《列仙传》

Chisongzi

Chisongzi was the Rain Master (the deity in charge of rainfall) in the age of Shennong. He consumed "water jade" (a legendary immortality drug) and taught this method to Shennong. He could enter fire and let it burn him. He often ascended Mount Kunlun, where he lived in the stone chamber of the Queen Mother of the West, moving up and down and back and forth with the wind and rain. The daughter of Emperor Yan followed him, and she too attained immortality and departed with him. In the age of Gaoxin, Chisongzi served once more as Rain Master; the Rain Master spoken of today is said to be him.

Chisongzi's figure is distant and far-reaching, and the daughter of Emperor Yan is light and ethereal. Hand in hand the two soar, their forms nimble and weightless, rising together on beating wings.

Borne upward on the long wind, they soon reached Xuanpu (the legendary realm of immortals on Mount Kunlun). Masters of wind, rain, and the other changes of nature, they became the model of those who govern rainfall.

Ningfengzi

Ningfengzi lived in the age of the Yellow Emperor, and tradition holds that he served as the Yellow Emperor's Master of Pottery (the official in charge of ceramics). A certain man passed by him and tended his kiln fire, and could make five-colored smoke rise from the furnace. After a long time, the man taught this method to Ningfengzi. Ningfengzi then piled up the fire and burned himself, rising and descending with the smoke. When people examined the ashes in the furnace, they found his bones still remaining. The people of the time buried the bones together in Mount Ningbei, and for this reason called him Ningfengzi.

How marvelous Ningfengzi was, endowed from birth with extraordinary gifts. He cast his body into the great furnace fire, and his breath (Qi) turned into five-colored mist.

His remains stayed in the ashes and were buried on Mount Ning. Seeing these traces, how could people understand the mystery within them?

Ma Shihuang

Ma Shihuang was a horse doctor in the age of the Yellow Emperor, who could judge a horse's life, death, and ailments from its bodily appearance, and whose treatments always brought a cure. Later a dragon came before him, ears drooping and mouth open. Ma Shihuang said, "This dragon is ill. It knows that I can heal." He then pricked the area beneath the dragon's mouth with a needle, pounded licorice root and mixed it into a liquid medicine to feed it, and the dragon recovered. Afterward, sick dragons often emerged from the water to describe their symptoms and ask him for treatment. One day, a dragon carried Ma Shihuang on its back and departed.

Ma Shihuang oversaw the horses, and not one sick horse escaped his diagnosis and care. His medical skill was so subtle that it reached the dragons, and he could heal creatures of other kinds as well.

The dragon remembered his kindness and bore him away on its back. Shaking itself, the dragon leapt up to the Heavenly River (the Milky Way), and the traces it left behind can still be seen.

Chisong Ziyu (赤将子舆) lived in the age of the Yellow Emperor. He did not eat the five grains, only the blossoms of various herbs and trees. By the time of Emperor Yao, he worked as a carpenter and could travel up and down along with wind and rain. At times he sold cords in the marketplace, and so he was also called "Jiaofu" (the Cord Seller). It is said that he could change into different forms as the wind shifted.

Marvelous portents repaid his virtue (De), and scaled creatures took the bridle in their mouths. Beating its wings, it leapt into the Celestial River and alighted among the herbs and trees he had left behind.

Chisong Ziyu

Chisong Ziyu lived in the age of the Yellow Emperor. He did not eat the five grains, only the blossoms of the hundred herbs. By the time of Emperor Yao, he worked as a carpenter and could travel up and down with the wind and rain. He often sold cords in the marketplace, and for this reason was also called "Jiaofu." People praised him in these words:

The common people live on grain, but who among them enjoys a long life? Ziyu rose beyond the world, taking blossoms for food and dew for drink.

He lodged himself within wind and rain, his steps light and unhurried. He could roam among the clouds, and he could transcend life and death.

The Yellow Emperor

The Yellow Emperor, styled Xuanyuan, could command the hundred spirits and cause the gods to come and pay him homage. Even as a child he could speak; he was sagely and bright by nature, able to foresee events and understand the patterns of all things. He called himself the "Master of Clouds," and his body bore the form of a dragon.

It is said that the Yellow Emperor chose the day of his own departure and took leave of his minister Hanchen. After he died, he was buried at Mount Qiao. Later the mountain collapsed, and the coffin in the tomb was empty, with no corpse inside, only a sword and a bird (乌).

The immortals' books say: the Yellow Emperor mined copper at Mount Shou and cast a cauldron at the foot of Mount Jing. When the cauldron was finished, a dragon let down its whiskers to welcome him. The Yellow Emperor then mounted the dragon and ascended to heaven, and his ministers and officials all grasped the dragon's whiskers, hoping to rise with him. As they pulled, the whiskers were torn away, and the Yellow Emperor's bow fell down as well. Unable to follow, the ministers could only look up and weep. Afterward, people named that place Ding Lake (Dinghu, "Cauldron Lake"), and called the Yellow Emperor's bow "Wuhao."

The Yellow Emperor was divine and profound, his realm lofty and far-reaching. He governed all things and holds an honored name among the emperors of every age.

His teaching spread in every direction, and his lifespan and spiritual powers surpassed the ordinary order of things. He feigned burial at Mount Qiao, but in truth rose to the distant heavens.

Juequan

Juequan (the name of an immortal).

Juequan (倔佺) was an old herb-gatherer of Mount Huai who loved to eat pine nuts. His body grew hair several inches long, and his two eyes were square. He could fly, and when he ran he was faster than a horse. He once offered pine nuts to Yao, but Yao had no leisure to take them. The pine nuts mentioned here are those of the jian pine (简松). Those who took them at the time all lived to two or three hundred years of age.

Juequan fed on pine nuts, and his body became light and robust, his eyes square. His steps seemed to tread upon phoenixes, and when he ran he was swift as flight.

He presented his immortal formula to Yao. One who can fully enjoy the natural span of life has no need to seek this formula; but for people of ordinary endowment, it is well suited to follow as a practice.

Rongcheng Gong (容成公), Master Rongcheng, called himself the teacher of the Yellow Emperor and appeared during the reign of King Mu of Zhou. He excelled in the arts of supplementing and guiding (that is, nourishing life by tending the body and guiding the breath), gathering and nourishing Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) from the Xuanpin (玄牝, what Daoists call the profound gateway of generation and transformation). The essence of his method was to preserve the valley spirit so that it does not die (keeping the empty and tranquil spirit from decline), guarding life and nurturing the breath. His white hair turned black again, and his fallen teeth grew back. These accounts match those told of Laozi, and some even say that Rongcheng Gong was Laozi's teacher.

Rongcheng Gong labored diligently at his cultivation, concentrating wholly on regulating the breath until his body reached a state of suppleness. He had attained the Dao (the Way) long before, concealing his radiance within and wandering alone and free.

His Dao penetrated the Yellow Court (黄庭, Huangting; the inner place within the human body in Daoist cultivation), and Boyang (伯阳, an appellation of Laozi) admired him as a kindred spirit. The mystery of the gateway of the Xuanpin may perhaps be sought through this.

Fanghui (方回) was a recluse in the time of Yao. Yao once summoned him to serve as Yanshi (阎士, an official title). He refined and consumed mica, and he also healed the common people; later he lived in seclusion on Mount Wuzuo. In the final years of Qi of Xia, he took up office. Some people seized him and shut him in a room, demanding that he teach them his arts. Fanghui transformed himself and slipped away, then sealed the door with his own image. People at the time said that anyone who obtained a single pellet of Fanghui's clay and smeared it on a doorway would find that the door could never again be opened.

Fanghui made nourishing life his task and lived in seclusion on Mount Wuzuo. He chewed cloud blossom (云英, a kind of mineral akin to mica), letting his heart and spirit settle in a realm of profound stillness. Later, when he was confined in a secret chamber with the door locked layer upon layer by others, the room within was spacious and at ease. After transforming himself and escaping, he sealed the entrance with his own image; people at the time said that, because of this, the door could never be opened.

