant to invite him, but Master Wang at first declined.

After returning home, Wang Jin consulted his father: "If Master Wang does not come to save her, Dong's life may be measured in a matter of days." Father and son went together to the hermitage a second time and pleaded earnestly, and only then did Master Wang agree.

Master Wang came to the Wang household to examine the patient and said, "I wondered what kind of illness this was." Pointing to a small statue of a deity placed before a carved wooden Buddha, he said, "It turns out this 'Fire Head' (a figure of the kitchen-fire deity or something like it) is the one causing the trouble." He had Wang Jin and the others burn the statue. After a short while, Dong smiled in astonishment and told her family, "My illness seems to have vanished." The whole family joyfully bowed in thanks. When Master Wang prepared to leave, the household clutched at his robe to make him stay; he left only after finishing a vegetarian meal.

Sun Fu was a native of Nantazi Village in Fushan County. His family was fairly well off, and he was given to drinking, though he also managed his household affairs. He was headstrong, and his speech was often teasing and disrespectful. He paid no heed to the proprieties, and the villagers called him "Foolish Third Master" (Chi Sanlang). He often followed his master on rambles through the mountains and forests, treating him as a friend to drink and make merry with.

One day Sun Fu suddenly came down with bloody dysentery (dysentery accompanied by blood in the stool). He was ill for more than a month, and neither medicine nor food did him any good; the pain was unbearable. He kept muttering complaints to himself: "Why doesn't the Master come to save me?" Before he had finished speaking, the master called from outside the door: "Is Sun the Fool in the house?" Sun Fu's son, Ziqin, went out to greet him and said, "Father is gravely ill and is close to death." The master said, "No matter." Ziqin, delighted, led him to the bedside.

The master called out loudly: "Foolish Third, I've come especially to drink with you. Why don't you get up?" Sun Fu replied, "I'm nearly dead. I can't keep down even water or rice. How could I drink?" The master said, "I guarantee you won't die." He then walked outside and looked all around, and pointing to the beast-head ornament on the ridge of the east wing, said, "So it is this thing that has been making mischief." He immediately had someone smash it.

Returning to the room, the master asked Sun Fu, "Can you get up?" Sun Fu said, "The pain has stopped, but I have no strength and cannot rise." The master told Sun Fu's wife, Madam Liang, to cook congee at once. When it was ready, the master went to the pot himself to stir it, and then fed Sun Fu with his own hands. Sun Fu ate several bowls in a row, repeatedly saying how fragrant the congee was. The master then said to Madam Liang, "If you have good wine, quickly fetch a jar." The master drank half of it himself and gave the rest to Sun Fu. Sun Fu's grave illness was cured on the spot.

He at once straightened his clothes and shoes, rose, and bowed in thanks, saying, "I am grateful beyond words for the Master's compassion in saving my life. I have no means of repaying you, but I wish to become your disciple, leave the household, and practice the Dao." The master said, "To leave the household and cultivate the Dao for the whole of one's life is fixed by karmic bonds from past lives; it cannot be achieved by chance. Judging from the endowment you were born with in your previous life, you are not yet suited to leaving home. It is enough that you remain at home, do good, and accumulate merit."

Soon afterward, the master departed. Sun Fu then gathered up all the promissory notes and account books recording the goods, property, and taxes that the villagers owed him, and burned them all together.

Cooked Food for the Multitude

The Master once traveled to Nijiazhuang, east of Laiyang. On the east bank of the river, at a place called Hushiya, a small hermitage had just been built, and the Master's disciple Wang Zhijian and others were living there. It was just after the New Year. Wang Zhijian privately discussed the matter with the others, saying: "This hermitage has only just been completed, and not many families yet follow the Dao. Fortunately the Master has come to us. Let us give everything we have and hold a Shangyuan offering (a Zhaijiao, or purification ritual, performed at the Shangyuan Festival to invoke blessings). Would that be all right?" Everyone said, "Yes." So they all set about preparing, and the ritual was carried out.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, the ritual came to an end. The Master said to the assembly: "Do not leave yet, whether you are monastics or laypeople. Stay and eat the vegetarian meal tomorrow before you go." No one dared to decline. After a long while, Wang Zhijian came in to report: "This disciple has just counted, and there are more than seventy people. Judging by the cakes and food that remain, there is less than one basket, and I fear it will not be enough for everyone." The Master went in person to the place where the food was kept, poured what was in the basket into an empty porcelain vessel, and came out saying: "It is enough, it is enough."

The next day, as the vegetarian meal drew near, Wang Zhijian came to report again. The Master asked, "How many pieces for each person?" Wang Zhijian answered, "Four." They were then distributed to everyone according to that number. When the meal was finished, the Master said: "For those who have come from afar, give two more pieces each, to keep hunger away on the road." After the food had been given to everyone, not a single piece was left over.

Wang Zhijian told everyone the whole story, piece by piece. The assembly then burned incense and bowed again, praising the marvel of what had happened. From that time on, dozens of villages came to offer their devotion (to revere the Daoist community and support it with gifts).

Raw Food Supplies the Vegetarian Feast

Once, the Master went out begging for food. He came to Shumugoutou Village, where a man named Yu Shen saw him and asked, "Sir, would you like a vegetarian meal?" The Master said, "Yes." Yu Shen at once invited him to sit, then went inside and told his wife, "Make some botuo (a kind of flour-based food of the time) as a meal for the gentleman."

His wife had only just kneaded the flour into dough when someone came to the door to call for the Master, saying, "Official Li is hosting a gathering of friends and has been waiting for you a long time." Hearing this, the Master said to Yu Shen, "Bring me the dough." Yu Shen answered, "It isn't cooked yet." The Master said, "Just bring it. It doesn't matter."

Yu Shen thought that the Master probably meant to carry the dough to Li's house and have it cooked there, so he handed over the raw dough. The Master took it and ate it right away, his expression calm and untroubled. Yu Shen was astonished and urged him, "Sir, though you may have cinnabar in your cauldron and true fire stored in your furnace, how can you bear raw dough?" The Master smiled faintly and did not reply. When he had finished eating, he left. Afterward, he suffered no injury or illness from it at all.

Whenever anyone made a petition to the Master, it was answered.

The Master traveled north to Zunhua County in Jizhou. At the time, Beijing was suffering a severe drought. The Surveillance Commissioner had long revered the Master's teachings and had taken the name "Zundao" ("Honoring the Dao"). The Commissioner had also petitioned the Master for help many times, and each petition had been answered. On learning that the Master was now in Zunhua, the Commissioner chose Shang Siguanren, a devotee of the Dao serving in the capital, and sent Shang with a letter of invitation.

Unable to decline, the Master accepted and arrived in Beijing on the fourteenth day of the seventh month. The Surveillance Commissioner, together with the other officials and those in charge of praying for rain, came to pay their respects. After several thousand people had made their obeisances, the Commissioner received the Master in person.

Early the next morning, the Commissioner again led the crowd to the Master. Before them all, the Master burned incense and offered prayers. The Commissioner said: "This region has been in drought for fifty days, and the crops are close to withering. We beg you, in your compassion, to bestow your grace and comfort the people. We would be endlessly grateful." The Master asked, "Would a foot of rain be enough?" The people looked at one another and did not answer.

On the seventeenth day, rain did fall, and across a thousand li around, about a foot of water came down. The officials and the people discussed holding a rain-thanksgiving jiao (a Daoist ritual offering in gratitude for rain; see Zhaijiao), and then dispersed.

When the Master was about to leave the capital, the people of the whole city came to see the Master off. The Commissioner said, "After this parting, I do not know when we will meet again." The Master replied at once, "In the capital." On returning, the Commissioner reflected: "I have not held this post for even two months. How could I have any occasion to go to the capital?"

At the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Master arrived at the Taixu Temple in the capital. Only a few days later, the Commissioner was appointed Supervisor of the Household of the Heir Apparent (an official who assists the crown prince) and, just as foretold, met the Master there.

When the Master prepared to travel south, the Supervisor offered a parting word: "I wish I could keep you here for good, but there is no way to do so. With mountains and rivers between us, where shall we meet again?" The Master answered, "Ninghai." The Supervisor pondered in silence, thinking: "Could it be that I will be posted to Ninghai? If I really go there to take office, why would my rank be lowered?" Later, the Supervisor was indeed appointed to a post in Ninghai.