Laozi's surname was Li, his personal name was Er, and his courtesy name was Boyang. He was a native of the state of Chen. Born in the Yin (Shang) era, he served the Zhou court as Archivist Beneath the Pillar (a keeper of canonical records), and later became Keeper of the Archives (an official in charge of the collection of books). He valued the cultivation of Qi (vital energy) and Jing (essence), prized the nurturing of life, and never squandered his vital essence at will. He held office for many years: the Liexian zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) says more than eighty, while the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) says more than two hundred. People of his time called him a "hidden gentleman" (a recluse of moral integrity), and his posthumous title was Cong. When Confucius came to Luoyi, the Zhou capital, he called on Laozi, regarded him as a sage, and took him as his teacher. When the Zhou later declined, Laozi rode away in a cart drawn by a green ox, entered Daqin (an ancient name for the Qin region or the lands to the west), and passed through the Western Pass. Yin Xi, the Warden of the Pass (the official who guarded it), welcomed him, recognized him as a Zhenren (a realized person, one who has attained the Dao), and asked him to leave a written work behind. Laozi then composed the Daodejing (Dao De Jing) in two parts.

When Laozi entered Daqin and passed through the Western Pass, the Warden Yin Xi welcomed him. Yin Xi recognized him as a Zhenren and asked him to write a book, and so Laozi composed the Daodejing in two parts.

Laozi followed the Dao (the Way) of Wuwei (non-action), yet there was nothing he could not accomplish. The great Dao runs through both life and death, and his traces reveal the numinous and the marvelous.

He closed off the desires of the outer senses and turned inward to contemplate the Shen (spirit). He stilled his spirit so that it was not bound by any limit. His De (Virtue) accorded with the primordial Qi at the beginning of heaven and earth, and his lifespan was equal to theirs.

Yin Xi, Warden of the Pass

Yin Xi, the Warden of the Pass, was a grand master (daifu) of the Zhou. He was deeply versed in "inner learning" (teachings devoted to inner cultivation) and often partook of the essential Qi, living in seclusion, cultivating virtue and practicing with single-minded devotion, so that people of his time did not know of his attainments. When Laozi journeyed west, Yin Xi first saw an unusual sign in the sky and knew that a Zhenren was about to pass. He scanned the horizon, went to look for him, and waited at the pass, and indeed he met Laozi. Laozi, in turn, saw that Yin Xi was no ordinary man, and so wrote a book and imparted the Dao to him. Afterward, Yin Xi traveled with Laozi through the Liusha (the shifting sands, the desert regions of the west) and accompanied him in the "conversion of the barbarians" (the legend that Laozi went west to teach the Hu peoples), eating the seeds of the jusheng plant. After that, no one knew where they went. Yin Xi himself also wrote nine chapters, titled the Guanlingzi (Master of the Pass).

Yin Xi guarded the pass and took the storing away of virtue as the essential work of his practice. He drew in the essence of the sun's light and gazed up at the profound laws of the heavenly Dao.

He observed the signs in the sky and waited for the Zhenren to arrive, grasping the omen alone. Together with Laozi he crossed the shifting sands and returned to the realm of the profound Dao.

Juanzi

Juanzi was a native of the state of Qi who loved to consume the essence-qi of trees (a Daoist practice of qi-ingestion and life-nourishing cultivation). When he reached the age of three hundred, he appeared once more in the land of Qi. He wrote the Tianren Jing (Scripture of Heaven and Humanity) in forty-eight chapters. Later, while fishing at Hezé, he caught a carp with a fulu (talisman or register, a written charm used in rituals of prayer and the summoning of spirits) hidden in its belly. He lived in seclusion on Mount Yan, where he could summon wind and rain, and he learned the "Nine Immortals Method" transmitted by Boyang. Liu An, the King of Huainan, obtained part of this text in his youth but could not grasp its essential meaning. Juanzi's Qinxin (Heart of the Zither), in three chapters, is by contrast clearly ordered.

Even in old age Juanzi continued to consume the essence-qi of trees, and so he enjoyed long life. Once the method of the Nine Immortals was handed down, the Three Powers of heaven, earth, and humanity were brought into harmony through it.

The red carp delivered the fulu, and with it he could command wind and clouds. Playing the zither in his deep, secluded dwelling among the cliffs, his abode rose high and could be seen from afar.

Lü Shang

Lü Shang was a native of Jizhou. He was naturally intelligent and could foresee the rise and fall of dynasties. To escape the turmoil of King Zhou of Shang, he lived in seclusion in Liaodong for forty years. He later traveled west to the land of Zhou and hid in the Southern Mountains, where he fished at Panxi and caught nothing for three years. Onlookers urged him, "Give it up." Lü Shang replied, "You do not understand." Before long, he did indeed find in a fish's belly the Bingqian (a text on military strategy and stratagem). King Wen of Zhou dreamed of a sage, and upon hearing of Lü Shang, took him back in his carriage. When King Wu of Zhou campaigned against King Zhou of Shang, Lü Shang wrote more than a hundred chapters of the Yinmou (Secret Strategies). He consumed immortal herbs such as marsh zhi and earth marrow, and died after living for about two hundred years. Because of turmoil at the time, he could not be buried promptly. When his son Ji later buried him, the coffin held no corpse, only the six chapters of the Yuqian (Jade Tally).

Lü Shang lived in seclusion and fished, and an auspicious omen came to him by way of a fish. King Wen of Zhou dreamed of a worthy man, met him, and carried him home in his carriage, making him a minister.

Through far-sighted strategy his name was handed down to later ages, and he cultivated his body with immortal herbs such as zhi. Every generation has praised him; he was truly an extraordinary immortal.

Xiaofu

All that survives of the text is the name "Xiaofu"; no account of his deeds has been provided.

Xiaofu (啸父) was a native of Jizhou. In his youth he mended shoes in the marketplace of the Western Zhou, and he kept at it for several decades without anyone knowing where he came from. Later, some people were astonished that he never aged and came out of curiosity to ask him for the art of longevity, but they learned nothing. Only Liang Mu (梁母) mastered his method of working with fire. When the time came for him to ascend to heaven, Xiaofu climbed Mount Sanliang, took leave of Liang Mu, and laid out several dozen fires in rows, and then he ascended. Most of the people around Xiyi offered sacrifices to him.

Xiaofu was able to keep his appearance from fading, and though he was advanced in years, his movements were never slow. When Liang Mu met him, the two of them went together through a "gathering of the void" (启会), an assembly of immortals.

The cinnabar fire shone in brilliant radiance, and the purple smoke gathered into a canopy. Xiaofu gazed far into the clouds, then rose up into them, cutting himself off from the glory and ease of the human world.

Shimen

Shimen (师门) was a disciple of Xiaofu, and he too could command flames. He ordinarily lived on the petals of peach and plum blossoms. He once served as dragon-driving master to Kong Jia, king of the Xia. Kong Jia could not comply with his wishes, so he killed him and buried the body in the wilds. One day wind and rain came to welcome Shimen home, and when the storm had passed, every tree on the mountain had been burned down. Kong Jia then offered sacrifices and prayers to Shimen, but on his way back he died on the road.

Shimen commanded flames, and his fire blazed fiercely. He once raised young dragons, concealing his spiritual power and hiding his kindness.

The king of the Xia treated him with cruelty, and though his physical body died, his spiritual awareness endured. After the wind and rain descended, he rose solemnly into the sky and departed far away.

Wu Guang

Wu Guang (务光) lived in the Xia era, and his ears were seven inches long. He loved to play the zither and ate the roots of calamus and chives. When Tang of the Yin was about to attack Zhou, he consulted Wu Guang. Wu Guang said, "This is not something for me to do." Tang of the Yin replied, "Since the worthy have already submitted, they have solemnly gone far away."

Wu Guang

Wu Guang was a man of the Xia dynasty. His ears were seven inches long, he loved playing the zither, and he lived on the roots of cattail and chives. When Tang of Shang was preparing to attack Jie, he consulted Wu Guang about the plan. Wu Guang said, "This is not something I should be doing." Tang asked, "Who can plan it?" Wu Guang said, "I do not know." Tang then asked what he thought of Yi Yin. Wu Guang replied, "He is strong-willed and can endure humiliation. As for anything else about him, I do not know."

After Tang defeated Jie of Xia, he wished to hand the realm over to Wu Guang, saying, "Let the wise devise the plan, let the strong in arms carry it out, and let the virtuous govern. This is the principle of the ancients. Why will you not accept? Please assist me." Wu Guang declined, saying, "To depose a ruler is contrary to righteousness; to kill people is contrary to benevolence. For others to risk danger while I enjoy the fruits is not honorable. I have heard that one should not accept a salary that is contrary to righteousness, and should not hold a position in an age without the Dao (Way). You honor me to such an extent that I truly cannot bear to look on any longer." He then bore a stone on his back and sank into the Liao River, after which he went into hiding.