In every such meeting, the Master knew of it beforehand.

After the Master returned to his hometown, war broke out again in the north. The Zhanshi (an ancient official title) was sent there on official business but failed to achieve any merit, and so was demoted to Governor of Ninghai (the local magistrate of the Ninghai region). As soon as he arrived at his post, he went in person to Shengshui to pay his respects to the Master. Burning incense, he said earnestly: "Before I took up the Daoist path, I had heard of the immortals and lofty sages of the past, but I knew them only by reputation. Since becoming your disciple, whenever I have asked for help, the Master has always granted an auspicious response. When events were about to unfold, you also signaled them in advance so that I would know. I feel that I am merely a mortal of the dusty world, yet I have been fortunate enough to receive such grace. I have almost wanted to cast off worldly entanglements and roam with the Master among the clouds and waters. But reality runs counter to my wishes, and I can only grieve in vain."

"Out-of-body wine drinking" (出神饮酒): this refers to the Master's spirit consciousness leaving his physical body in order to drink wine, an expression found in Daoist cultivation narratives.

On his way to the capital, having been summoned there, the Master passed through Cangzhou. An imperial relative, known as "Official Si" (a term of address for noblemen), invited him to stay at his own Daoist hermitage. The next day, the wine commissioner Liu came to invite the Master, saying, "It would be my honor if you would condescend to stop for a while at my residence."

The Master accepted and went. After they had eaten a vegetarian meal at Liu's home, Liu said, "I have long heard that you can drink a thousand cups without becoming drunk, and my only regret has been never having had the chance to see it myself. Now that your reputation for Dao and De (Virtue) has reached the highest quarters, I am fortunate to receive you. I dare to ask that you drink to your heart's content. Getting drunk just once would be enough."

The Master said, "You are too courteous. The fine wine you have stored away must surely be no match for the coarse brew of the countryside. But I have just eaten my fill, and I fear I cannot drink much now. Allow me to rest a little, and afterward I will gladly drink freely."

Liu agreed and withdrew. Before long he heard that the Master was asleep in the hall, snoring like thunder. Liu and his wife, Lady Zhao, were about to go to the wine cellar to prepare the wine when they suddenly saw the Master inside the cellar, holding up a porcelain jar and scooping out wine with a ladle, drinking one mouthful after another. The couple quietly backed away. When they looked again into the hall, the Master was still sleeping soundly as before. They secretly looked into the cellar once more, and the Master was still drinking: one jar was already finished, and the second was nearly empty.

Astonished and frightened, the couple hurried back to the hall and bowed to the Master without even waiting to burn incense. The Master woke and said, "Thanks to your invitation, I have finished two jars of wine. What shall I give you in return?" He then had an attendant fetch an old undershirt and gave it to Liu, saying, "Though this is light, its value is great. If someone falls ill, cover them with it and they will recover."

The Master then continued on to the capital. When the sick from all quarters heard of this, they came in droves seeking healing, arriving in an unbroken stream, and the cures were as swift and unmistakable as an echo answering a sound. Liu and his wife were suddenly awakened and said, "Truly, good karmic bonds can be forged, and the power of the Dao is worth relying on." They then gave their wealth to the poor and freed their servants, restoring their liberty. The two of them left household life separately to become Daoist renunciants, and both ultimately died in the course of their cultivation.

Forgetting the Body While Playing Chess

Long ago, the Master was begging for food in Shuidu Village, south of Fushan County. A wealthy local man named Wang You saw him and asked, "Sir, would you care to play a game of chess with me?" The Master replied, "I am at your disposal."

It was the end of winter, and the cold was bitter. Wang You wore a fox-fur hat, a padded cotton jacket, and leather boots, and even set a felt blanket beneath himself when riding. Seeing the Master in only a thin single garment with the elbows showing, and shoes so worn that his toes poked through, Wang decided to make sport of him. He led the Master into the front hall and seated him in the doorway, where the wind blew straight in, while he himself sat to one side.

Wang You then asked jokingly, "How many games shall we play?" The Master said, "Three would be enough." Wang said, "That is too few." The Master asked, "Would ten be all right?" Wang agreed.

The two took turns playing. Before the first game had even ended, Wang You already felt cold. By the time he had grudgingly finished the second game, he was constantly blowing on his hands and stamping his feet, and could barely endure it. Looking at the Master, however, he saw a man with a cheerful expression and a radiant complexion, his whole body as warm as spring. In the end Wang You could not last until the third game was finished. He gathered up the pieces, stood, and said, "Sir, your mind is truly free of stray thoughts; you have forgotten even your form and your body."

The Master smiled faintly and sighed, "Ordinary people toy with others, and they also break their word and go back on their promises." With that, he took his leave.

The Overseer's Heirs

In the beginning, the Overseer (Zhuanzhi) was a native of Shizhong in Fushan. His family had been wealthy and prominent for generations, and they held the Master in deep reverence. The Overseer was nearly sixty, yet he still had no heir.

One day the Master suddenly sat down on the ground in the courtyard and lifted a stone mortar with his foot. When someone asked why he did this, the Master said, "The Overseer has no heir because this stone mortar has been placed in the wrong spot. I will now grant him two sons. Let this mortar be moved, so that it does not leave calamity behind in the future."

The crowd laughed at him, thinking he spoke madness. The Master, however, remained solemn and paid no attention to their reactions. He lifted the mortar with his foot and moved it to a new position, then flicked his sleeves and walked away. Later, the Overseer did indeed have two sons: the elder was named Xingzhu, and the younger Qide. Only then did everyone come to trust the Master's words.

Embracing Yang, Keeping the Body at Peace

Only the title of this section survives; there is no scriptural text.

Gao Rong lived in the same village as the Chu family. His ancestors had practiced medicine for generations, and he was naturally kind and compassionate. His father revered Daoism and named him Baoyang.

One day, Gao Baoyang suddenly fell ill with dysentery, and neither immortals' recipes nor spiritual medicines could cure it. After nearly a month of illness, he could not even keep down broth or water, and the pain was unbearable. Everyone said that the illness was probably beyond all remedy.

A day later, the Master came from Shumu to Loujia Village in Linan and said to his disciple Deng Daotong, "I had thought Gao Baoyang had already died of his illness. Now I know he is still alive, so let us go and save him together." The Master went north past the Yangzhu Temple, broke off a branch of thorn, and, facing the temple, performed a rite and called out sternly. He stood there for a long while, and then went straight to the Gao family's old home.

The Master asked for a small knife and went into the sickroom. He said to the patient, "I have come to save you." Then, with the sleeve of his cloth robe, he brushed the patient from head to heel, and thrust the point of the knife hard into the mat, commanding the patient to rise and sit up. The patient answered at once and sat up. His pain seemed to have vanished, and his speech was as normal as before.

The Master told the family to cook thick rice porridge quickly. The family said, "He can hardly swallow even water. How can he eat thick porridge?" The Master said, "It does not matter." After a while the porridge was ready, and the Master fed it to the patient with his own hands. At first the patient found it hard to eat, but after a few mouthfuls he went on to finish two bowls in succession. He kept saying how delicious the porridge was, then got up from the mat and bowed in thanks. His body was sound and well, even more robust than usual.

Note: The phrase "雨龙忽起" in the text is a fragment at the end, and its meaning is incomplete. The original also contains a repeated passage in the middle, which has been translated only once above.

After the Master had performed a Jiao (a Daoist ritual for invoking blessings and averting disaster) in Jizhou, officials of Yutian County and local followers of the Dao invited him to spend the summer retreat (residing in a Daoist temple for the summer to practice cultivation) at the Yuqing Abbey in their county.

Later, in the fifth month, a long drought set in. On the tenth day, the officials and common people petitioned the Master to pray for rain, and he agreed. The next day about two inches of rain fell. Before long, the officials and people felt the rain was still not enough and remained dissatisfied, yet they came to thank the Master in person. The Master said, "You are thanking the wrong person. How could this rain have been summoned by this humble Daoist?"