More than four hundred years later, in the time of King Wuding of Shang, Wu Guang appeared again. Wuding wished to appoint him chancellor, but Wu Guang refused. Wuding sent a carriage to receive him, but summoned him by compulsion and did not treat him with proper courtesy. Wu Guang therefore threw himself into Mount Fuliang. Later, he wandered and dwelt on Mount Shangfu.

Wu Guang kept himself within benevolence and lived on plants and trees to nourish his original nature. He withdrew into seclusion and renounced the world, standing transcendent beyond the common world and refusing to follow its ways.

Although Wuding held a position of great honor, Wu Guang still would not accept the office he offered. By carrying a stone into the water, Wu Guang distanced himself from worldly rank and fame.

Qiu Sheng's place of origin is unknown. During the reign of Tang of Shang, Qiu Sheng served as Mu Zheng (an official post in charge of timber or forestry affairs). After more than thirty years had passed, he appeared even younger and more robust than before. People all knew him to be an extraordinary man, and together they revered him and took him as their teacher. He regularly ate pine resin and built himself a stone chamber on North Mountain in Shixiang. In the time of King Wu of Zhou, the king personally went to his stone chamber to make offerings to him.

Qiu Sheng was truly extraordinary; no one knows where he finally went. He cultivated himself and also served his ruler, and in old age he grew only more vigorous.

His appearance was radiant, and his bearing was gentle and generous. King Wu of Zhou once made offerings to him on North Mountain.

Peng Zu

Pengzu, personal name Keng and family name Qian, was a grand master (daifu) of the Shang dynasty. He was a grandson of the Emperor Zhuanxu and the second son of Lu Zhong. He lived from the Xia dynasty to the end of the Shang, a span of more than eight hundred years. He regularly ate cassia and zhi fungus, and he excelled at daoyin (guided stretching) and xingqi (circulating Qi), that is, nourishing body and mind by regulating the body and the breath.

At Liyang there is an immortal's chamber that belonged to Pengzu. According to tradition, when people once prayed to him for wind and rain, he always answered them. After the sacrifices ended, tiger tracks often appeared on the ground, and it is said that two tigers guarded the left and right sides of the shrine.

The immortal Pengzu enjoyed a long life that spanned past and present. His arts of the Dao (Dao shu) transformed with each age and continued without end. He lived in seclusion in a deep and remote dwelling, and his reputation for efficacy was bound up with wind and rain. Two tigers roared at his side, and no one dared to treat him lightly.

Qiong Shu was a court historian (feng shi) of the Zhou dynasty. He could circulate Qi and refine the body, and he boiled and refined "stone marrow" before taking it. This medicine was called shi zhongru, a prepared remedy of the stalactite kind. He lived for several hundred years and often came and went on Mount Tai, carrying with him an outer stone shaped like a pillow.

Although mountain delicacies are many, they may hasten aging, whereas the five stones can prolong life. Qiong Shu obtained this medicine, extracted the stone marrow, and consumed its essence.

Ordinary people live no more than a hundred years, yet Qiong Shu could walk with a light and nimble step. He slept peacefully in the mountains and wandered through realms of the immortals.

One note on the text: the source says 太室山, which is Mount Tai-shi (the central peak of Mount Song in Henan), not Mount Tai (泰山). I wrote "Mount Tai" above in error. The correct rendering is Mount Taishi, so please read that line as "often came and went on Mount Taishi."

Jie Zitui (a legendary recluse, usually called Jie Zitui), whose family name was Wang and personal name Guang, was a man of the state of Jin. He lived in seclusion and sought no fame. He admired Zhao Chengzi and once kept company with him. One day a yellow sparrow alighted on his door, and Chonger, Prince of Jin, took this as an unusual omen and brought him along into exile. They lived abroad for more than ten years, and through all the hardships of the road Jie Zitui never shirked his share.

Later, when Chonger returned to his state, they came to Mount Jie. Bozichang came early one morning to call on Jie Zitui and said, "It is time to leave." Jie Zitui took leave of his mother, entered the mountains, and followed Bozichang in his wanderings. Duke Wen of Jin sent several thousand men bearing jade and silk to invite him with ceremony, but he never came out of the mountains. More than thirty years later, someone saw him by the shore of the Eastern Sea, selling fans on behalf of Wang Su. After several more decades, no one knew where he had gone.

Wang Guang was calm and of few words, and he lived a long life. When he served in office, he assisted a hegemon; when he withdrew, he was in accord with friends of the profound.

Jie Zitui sought no stipend and devoted himself to cultivating his person, asking for nothing. He followed in the footsteps of Bozichang into Mount Jie, then drifted to the lands west of the sea.

Ma Dan

Ma Dan was a man of Geng in the state of Jin, and he once sold fans on behalf of Wang Su. After several more decades, no one knew where he had gone.

Wang Guang was calm and of few words, and he lived a long life. When he served in office, he assisted a hegemon; when he withdrew, he was in accord with friends of the profound.

Jie Zitui sought no stipend and devoted himself to cultivating his person, asking for nothing. He followed in the footsteps of Bozichang into Mount Jie, then drifted to the lands west of the sea.

Ma Dan

Ma Dan was a man of Geng in the state of Jin. In the time of Marquis Wen of Jin, he served as a grand master (daifu). By the time of Duke Xian of Jin, he had become chief of the military secretariat. After Duke Xian destroyed the state of Geng and killed the Crown Prince Gong, Ma Dan departed. When Zhao Xuanzi held power, he rode a comfortable carriage into the Jin capital and called upon the various grand masters. Duke Ling of Jin wished to have him take office, but pressed him in a manner that violated ritual propriety. Suddenly a violent wind tore off the roof, and Ma Dan entered the whirlwind and was gone. The people of the north revered him and built a shrine to make offerings to him.

Ma Dan held office in Jin, and his career rose and fell with the times. He served Marquis Wen and left Duke Xian; in prominence and in retirement alike, he was never exhausted.

As the sacrificial rites were about to begin, a violent wind suddenly arose. Serenely, alone, he ascended, and his traces vanished in the profound halls of Heaven.

Ping Changsheng of Gucheng was an ordinary man, and no one knew his origins. He died and came back to life many times, though people of his day did not believe it. Later, a great flood struck and many suffered disaster, yet Ping Changsheng stood atop Quemen Mountain and cried out, "Ping Changsheng is here." He said, "If the rain continues for five more days, the flood will stop." After the waters receded, people climbed the mountain to build a shrine and offer sacrifices to him, but found only his clothes and belt. Several decades later, he appeared again as a gatekeeper at Huayin.

Ping Changsheng of Gucheng left strange traces and was free and unbound. He passed between life and death, and his inner nature remained untouched.

He transformed himself through the profound Dao (the Way), forgot his bodily form, and paid no heed to rank or station. He came to the dusty world only for a time, and in the end he would ascend to the realm of immortals among the clouds.

Lu Tong

Lu Tong was none other than Jieyu, the "madman of Chu." He loved nourishing life, eating the fruit of the qilu tree and the seeds of the turnip. He wandered through famous mountains and once appeared on Mount Emei in Shu. People saw him again and again over several hundred years before he finally departed.

Jieyu delighted in cultivating the Dao, tended his nature and mind, and concealed his radiance. He once used words to admonish Confucius indirectly, speaking of how the phoenix was out of step with the times and of a world in decline.

He harmonized his breath until it was even, and quieted his mind to guard the inner, where his thoughts grew subtle. He calmly climbed the lofty, numinous mountains and gave a long, resounding whistle on Mount Emei.

Ge You

Ge You was a man of the Qiang people. During the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, he liked to carve wood into sheep and sell them. One day he rode a wooden sheep into the land of Shu. The nobles and lords of Shu followed him all the way to Mount Sui. Mount Sui lies southwest of Mount Emei and rises to an extraordinary height. Those who followed Ge You up the mountain never returned, and all later became immortals. For this reason, a local saying goes: "Get one peach from Mount Sui, and even if you cannot become an immortal, you will still be fit to be a hero." At the foot of the mountain there are several dozen shrines.

Wood can be carved into a sheep, and the sheep can show marvelous powers. Ge You had spiritual power of his own, and his traces were out of the ordinary.

Thus he ascended Mount Sui, spread his wings, and his fame spread far and wide. Those who knew to follow him could become immortals, and those who obtained the immortal peach would also be honored.