At dawn on the thirteenth, after burning incense before the images of the deities, the Master pointed and asked the crowd, "Do you see it?" Following the direction of his hand, they looked south and saw a wisp of black smoke rising from a well. The Master said, "The rain dragon has drawn its water and set out. Heavy rain will come very soon." Sure enough, rain began at the Chen hour (7 to 9 a.m.) and continued until evening, and fields near and far were thoroughly watered. The officials and people celebrated joyfully, the crops grew lush, and in the end the whole region enjoyed a bountiful harvest.

Cooking a Chicken and Restoring It (cooking a chicken and then returning it to its original form)

The Master once... [text as above] ...rain began at the Chen hour and continued until evening, and fields near and far were thoroughly watered. The officials and people celebrated joyfully, the crops grew lush, and in the end the whole region enjoyed a bountiful harvest.

Cooking a Chicken and Restoring It

Long ago, the Master (shi, the term Daoists use for a teacher or elder) once visited Dongmacao Village in Laiyang. A man there named Jiang Huang had long heard that the Master could cure illness and withstand cold and heat, and had always regretted never having the chance to meet him. One day Jiang Huang invited the Master to his home and asked, "I would like to prepare a generous meal as an offering to you, sir. What should I make?"

The Master asked, "Do you have a chicken?" Jiang Huang replied, "My family has always raised sheep, never chickens. Recently a relative gave us one, saying it crows, so I kept it to herald the dawn." The Master asked, "Would you be willing to give it to me to eat?" Jiang Huang agreed and went out to catch it.

It happened that Li Shouqing, a fellow villager, saw this and urged Jiang Huang, "Even the gentlemen of this world cannot bear to see an animal killed, nor can they bring themselves to eat its flesh, let alone a cultivator of the Way (Dao). To show your respect for the Master like this seems unreasonable to me." Jiang Huang answered, "I have often heard of people who prepare wine and dishes but can never get a master to come to their door. Such things happen everywhere. Now the Master has graciously not looked down on me. How could I spoil the occasion over a single chicken?" So he killed the chicken, cooked it, and served it to the Master. The Master ate every bit of it, patted his belly, let out a belch, and left in high spirits.

Early the next morning, Jiang Huang and the others suddenly heard a rooster crow. Puzzled, they said, "How is there a chicken here again?" The crowing sounded very much like that of the chicken cooked the day before. When daylight came and they looked, the bird's appearance and coloring were the same as the one from the day before. When they checked it against the feathers saved from the previous day, not a single one was missing.

Jiang Huang was deeply unsettled and as dazed as if he were drunk, and he went to tell Li Shouqing. Hearing this, Li Shouqing exclaimed, "Yesterday I took the Master for an ordinary person. Thinking it over now, could he really be one who has attained the Dao?" Jiang Huang said, "Although I had heard that the Master could cure illness and withstand cold and heat, I never fully believed it in my heart. Nor did I know whether those who have attained the Dao are all able to do such things." Li Shouqing said, "It is a pity you are not familiar with the Daoist books. I have read a little of the immortals' scriptures and Daoist biographies, and I know that those who have attained the Dao can harmonize Yin-Yang between heaven and earth and set the land of the nine regions in motion. They can also send forth their spirit into dreams, pass through metal and stone, transform themselves, and soar through the air, with nothing beyond their power. How much easier, then, to bring a chicken back to life?"

Jiang Huang woke to the truth as if from a daze and sighed, "The Master's Dao is as profound as the Way of Heaven itself, yet I was as ignorant as that chicken that was boiled. You have lifted the veil from my eyes, and only now do I know how high and far-reaching heaven is. How could shallow understanding such as mine ever fathom the limits of the great Dao?"

Wang Zhong of Shuidu Village, south of Fushan, once invited the Master to his home for wine. Midway through the drinking, Li Wang, a tenant farmer from the southern estate, came to summon Wang Zhong to divide the fields. Wang Zhong had a horse made ready to set out shortly, and his wife urged him to hurry on his way.

The Master said to Wang Zhong, "Do not go. If you go, you will lose your life, and that would be a pity." Wang Zhong's wife grew angry and said, "You are fond of drinking, Master, and you pay no heed to someone's urgent business. How can you deceive us with talk of a man's death?" The Master flicked his sleeves and rose, saying, "Since you do not believe me, I will go north with you."

After they had walked about five li, they suddenly heard someone galloping after them on horseback. It was Liu Chun, Wang Zhong's son-in-law, who cried out in a panic, "My father-in-law has fallen from his horse and died. I beg you, Master, to save him!" He kowtowed again and again. The Master agreed to return with him.

When they arrived, Wang Zhong lay on the road, no longer breathing, while the people around him wept. The Master told everyone to stop weeping for the moment and had a bowl of water brought. He walked around Wang Zhong, sprinkling the water, and after three rounds the water was used up. The Master said, "He cannot be brought back." The crowd pleaded with him again and again, so the Master had another bowl of water brought. He circulated his qi (vital energy), silently recited an incantation, and fixed his gaze in concentration, then sprinkled the water over Wang Zhong's body, again for three rounds.

The Master then commanded, "Wang Zhong, raise your left hand!" Wang Zhong raised his left hand at the word, and his right hand rose along with it. The Master told him to open his eyes. Wang Zhong saw the crowd and asked, "What are you all doing?" His wife asked, "Do you not remember?" Wang Zhong answered slowly, "I only remember that when I got to this spot, I suddenly felt dazed. I followed several people westward for about twenty li. Then I suddenly heard Master Wang calling behind me to come back. I came to the edge of a ravine, deep and wide, impossible to cross. Fortunately, Master Wang pulled me across with his hand."

The crowd pointed at the Master and said, "The Master is right here." Wang Zhong rose, bowed, and thanked him: "I did not believe the Master's words, and so I met this calamity. Had you not saved me, I would already have been entered in the registers of the dead." His wife felt deep shame, and from then on revered the Master all the more.

When the Master arrived at Linyi County in Jinan Prefecture, ten wealthy local families, including Jiao Runyu and Li Yufeng, were holding a "Huanglu Grand Jiao" (a large-scale Daoist ritual of blessing and purification, Zhaijiao). They had divided up the preparations among themselves and worked day and night. Every day, many devout believers came from all directions to pay their respects and offer worship.

On the morning of the day of the ritual, several of the organizers came and waited outside the Master's meditation chamber. When the Master awoke, they asked an attendant to report that a newly married woman of the Li family in the city had suddenly died before the altar hall, and they begged the Master to have compassion and save her. The Master asked, "Why was I not told sooner?" Without even taking time to comb his hair or fasten his hairpin, he simply threw on his robe and put on his shoes, then hurried to the place of the "Yuanchen of those born in the Dog year" (the natal star of those born in a Dog year). There he drew a breath in through the crown of the dead woman's head, then breathed the Qi back into her crown, and brushed over her with his sleeve. She revived at once.

The Master returned to his chamber, and the crowd bowed in thanks. He said, "This person ate dog meat, which violated the ritual, and so she was punished by her Yuanchen (the natal star that governs a person's destiny). She was being taken under escort to Shuyue (as in the original text; probably a place name). I have brought her back."

It was a long while before the woman fully regained her senses. She told the crowd, "Because I did not believe in Master Wang, I ate dog meat on purpose, wanting to see what would come of it. Just now I was punished and taken into darkness, and it was only thanks to the Perfected One, who rescued me with a radiant light, that I was brought back. None of you should fail to believe."

Relief from Severe Illness (Illness Cured)

(This section gives only the title; the corresponding text is not provided.)

The Master resided at Huayang Temple (Huayang Guan) in Beijing. At that time there was a Deputy Surveillance Commissioner, holding the rank of Grand Master for Court Deliberation, who was extremely harsh in judging cases and governing, and so was known as "Half a Sword." Yet this official was deeply devoted to their mother.

The mother had been ill for many years, and no treatment had helped. Whenever the Commissioner came home from the office, they would ask after her condition in person, lamenting that they could not take the illness upon themselves in her place. One day an official told them, "Lately, sick people in the capital have only to ask Master Wang for some leftover food, and their illness is cured at once." The Commissioner did not fully believe this, but, moved by filial devotion, felt it should be tried regardless, and went to see the Master to ask for the leftovers. The Master gave them some food. The Commissioner took it home for the mother to eat, and her long-standing illness was soon cured.