The Two Daughters of the Jiang River

The two Jiang Fei sisters (legendary goddesses of the Jiang River) are of unknown origin. They were wandering along the bank where the Jiang and Han rivers meet when they encountered Zheng Jiaofu. Seeing how beautiful they were, Jiaofu was filled with admiration, though he did not know they were immortals. He said to his servant, "I would like to go over and ask them for their ornaments." The servant warned him, "These women are all skilled in speech. I fear you will not get them, and will only bring regret upon yourself." Jiaofu ignored this, walked up to them, and said, "You two ladies must be weary." The sisters replied, "You are the one who is weary, traveler. What weariness could we have?"

Jiaofu said, "The tangerines are pomelos. I packed them in a bamboo basket and let the basket drift down the Han River. I walked along the water's edge and gathered zhi fungus (lingzhi) to eat, to show that I mean no offense. I hope to receive your ornaments." The sisters answered, "The tangerines are pomelos. We packed them in a basket and let the basket drift down the Han River. We walked along the water's edge and gathered zhi fungus to eat." Having said this, they untied their ornaments with their own hands and gave them to Jiaofu.

Jiaofu was delighted. He took the ornaments and tucked them into his bosom, close to his heart. He hurried away for several dozen paces, and when he looked again, his bosom was empty and the ornaments were gone. He turned to look back at the two women, and they too had suddenly vanished.

These spirit consorts (divine women) were lovely and ethereal, and often appeared along the riverbank. Their clothing was splendid, their steps light, and their glances over their shoulders full of grace.

When Jiaofu met them, he tenderly voiced his private longing. But the ornaments turned to nothing in an instant, and he could never find any trace of them again.

Fan Li

Fan Li, whose courtesy name was Shaobo, was a native of the land of Xu. He served the King of Zhou and studied under Taigong Wang (Jiang Ziya, the Grand Duke). He was fond of consuming "zhu" and drinking water. Later he served as a grandee of the state of Yue and helped Goujian defeat the state of Wu.

Afterward, he boarded a light boat and went out to sea. Changing his name, he traveled to the state of Qi, where he called himself Chiyi Zi. More than a hundred years later, he appeared in the land of Tao and was known as Lord Tao Zhu. He amassed wealth in the hundreds of millions, and people called him Duke Tao Zhu. Later he gave away his fortune and sold medicine in Lanling, and people of later generations, age after age, are said to have seen him.

Fan Li drove a carriage made of cassia wood, humble in spirit and lofty in aspiration. He took Wanggong as his teacher and went through all manner of seclusion and anxious care.

When a dragon appeared in the land of Yue, he helped the King of Yue complete his great work, then withdrew once his achievements were won. He cast off his wooden sandals and gave up a fortune of a thousand pieces of gold, advancing and retreating freely as the changes of the Dao (the Way) required.

Qin Gao

Qin Gao was a native of the state of Zhao who once served King Kang of Song as a lute player. He roamed the region of the Juan and Peng Rivers and also traveled through Jizhou and Zhuo Commandery. More than two hundred years later, he announced that he would dive into the Zhuo River to fetch the dragon's sons, and he arranged with his disciples that they should all fast and purify themselves, then set up a shrine by the water and wait. Sure enough, he later surfaced riding a red carp and sat down in the shrine. Early in the morning, tens of thousands of people came to watch. He stayed for more than a month, then dived into the water again and departed.

Qin Gao was calm and at ease in bearing, and had once directed the music at the court of Song. Transcending the dust of the world, he lived in solitary seclusion, drifting and sinking through the waters of the Zhuo.

He leapt from the water and leaned forward to ride the fish; when he plunged to the depths, he rested in peaceful stillness among the water plants. This practice of entering and leaving the water as a form of cultivation is called "water liberation" (shuijie), and it holds boundless delight.

Kou Xian

Kou Xian was a native of the state of Song who made his living by fishing and lived beside the Sui River for over a hundred years. When he caught fish, he sometimes released them, sometimes sold them, and sometimes ate them himself. He was always neatly dressed, loved to plant lychee trees, and ate their blossoms and fruit. When Duke Jing of Song asked him about the arts of cultivating the Dao, he refused to teach them, and the Duke had him killed. Several decades later, he appeared again on the city gate of Song, sat cross-legged playing the lute for several days, and then left. The people of Song all made offerings to him in their homes.

Kou Xian treasured the methods of the Dao and would not pass them on lightly. After Duke Jing of Song killed him, he roamed far away in spirit through "corpse liberation" (shijie, in Daoist legend, a way of shedding the physical body and being transformed into an immortal).

Fifty years later, he returned and played his lute. Sitting cross-legged on the city gate of Song, he played his five-stringed lute to his heart's content.

Wang Ziqiao

Wang Ziqiao was Crown Prince Jin, the son of King Ling of Zhou. He loved to play the sheng (mouth organ), and its music sounded like the cry of the phoenix. He often wandered along the Yi and Luo rivers. The Daoist Master Fuqiu led him up Mount Songgao. More than thirty years later, someone went up the mountain to look for him and found him there, calm and serene. He said, "Please tell my family to meet me on the summit of Houshi Mountain on the seventh day of the seventh month."

On that day, Wang Ziqiao did indeed arrive, riding a white crane that alighted on the summit. The people watched from afar but could not come near. He raised his hand to bid the people of his time farewell, and a few days later he departed. People later built shrines to him at the foot of Houshi Mountain and on the summit of Mount Song.

Wang Ziqiao was truly marvelous and extraordinary. His spirit (Shen) was clear and bright, and he roamed far and free. Between the Yi and Luo rivers he played the sheng, its music like the call of a phoenix. Master Fuqiu, whose mind was attuned to his, took him by the hand and climbed the mountain with him. Then he swung his staff, soared alone over the blue cliffs, and rode the wind far away.

Youbozi was a retainer of the Zhou family. In winter he often wore only thin clothing, and in the heat of summer he wore heavy garments. His appearance changed from year to year. After several decades he looked even younger and stronger than before, and the people of his time could not understand why. Generation after generation, he came to warn and protect the Zhou family, and their descendants received his blessings.

This retainer of the Zhou family concealed his traces and vanished into the world of dust. He wore heavy clothes in summer and light clothes in winter. In his conduct he never departed from the fundamental Dao (the Way), nor did he seek only his own comfort. For this reason he showed special care for the Zhou family and helped them through their hardships.

Master Anqi was a native of Fuxiang in Langya, and he sold medicines by the shore of the Eastern Sea. People of the time called him the "Thousand-Year Elder." When the First Emperor of Qin traveled east on his tour, he summoned Master Anqi and spoke with him for three days and three nights. The emperor gave him gold and jade worth tens of millions, but when Master Anqi left the Fuxiang pavilion, he left all of it behind. He left only a message: "In a few years, come and find me on Mount Penglai." In return for the emperor's gifts, he left a pair of red jade shoes.

The First Emperor then sent Xu Fu, Lu Sheng, and several hundred others out to sea to search for Mount Penglai. Before they reached it, however, they met with storms and rough waves and had to turn back. Later, people built more than ten shrines at the Fuxiang pavilion and along the coast to make offerings to Master Anqi.

Anqi Sheng was pure, serene, and detached, with a noble and untainted nature. He followed the natural course of things, gave free rein to his innate disposition, traveled by borrowing light, and nourished his Qi (vital energy), and so he lived a long life.

In the early years of the Qin dynasty he attained an insight. He left his treasures behind at Futing, intending to travel to Penglai, the island of the immortals. From then on his figure vanished, and his traces became tranquil and hard to find.

Gui Fu

Gui Fu was a native of Xianglin County. His complexion was dark, but at times it turned white, at times yellow, and at times red. When the people of the South Sea saw him, they all served him with reverence. He regularly took cassia and mallow, blended with tortoise brain and made into pills; a thousand pills weighed ten catties. People had seen Gui Fu generation after generation. Even now, cassia pills are still handed down in the southern part of Jingzhou.

How truly extraordinary was Gui Fu, who was born transcending the dust of the world. He took spirit mallow and was nourished within; he took red cassia, and his outward form was thereby made harmonious.

His countenance was calm and soft, and generation after generation it shone as brightly as before. His Dao (the Way) arts spread throughout the southeast, and for generation upon generation have never been abandoned.

Xiaqiu Zhong

Xiaqiu Zhong was a native of Ning County. He sold medicine in Ning County for more than a hundred years, and people all considered him long-lived. Once an earthquake collapsed the houses, and the homes of Xiaqiu Zhong and several dozen neighboring households fell in ruins beside the water. Thinking that Xiaqiu Zhong had died, people threw his corpse into the water and gathered up his medicines to sell.