The next day, the Commissioner invited the Master to the official hall, donned court robes, made obeisance, and knelt holding incense, saying: "Since childhood I have loved good deeds. After passing the imperial examination and entering office, I feared neglecting public duties, and so I have never found it convenient to let others know that I visited the Master to seek leftover food. In recent years I have held many posts and traveled through Guanxi, Shandong, Henan, and Haibei, and I have also sought out Buddhist monks. By my own observation, most of them were ordinary people, and I found no one worthy of taking as a teacher. Now I am fortunate to have met a true Perfected One. I humbly beg you to grant me instruction, so that I may revere you as my teacher for a long time and form a bond with the path of transcendent cultivation."

The Master gave the Commissioner the name Qingzhi and the style name Kaizhenzi. The Commissioner bowed in thanks, held a vegetarian feast (zhai) and offered tea and fruit, kept the Master company until evening, and then escorted the Master back to the temple.

Wronged Souls Beg for Rescue

The next day, the Deputy Commissioner Wulinda Qingzhi gathered devout believers in the capital to discuss holding a Yellow Register Offering (Huanglu Jiao), a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) performed in Daoism to seek blessings and avert calamity. The people gladly prepared tea and fruit, kept the Master company until evening, and then escorted the Master back to the temple.

"Wronged Souls Beg for Rescue" is the title of the next section; this section does not narrate anything related to it.

The next day, Deputy Commissioner Wulinda Qingzhi gathered the devout believers of the capital to discuss holding a Huanglu Jiao (黄箓醮, a Daoist ritual of purification for invoking blessings and delivering the dead, a form of Zhaijiao). Everyone readily agreed. They then spent day and night making preparations at the Huayang Temple, and each household taking part in the ritual also set up its own memorial tablet.

As the ritual was nearing its end, after two or three days of offerings, a man suddenly collapsed before one of the tablets and died. He then stood up again, and, in a state of agitation, hurried about, chasing after a woman as though he wished to seize hold of her because he had something to tell. The crowd held him back and urged him to speak. But he said, "This matter is too shameful to speak of." The people replied, "If you do not say it, how will anyone know?"

Slowly he began: "The year before last, I finished my official business in the capital and returned home on the ninth day of the ninth month. My wife hid poison in the cotton padding of my clothing and killed me. After murdering me, she married another man whom she had taken a liking to. I heard that a Daoist master who has attained the Dao had come from the south to hold a great Jiao ritual here, so I wanted to seize hold of him and beg him to deliver me. I have no kin, and no one knows what befell me. I am alone and without help, and I fear I will fall into the underworld, with no knowing when I might be freed. If the master leaves this place, I will never meet him again." When he had finished, he wept aloud, and all who watched were saddened.

Zhang, a lay devotee of the Dao from Yangxian in Ruizhou, who had accompanied the master, restrained him and said, "Since you have told your story so plainly, and it has already been recorded in the ritual documents, once this Jiao is finished I will invite the master to Haiyang to hold a ritual for you and to perform rites to commend you to deliverance." The man thanked him and departed, and afterward returned to his normal state.

"Jingxie quzhai" (精邪去宅) means that spirit-demons and malevolent forces leave the dwelling.

When the Master arrived at the Gaozhen Temple (Gaozhen Guan) in Changli County, Pingzhou, there was a former county commandant living in the town. He was stubborn and violent by nature and had never put faith in the path of goodness. He suddenly fell gravely ill, and the illness dragged on for years. At night he was often troubled by confused and disordered dreams, and his heart was always filled with fear and unease. His relatives and servants had also met with many strange occurrences of a similar kind. Later, ghosts and spirits began to torment him as well, so that he could not eat; his body grew thinner and weaker day by day, until at last he could not rise from his bed. Shamans had been summoned and physicians had been worn out with treating him, yet there was never any improvement.

Hearing that the Master was staying in the temple, he had himself carried before him. The Master ordered those supporting him to step back, but at first he hesitated and would not let go. The Master shouted at them sternly a second time, and only then did he release his hold and withdraw. The sick man found that he could stand on his own. The Master told him to come closer, and he was able to walk forward as well; his illness seemed already half cured.

The Master gave him the leftover food from his own meal, and he ate every bit of it. After a short while he felt light in body and strong in limb, just as he had before he fell ill. The Master then chanted incantations over water (a Daoist rite in which spells are empowered into water) and gave him a bottle of it together with a Fulu (talisman), instructing him in how to use them.