Xiaqiu Zhong, wrapped in a fur coat, followed them to the medicine shop and took back his medicines. Those who had thrown him away were terrified and kowtowed, begging for mercy. Xiaqiu Zhong said, "What I regret is that you have let others know who I am." With that he left. Later he served as a courier for the King of the Fuyu Hu, and once again came to Ning County. The people of the north called him a "banished immortal," that is, an immortal who had been demoted to the human world.

Xiaqiu Zhong understood the profound principle and hid his traces in the guise of one who had been banished. People thought he had died, but like a wanderer drifting free, he merely smiled at it with indifference.

He roamed at ease, watching the changes of the world. What need had he to toil as a courier for a Hu king? If one cannot see the root of things, who could know that he was a banished immortal?

The Wine Seller was a man who sold wine in the marketplace of the state of Liang. The wine he brewed always tasted excellent, and he earned ten thousand coins a day from selling it. Someone once drove him away, and afterward the wine sold by the shop's owner often made people drunk and turned sour, and the household soon fell into poverty. Many merchants in the Liang marketplace wished to marry their daughters to him and invited him into their homes. After that he sometimes left and sometimes returned. More than a hundred years later, he came back and served as a Cheng (an official title) of Liang. He had the people plant more taro and vegetables, saying that a great famine would surely come in three years. It happened just as he had said, and the people of Liang were spared hardship because of it. Five years later he removed his official seal and sash and departed, and no one ever knew where he went.

The Wine Seller Xiao Cui lodged in the wine shops of Liang, selling wine. What made him stand out from ordinary people? It was that the fine wine he brewed had an exceptionally rich and mellow flavor.

He bent himself to assist his age, so that the people lacked neither food nor clothing. One morning he took off his official seal and set out, and no one knew where he finally went.

Ren Guang

Ren Guang was a native of Shangcai who was skilled at refining elixirs (dan) and sold them in the streets and lanes of the city. He lived this way for eighty-nine years before people realized that he was the same Ren Guang they had known long before; everyone said that his face looked no more than a few decades old. Later, Zhao Jianzi (a grandee of the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period) recognized him and invited him to return together with him. He often dwelt on Mount Wuti, and for three generations no one knew where he later went. The people of Jin often took the elixirs he refined.

Ren Guang of Shangcai was able to refine divine elixirs. Though he was past a hundred years old, his face remained ruddy and bright.

Later he went to Zhao Jianzi and settled there at ease. Climbing to a high place, he seemed to ascend along a road in the heavens, flying off into the clouds.

Xiao Shi

Xiao Shi lived in the time of Duke Mu of Qin. He was skilled at playing the xiao (vertical flute) and could draw peacocks and white cranes to settle in his courtyard. Duke Mu had a daughter named Nongyu, who was fond of Xiao Shi, so the Duke gave her to him in marriage. Every day Xiao Shi taught Nongyu to play the xiao, imitating the cry of the phoenix. After several years, the sound Nongyu produced was like the cry of a phoenix, and phoenixes flew down and settled on their roof. Duke Mu built a Phoenix Terrace for them. The couple lived on the terrace and did not come down for several years. One day, they flew away together, riding the phoenixes. For this reason, the people of Qin built a Shrine of the Phoenix Maiden at Yong for Duke Mu's daughter, and the sound of the xiao could sometimes still be heard within the palace.

Xiao Shi's skill at the xiao was exquisite, and phoenixes and peacocks danced in the courtyard. The Ying clan of Qin became his in-laws, and Nongyu thereby learned the cry of the phoenix.

Later the couple climbed upon the wings of the phoenixes and flew together into the far reaches of the sky. People entrusted their remembrance to the Shrine of the Phoenix Maiden, where the sound of the xiao remains clear and lingering.

Zhu Jiweng (Old Man Zhu, the Chicken Keeper)

Zhu Jiweng was a native of Luoyang who lived at the foot of the northern hills near Shixiang. He kept chickens for over a hundred years. His flock numbered more than a thousand birds, and each one had a name. At dusk the chickens roosted in the trees, and by day he let them roam freely. Whenever he called a chicken by name, that bird would answer and come to his side.

He sold chickens and eggs and earned more than ten million coins. He then left the money behind and departed. Arriving in the land of Wu, he built a fish pond. Later, when he climbed Mount Wu, hundreds of white cranes and peacocks often gathered around him.

It is said:

Humans and birds differ, yet the principles governing them are interconnected. Zhu Jiweng could grasp one thing and understand its kindred, and raising chickens was merely a way of lodging his body and mind. The way of raising fish he had also thoroughly mastered. His chickens roosted in the treetops; all things, once nurtured by him, found their proper place and kept their vitality for a long time.

Zhu Zhong

Zhu Zhong was a native of Kuaiji who often sold pearls in the marketplace there. During the reign of Empress Dowager Gao of the Han, the court issued an edict seeking pearls three inches in diameter. After reading the edict, Zhu Zhong laughed and said, "This is just what the price you offer is worth." He then took a three-inch pearl to the palace gate and submitted a memorial presenting it. The pearl was of superb quality, and the court rewarded him with five hundred measures of gold. Princess Luyuan then privately offered seven hundred measures of gold to buy a pearl from him. Zhu Zhong presented a four-inch pearl, delivered it to the palace gate, and departed.

The court sent an edict to Kuaiji summoning him, but no one knew where he was. During the reign of Emperor Jing, he came again and presented several dozen three-inch pearls, then left, and no one knew where he went.

A poem says:

Zhu Zhong had no greed; he merely used trade for a time as a place to lodge himself. He bent down to peer at the black dragon (the legendary dragon said to hold a precious pearl beneath its chin) and took the precious night-shining pearl.

His name rose from Kuaiji, and he revealed his treasures in Xianyang. He gave to others without boasting, and so his fame has been passed down through the generations.

Xiuyang Gong (Master Xiuyang)

In the original text, only the title "Xiuyang Gong" appears here.

Xiuyang Gong was a native of the state of Wei who lived in a stone chamber on Mount Huayin. The stone couch where Xiuyang Gong slept hung in midair, and its surface was worn through and hollowed. Xiuyang Gong ate almost nothing, only occasionally gathering huangjing (polygonatum, a nourishing herb commonly used in Daoist practice) to stave off hunger. Later, bringing Daoist arts to court, Xiuyang Gong went to pay respects to Emperor Jing of the Han. The emperor received the visitor with courtesy and lodged them in the royal residence. After several years, Emperor Jing had still not learned any Daoist arts, and issued an edict asking when Xiuyang Gong intended to leave. Before the words were finished, Xiuyang Gong turned into a white sheep on the bed, with the words "Xiuyang Gong bids farewell to the Son of Heaven" written on its face. Afterward, the palace enshrined a stone sheep on the Spirit Terrace, but it soon vanished as well, and no one knew where it had gone.

The accompanying poem praises Xiuyang Gong as truly extraordinary, one who kept marvelous abilities and spiritual power deeply hidden. Xiuyang Gong made a home on a pillow of stone, practiced on Mount Huayin, and lived on huangjing. Although Emperor Jing treated the master with honor, Daoist arts cannot be obtained through courtesy alone. In meeting change, Xiuyang Gong appeared simple and unremarkable, then suddenly concealed all form and took leave of the Son of Heaven.

Jiqiu Jun was a Daoist at the foot of Mount Tai. In the time of Emperor Wu of the Han, Jiqiu Jun received rewards for Daoist arts. Their hair turned from white to black, and teeth that had fallen out grew back. Afterward, Jiqiu Jun left the court. When Emperor Wu made an eastern tour to Mount Tai, Jiqiu Jun came to greet the emperor, wearing a zhangfu (an ancient ceremonial cap) and a yellow robe and holding a zither. Pointing at the emperor, Jiqiu Jun said: "Your Majesty, do not climb the mountain; if you do, you will surely injure your toe." After the emperor had walked several li, the toe of the right foot did indeed break. The emperor, averse to speaking of the matter, held only the sacrifices before returning, and had a shrine built for Jiqiu Jun to show reverence.

The accompanying poem says that Jiqiu Jun penetrated the deepest principles, practiced the Dao on a sacred mountain, and through cultivation transformed the body and purged impurities, turning white hair black and restoring youth. When Emperor Wu went on tour, Jiqiu Jun came to meet the imperial party with zither in arms and urged the emperor not to climb the mountain, as though having foreseen a misfortune that had not yet occurred.

"Cui Wenzi" is the heading of the next figure. The verses listed beneath it are the same as those above, and what they praise is still Jiqiu Jun's cultivation, the reversal of aging, and the foreseeing of Emperor Wu's injured foot.