After bowing in thanks, he went home and, as the Master had directed, pasted the talisman in the main hall. The ghosts immediately took visible form, hideous in appearance, and everyone in the household could see them. He sprinkled the water on the ghosts, and, terrified, they fled and hid in a pit. He sprinkled the pit with water as well, and six ghosts, large and small, were driven out. They fled carrying, embracing, and dragging one another along. He pursued them, sprinkling water all the way, and the ghosts ran farther and farther from the house until at last not a trace of them remained. From then on the household was at peace, and his family was safe.

The next day he brought his whole family to pay their respects to the Master, burning incense and bowing in gratitude. He said, "All my life I have been perverse in temperament, stubborn and violent, neither benevolent nor good. How could I have known that the gate of the Dao held such marvels!" Afterward he donated a great sum of money to build the Gaozhen Temple and led more than two hundred households in the town to revere Daoism.

Phoenixes and cranes gathered at the altar.

In Haiyang County of Ruizhou, a devout follower of the Dao (the Way), Official Zhang the Second, invited the Master to his locality to hold a Great Huanglu Jiao (a large-scale Daoist rite of blessing and purification, performed on the Xiayuan Festival). The materials and funds required for this ritual came from more than one source, yet everyone devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the preparations and showed no weariness.

The Master told the assembly beforehand, "This rite is no ordinary one. Auspicious signs will surely descend."

On the thirteenth day, at the hour of Shen (3 to 5 p.m.), as the participants were sending off the petitions, four luan (mythical phoenix-like birds) and twenty cranes appeared in the sky. They wheeled about for a long while, then flew off to the southwest.

On the morning of the fourteenth, during the court audience rite (chaoyi) and the procession of chanting (xingdao, the recitation of scriptures and veneration of the deities according to ritual), the Master said, "There will be a response." By noon, the Celestial Master (Tianshi) manifested. As the ritual continued into the hour of Wu, two luan suddenly appeared, leading a flock of cranes across the altar, and the radiance of five-colored clouds dazzled the eyes of all present. Some doubted that these were cranes at all, whereupon several of them flew south, then circled back low, deliberately turning to show the crimson crowns of their heads. Everyone found it most marvelous. Soon afterward, one crane alighted lightly before the altar. When people tried to drive it away, it instead drew close and was gentle. From then on, people fed it every day, and it only cried out toward the heavens, never flying away.

On the twentieth, the Master was about to set out westward. After burning incense and taking leave of the deities, the crane met the Master with several calls, beat its wings and rose into the sky. It circled the city three times, then flew off to the southwest. The faithful throughout the city, including Secretary He and others, painted pictures of this event and reverently preserved them.

Taishang Yunduan.

The Master returned from the north and arrived at Chongxing Township in Dezhou. At that time, an official who had once served as Military Governor of Cangzhou and had risen to the rank of Guanglu had arranged a Great Huanglu Jiao (a large-scale Daoist Zhaijiao ritual of purification), to be held over four days and nights. He first purified himself and composed his mind, then made every preparation as the ritual rules required, and made ready to begin the offering.

The Master said, "To rise to the third rank is already the most honored station in the world. Now you reverently carry out the Xuanke (the liturgical rules and precepts of the Daoist tradition) with sincerity and without slackness. Surely this will move the heavens, and an extraordinary sign will appear when the time comes."

On the fourth night, as the ritual was being performed, everyone suddenly saw Taishang Laojun, the Supreme Venerable Lord, riding upon auspicious clouds of five colors and appearing above the altar. While the assembly was reciting the Qingci (green petitions, written prayers memorialized to the celestial deities), the Master bowed low to the ground. Then the people saw a child only a little over one foot tall, with a strange appearance and unusual clothing. He emerged from the incense burner in the Master's hands and walked up before Taishang Laojun, as though he had something to report. When the Qingci had been burned, the child vanished and never appeared again.

Guanglu at once ordered a painter to record the event in a picture. Others copied out and circulated the account as well, and all who had seen it with their own eyes or heard of it with their own ears marveled that it was a rare encounter, seldom matched in ancient or modern times.