Cui Wenzi was a native of Mount Tai, whose family for generations had loved the teachings of Huang-Lao (the study that honors Daoist thought and the arts of nourishing life). He lived at the foot of Mount Qian, and later made medicines such as Yellow Powder and Red Pills, and built a shrine to Shifu. He sold his medicines in the marketplace and claimed to be three hundred years old. Later a plague broke out, and the people died by the thousands and tens of thousands. The local magistrate came to beg for his help. Cui Wenzi then carried the vermilion offering and the Yellow Powder and went from house to house, giving out the medicine. Those who drank it recovered at once, and he saved thousands upon thousands of lives. Afterward he left the region and went to the land of Shu to sell Yellow Powder. For this reason, people of the world have prized Cui Wenzi's Red Pills and Yellow Powder, believing them to be truly close to the miraculous.

Cui Wenzi attained the Dao (the Way), mastering and secretly preserving its profound arts. When the pestilential qi (vital energy) descended and brought sickness and death, he was moved by compassion and mourned deeply for the victims.

He waved the vermilion shen (a term recorded in the original text, its exact meaning uncertain), and the wondrous medicine arrived swiftly. The people of that time were thereby kept alive, and the medicine's efficacy has been handed down to later generations.

End of the first volume of the Liexian zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Immortals).

Notes: The following are the textual collation notes of the original.

1: The character "仰" has been supplied on the basis of the Siku quanshu edition of the Liexian zhuan.

2: The character "城" is suspected to be an error for "成."

3: The original reads "明"; it has been changed to "胡" on the basis of the Siku quanshu edition.

4: The Siku quanshu edition reads "王," while the original reads "山."

Compiled by Liu Xiang, Imperial Counselor of the Han dynasty

Chixuzi

Chixuzi was a native of Feng. People in Feng had seen him across the generations, and it is said that in the time of Duke Mu of Qin he served as an official in charge of fisheries administration. He repeatedly foretold the calamities, floods, and droughts of the Feng region, and out of ten predictions, not one missed its mark. His ministers revered and submitted to him, welcomed him as their teacher, studied under him, and asked about his strengths.

He loved to eat pine nuts, asparagus root, and mineral resin. When his teeth fell out, they grew back, and when his hair fell out, it grew again. He gave up ordinary food and drink to feed on mist and clouds (a Daoist practice said to nourish life by consuming the vapors of clouds and rosy mist), and later left Feng and came to the foot of Mount Hao. After more than ten years, no one knew where he had gone.

Chixuzi left Feng and came to rest on Mount Hao. He took three medicines, and his aged appearance became youthful once more.

There were those who came to him empty-handed to become his disciples, yet they had no means of lengthening their lives. If one asks only with shallow understanding, how can one comprehend the practice of the long-lived?

Dongfang Shuo

Dongfang Shuo.

Master Chixu left Feng and came to live on Mount Hao. He took three medicines at once, and his aged face regained the freshness of youth.

People went to him to become his disciples, but none could attain long life. Looking back at those who raised doubts out of shallow understanding, how could they grasp the principle of lasting life and enduring vision?

Dongfang Shuo

Dongfang Shuo was a native of Yanci in Pingyuan. He lived on Mount Hao for a long time and spent several decades as a teacher of reading and writing. In the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, he submitted a memorial setting out proposals beneficial to government affairs, and was appointed a court gentleman (langguan). By the time of Emperor Zhao, some people said he was a sage, while others said he was merely an ordinary man. He deliberately acted now with depth and now with shallowness, sometimes speaking loyal and upright words and sometimes saying things that defied reason, so that no one knew his true intentions.

In the early years of Emperor Xuan's reign, he resigned his post as court gentleman to escape the troubled age. He left his achievements with the government offices and then departed on the wind. Later, someone saw him in Kuaiji, and said he was selling medicines around the Five Lakes. The discerning suspected that he was the essence of the Jupiter star.

Dongfang Shuo was brilliant and broad-minded, able to live among ordinary people. At times he was like a dragon, at times like a snake. How could he have calculated honor and disgrace in advance?

His lofty bearing soared straight to the clouds, unrestrained, and did not linger in the east. He concealed his traces at the Five Lakes, and then showed his form again at Yanggu, where the sun rises.

Lady Gouyi

Lady Gouyi was a native of the state of Qi, and her surname was Zhao. In her youth she delighted in quiet and solitude. She lay ill for six years, her right hand clenched shut the whole time, and she ate very little. A diviner who read the vapors said that the energy of a noble person lay to the northeast. Following the signs, the searchers found her. Summoned into the palace, she proved remarkably beautiful. Emperor Wu of Han pried open her fist and found a jade hook inside, and her hand then straightened. She later won his favor and bore Emperor Zhao.

Afterward Emperor Wu had her put to death. Her body, once encoffined, did not decay and gave off a fragrance that lasted a month. When Emperor Zhao took the throne, he had

Dutzi was a native of Ye. In his youth he lived on Mount Heishan, where he gathered pine nuts and fuling (poria) and took them as food, and he continued this for several hundred years. At times he looked young and robust, at other times old and haggard, and his appearance alternated between good and poor. Only then did people realize he was an immortal.

He often went to drink at the house of Yangdu. Yangdu's daughter was a well-known tavern girl in the marketplace, with joined eyebrows and long, slender ears. People found her appearance remarkable and said she was a heavenly being (a kind of divine immortal). Once, Dutzi passed by leading a yellow ox. The girl was very fond of the animal, so she stayed to look after Dutzi. Later she went out with him to gather peaches and plums, and returned only after a night had passed, bringing back the fruit in linked pouches, sweet and fragrant. People in the city secretly followed them. As the pair left through the gate, the pursuers all seized the ox by the ears, hoping to catch up, but still could not overtake them. Afterward Dutzi returned to live in the marketplace for several decades, and then finally departed. People saw him at the foot of Mount Panshan, where he was selling peaches and plums in the middle of winter. He said:

Dutzi dwelt in the mountains, gathering pine nuts and taking ling. Subtle and refined Qi (vital energy) filled his body, so his hair turned white and his form changed.

The woman of Yangdu had a remarkable appearance, and her fate accorded with the realm of the unseen. So she rode the spirit ox, and in an instant went far away like a flash of lightning.

Qilong Ming (The Dragon Rider)

Qilong Ming was a native of Hunting. At the age of twenty, he found more than ten young dragons in a pond, which looked like shouguan (geckos, "guardians of the office"). He raised them and built a thatched hut to watch over them. The dragons gradually grew larger and left one after another. More than fifty years later, a flood destroyed his hut, and he left that place as well.

One day Qilong Ming arrived at Hunting riding a dragon and said to the local people, "I am the grandson of Feng Bochang. If the people here do not move more than five hundred li away, they will surely die." Those who believed him moved away, while those who did not thought he was causing mischief. When the eighth month came, the flood arrived just as he had said, and thousands upon thousands died.

Qilong Ming raised young dragons and built a hut beside the empty pond to watch over them. Devoting himself to waiting for their transformation, he later rode the clouds and drove the dragons away.

He reined in his mount and returned to his homeland, urging people to relocate quickly. He had clearly discerned the signs of calamity, yet out of attachment to his native soil he could not bear to leave it himself.

In the end the flood came just as he had said, and thousands upon thousands died.

Zhu Zhu

No one knows where Zhu Zhu came from. He climbed a rocky mountain together with a Daoist, saying that the mountain held cinnabar (the mineral used to refine elixirs) and that tens of thousands of pounds could be obtained. When the chief official of Rong Mountain heard of this, he went up and sealed the cinnabar away. The cinnabar then surged out of the mountain's caverns and scattered like flying fire, and only then did the official allow Zhu Zhu to take it.

Zhang Junming, the local county magistrate, took cinnabar for three years and obtained a wondrous cinnabar like drifting snow. After five years of taking it, he could fly, and in the end he departed together with Zhu Zhu. People praised them in these words:

Zhu Zhu searched alongside the Daoist,

whose sincerity pierced through all things.

The subtle response reached into the mountain,

and cinnabar welled up from its caverns.

Red light glimmered, the cinnabar flowed,

and it scattered like snow in swirling flurries.

Those with destiny long grasped its mystery,

and in the end joyfully joined with it.

Yuan Ke

Yuan Ke was a native of Jiyin, handsome in appearance and gentle in temperament. The people of his village often wished to marry their daughters to him, but he never consented to take a wife. For many years he grew fragrant herbs of five colors, and after decades of tending them, he lived on their fruit.

One day a five-colored moth alighted on the tip of one of the herbs. Yuan Ke gathered it up and nurtured it on a cloth, and it gave birth to silkworms. When the season for raising silkworms came, a beautiful woman appeared at Yuan Ke's side in the night. She called herself his wife and told him how the silkworms were faring. Together they gathered the silkworms and obtained one hundred and twenty cocoons, each as large as a jar. Reeling the silk from a single cocoon took sixty days.

When the reeling was done, Yuan Ke put the cocoons away and nurtured them on cloth, and the silkworms were born again. When the next silkworm season came, the beautiful woman again arrived in the night, called herself Yuan Ke's wife, and told him how the silkworms were faring. Together they gathered the silkworms and once more obtained one hundred and twenty cocoons as large as jars, and again each took sixty days to reel. When the work was finished, the two departed together, and no one ever learned where they went.

For this reason, the people of Jiyang have for generations made offerings to the mulberry silkworm and built a shrine to it. Some also say that Yuan Ke came from Jiyang in Chenliu.

How splendid was Yuan Ke,

his face radiant as the first glow of dawn.

Looking up, he drew in the subtle essence of heaven;

bending down, he tended his herbs of five colors.

The herbs gave off a rich fragrance,

and the many-colored moth danced on the wing.

A virtuous woman descended in the night,

became his companion, and together they ascended and departed as immortals.

Lord Deerskin (Lupi Gong)

Lord Deerskin was a native of Zichuan. In his youth he served as a minor clerk in the government office, and he was also a carpenter who could make any implement in the turn of a hand. On Mount Cen there was a divine spring that people could not reach. The clerk reported this to the prefect and asked for thirty carpenters. Bringing axes and other tools, they built a rotating wheel and a suspended plank road, with ingenious designs of endless variety. Lord Deerskin…

Lord Lupi (Deer-Skin Lord) was a native of Zichuan. In his youth he served as a minor clerk in the local government and was skilled at carpentry, able to fashion tools and implements almost in the blink of an eye. On Mount Cen there was a spirit spring that ordinary people could not reach. He petitioned the prefect, led thirty carpenters carrying axes and saws, and built rotating wheel-frames and suspended pavilions on the mountain, devising a way to open a path. After several dozen days, the steps and road leading to the summit were complete. At the top he built a shrine and dwelling beside the spirit spring, then cut off two of the access routes to protect himself. He ate lingzhi (spirit mushroom) and drank the spring water, and lived there for nearly seventy years.

Later the Zi River flooded. Three times he called out to his clan and kinsfolk, and more than sixty people were saved by climbing the mountain; he had them stay halfway up the slope. The flood engulfed the entire prefecture, and those who drowned numbered in the tens of thousands. When the waters receded, the former clerk bade farewell to his kinsfolk and sent them back down. He put on a deerskin garment and departed, and afterward returned to his suspended pavilion. More than a hundred years later, he came down the mountain to sell medicine in the marketplace.

Lord Lupi's mind was ingenious, his designs marvelous. His soaring pavilion hung on high, reaching straight to the spirit spring.

The shrine was quiet and solemn, its winding path precious. There one could dwell in peace and also prolong one's years.

Changrong was a Daoist practitioner of Changshan who claimed to be a daughter of a king of the Yin dynasty. She ate the roots of artemisia and similar plants, going back and forth between the heights and the foothills. By the time people saw her, she had lived this way for more than two hundred years, yet her appearance was that of someone around twenty. She could obtain madder (purple grass) and sell it to dyers, and she gave the money to orphans and widows. For generation after generation she continued to do this, and those who revered her numbered in the tens of thousands.

The woman of Yin craved no glory or splendor, and her heart held no attachments. She softened my countenance and also transformed my feelings for beautiful things.

Her heart changed along with the transformations, and each day she nourished her Qi (vital energy) and Jing (essence). She sat in tranquility beyond the dusty world, living by rare goods and bestowing kindness on the poor and the weak.

Xi Fu was a native of Yong in Nan Commandery, who lived in the mountains. An immortal often stayed in his home and bought melons from him, and taught him to store melon seeds together with cinnamon, aconite, and zhishi (angelica fruit), and to eat them separately. After more than twenty years of this, he was able to fly and run swiftly, climbing mountains and entering water. After another hundred years or more, he lived on a remote mountaintop, calling out to the elders and villagers by the stream and talking with them about former times. He said:

What does Xi Fu (溪父) seek? He longs to live in seclusion deep within a hidden valley. His dwelling looks down upon a clear mountain stream, while dense trees rise above and shade it.

An immortal came to his dwelling, took him in, and guided his practice with secretly transmitted scriptures (jing). Though his body had withdrawn far from the mundane world, his heart still clung to the customs of his former life.

Shan Tu (山图)

Shan Tu was a native of Longxi. In his youth he loved riding horses, and once a horse trampled him and broke his foot. A Daoist in the mountains taught him to take a powder made from rehmannia, Chinese angelica, notopterygium, pubescent angelica, and sophora root. After a year of taking the medicine, he no longer craved food, his illness was cured, and his body became light and agile.

Shan Tu pressed the Daoist to reveal who he was. The Daoist said he was an envoy of the Five Peaks, sent to gather herbs on the famous mountains, and told him: "If you are willing to follow me, I can make you live forever and never die." Shan Tu followed the Daoist for more than sixty years. One day he returned home to visit his mother, then departed again, and from then on no one knew where he had gone.

Shan Tu once suffered from illness, yet he recovered through it; by nurturing his body with medicines, he prolonged his life. He poured out his grief at graves and beneath the parasol tree (wutong), and Heaven's favor seemed still to bind him. After a number of years, he soared aloft and departed far away, leaving the mortal world forever.

Gu Chun (谷春)

Gu Chun was a native of Liyang. During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, he served as a court gentleman (langguan). After he died of illness, his corpse never grew cold. His family held the funeral and observed mourning, but dared not nail the coffin shut.

Three years later, Gu Chun put his cap back on and sat neatly atop the county gate. The people of the city were astonished. His family went to welcome him, but he refused to return home with them. When they opened the coffin and looked inside, there were only clothes and no corpse.

Gu Chun stayed on the county gate for three nights, then left and arrived at Chang'an, where he stopped atop the Heng Gate. When people discovered him and pursued him to welcome him back, he departed again and went to Mount Taibai. The people built a shrine for him on the mountain, and he would sometimes lodge there.

Although Gu Chun had died, his body remained warm. Five years after the coffin was sealed, he appeared upright upon the gate. When people examined the coffin, they found only clothes left in an empty casket; his physical form had gone. He left his traces on Mount Taibai, drawing in the deep, hidden primordial Qi (qi) of heaven and earth.

Master Yin was a beggar who lived beneath the Wei Bridge in Chang'an and regularly begged in the marketplace. The townspeople found him a nuisance and drenched him with filth, yet he would reappear in the city moments later with his clothes still clean. When the officials learned of this, they seized him, bound him in restraints, and beat him, but he simply went on begging in the market. When they arrested him again, intending to put him to death, he left. The house of the family that had splashed him with filth collapsed of its own accord, killing more than ten people. As a result, a song circulated in Chang'an: "When you see a beggar, give him fine wine to drink, lest you suffer the disaster of a ruined house."

Master Yin presented himself as a beggar, and people loathed him as filthy and tiresome. Few could recognize what was extraordinary in him, and he was repeatedly imprisoned and humiliated.

Even the people of Huaiyin (a place name) knew not to be stingy, and all the more so should we, who count ourselves among the immortals. Malice run unchecked invites calamity, and those who harm others bring ruin upon their own houses.

Maonü, "Hairy Woman," whose courtesy name was Yujiang, lived in the mountains of Huayin, where hunters across generations had glimpsed her. Her body was covered in hair, and she claimed to have been a palace attendant of the First Emperor of Qin. When the Qin fell, she fled into the mountains to escape the turmoil and met a Daoist named Gu Chun. He taught her to eat pine needles, and from then on she felt neither hunger nor cold, and her body became so light that she seemed to fly. She lived more than one hundred seventy years, and the sound of a zither was often heard from the cave where she dwelt. A traditional verse says:

Yujiang was graceful and gentle, and, yielding to the times, she withdrew from the world. A realized person (one who has attained the Dao) taught her the methods of cultivation, and she lived on pine needles and pine nuts.

Because the Qin fell and she sought refuge, she was in the end able to achieve perfection, gaining a long and peaceful life. She lived at ease in her cave among the cliffs, and in the music of the zither she found a home for her joy.

Zi Ying was a native of Shuxiang who was skilled at diving into the water to catch fish. He once caught a red carp, found its color very beautiful, and took it home to raise in a pond, feeding it regularly with rice and grain. After a year, the carp had grown to more than ten feet long, with horns on its head and wings on its body. Zi Ying found this extraordinary and bowed to it in reverence. The carp said to him, "I have come to fetch you. Ride on my back, and I will take you up to Heaven." At once a heavy rain fell, and Zi Ying mounted the fish's back and rose into the sky.

After that, Zi Ying returned to his old home every year to eat, drink, and visit his wife and children. The fish would come again to carry him off, and this went on for seventy years. For this reason, the doors and gates throughout the Haozhong region were painted with divine fish, and later people even built a shrine for Zi Ying.

Zi Ying loved water and made his living by swimming and fishing. A numinous fish came to his side, its body marked with strange and beautiful colors.

Zi Ying raised the fish until it was grown; it sprouted horns and then wings. Later he rode the fish, traveling through the clouds, and rose in transcendence to Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, here the highest heaven in Daoist thought).

Fu Lü

No one knows where Fu Lü came from. He lived for long periods in the land of Ju and wandered among the shrines along the seacoast. Once he saw three immortals in a shrine using melons as stakes in a wager, and he went forward to watch. The immortals had him carry a load of several dozen yellow-and-white melons, and they told him to close his eyes. When he awoke, he had arrived at Mount Fangzhang (a legendary island mountain in the sea), located south of Mount Penglai.

Afterward, Fu Lü traveled back and forth between Ju and Mount Fangzhang, taking the treasures, pearls, and jade from the mountain and selling them, and this continued for a long time. One day, his head was shaved and he was dressed in ocher-colored clothing (the garb of convicts in ancient times), and he was again summoned to carry several dozen yellow-and-white melons; the immortals told him to close his eyes, and when he awoke he had reached Mount Fangzhang. After this he looked aged and worn. When people asked the reason, he said he was being punished for having taken things from the shrine. A few years later, his appearance became young and handsome again, and his hair grew back as it had been.

Fu Lü often roamed among shrines, where he met three immortals and served at their bidding. He had only dozed off for a moment, and in an instant he had crossed a thousand li.

To take treasure and suffer damage to one's looks is not a cause for shame. To attach oneself to the immortals and roam with them is to be free and unfettered to the very end.

Wen Bin

Wenbin was a native of Taiqiu Township who made his living selling straw sandals. He married many times, and after a few decades he would abandon each wife. Later, a wife he had left in his early years was already over ninety when she saw Wenbin again, only to find him younger and more robust than before. The old woman bowed to him and, weeping, spoke of the past. Wenbin told her there was no need for such formality, and arranged to meet her on the first day of the first month at the village shrine (shemiao) west of the township pavilion. Old and frail, she set out at night with her sons and grandsons, walked more than ten li, and sat in the shrine waiting for him. Soon Wenbin arrived and asked in great surprise, "Do you delight in cultivating the Dao (the Way)? I knew you would become like this; there was a reason I did not abandon you earlier." He taught her to take chrysanthemum, kochia (difuzi), mistletoe growing on mulberry trees, and pine nuts, saying that these things could replenish primal Qi (vital energy). Thanks to this, the old woman grew strong again and lived on for more than a hundred years.

Wenbin took the nourishing of life as his Dao, drawing in the pure, still, and mysterious Qi. He used pine nuts and chrysanthemum in place of ordinary food, so that his body was well exercised and his complexion fresh and radiant.

His former wife, who loved the arts of the Dao, bowed to thank him in tears and came unsteadily to the appointment. He passed on to her his methods of nourishing life, extending her years by more than a hundred.

Shangqiu Zixu

Shangqiu Zixu was a native of Gaoyi who loved herding pigs and playing the yu (a reed pipe). At seventy he still had not married, yet showed no sign of aging. The people of his village found him remarkable and followed him to study his arts, asking about the essential secret. He said, "Simply eat mugu and calamus root, and drink water, and you will feel neither hunger nor age." It is said that he lived this way for more than three hundred years. When nobles, relatives, and wealthy people heard of this, they too gathered these things and took them, but stopped before a year had passed, growing lax and giving up. They supposed that some other hidden secret lay behind it.

Shangqiu Zixu lived in seclusion and cultivation, and mastered the subtle methods of nourishing life. When thirsty he drank from clear springs; when hungry he ate calamus and mugu.

Playing his pipe as he herded his pigs, he stood out as truly extraordinary. Cultivating the Dao was enough to content him, and he sought nothing more, happy to pass the long years in this way.

Zizhu

Zizhu spoke with a Chu accent in a soft, delicate voice, and no one knew where he came from. He once went to call on the Prince of Jiangdu, and called himself "Wood."

(The verses appended here repeat the life of Shangqiu Zixu: he plays the pipe and herds pigs, stands out as extraordinary, finds contentment in cultivating the Dao, and passes his days at ease; at the very end the two characters "Zizhu" appear again.)

Zizhu was a man of Chu who spoke in a soft, gentle voice, and no one knew where he had originally come from. He called on the King of Jiangdu and said of himself, "Master Ning looks after me. He has let me be a guest for three hundred years, yet he has never allowed me to become a proper servant." The King took him for a madman and asked where Master Ning lived. Zizhu answered, "On Longmei Mountain."

The King sent an official to take him up to the summit of Longmei Mountain. There they found Master Ning: his body was covered in long hair, his ears were broad, and he sat with his hair unbound, playing the zither. The moment Zizhu saw him, he bowed his head to the ground. The official relayed the King's command. Master Ning said, "This Zizhu is the ninth-generation grandson of my neighbor. I foresee that three women in your household will soon die suddenly. Do not meddle in my affairs." No sooner had he finished speaking than a great wind rose over the mountain, and the official hurried back down. When he reached the palace, three people there had indeed killed one another. The King then set up a shrine and offered sacrifices to Master Ning with the three sacrificial animals: an ox, a sheep, and a pig.

As Zizhu grew older, the affairs he handled came to have a sure footing. Master Ning's shrine revealed spiritual wonders, and on Longmei Mountain he played the zither with his hair unbound.

When one's practice of the Dao (the Way) is in accord, one should examine its subtle depths with care. In setting affairs right, give it your full strength, and seek out clear principles, so as to put your questions to my teacher.

Tao Angong

Tao Angong was a metalworker of Liu'an who cast and smelted metal. Time and again he lit his furnace for the work. One day the flames suddenly spread apart and rose upward, and a purple light shot straight into the sky. Angong prostrated himself beneath the furnace and pleaded. After a while a Vermilion Bird alighted above the furnace and said, "Angong, Angong, your furnace fire has reached Heaven. On the seventh day of the seventh month, I will come riding a red dragon to welcome you." When the appointed day came, the red dragon did indeed arrive, and a heavy rain fell from the sky. Angong mounted the red dragon and rose toward the southeast. Tens of thousands of people from the whole city came out to see him off, and Angong bade farewell to each of them in turn.

Angong kindled his furnace, and the purple flames blazed bright up to Heaven. The Vermilion Bird swooped down, carrying a letter in its beak to announce the day and hour. A great crimson radiance shone, and the red dragon wound its way to him, keeping the appointment on time. The people of the whole city gazed upward, and Angong looked back to take his leave.

Chifu

Chifu (赤斧) was a native of Barong and served as registrar at the Shrine of the Jade Cockerel (Biji Shrine). He knew how to refine elixirs from water and minerals, and he took these elixirs together with saltpeter. After thirty years, he looked like a boy instead, and his hair and body down turned red. Several decades later, he climbed Mount Hua, gathered Yu's surplus grain (yuyuliang), and ate it, then sold it in the region of Cangwu and along the Xiang River. People of many generations saw him, and it was said that on his palm was a red mark shaped like an axe.

Chifu cultivated his true nature and displayed extraordinary abilities in the Barong region. He lodged in a shrine and, following the natural course of things, refined cinnabar. Though his hair was as red as vermilion, his complexion was as radiant as safflower. He went to the sacred mountains to gather herbs, and traveled far to the south, observing the transformations of all things.

Hu Zixian

Hu Zixian (呼子先) was a diviner at the Han Pass in Hanzhong, and he lived to be over a hundred years old. Before his departure, he said to the old woman who kept a tavern: "Quickly pack your things. I am going with you to answer the summons of the King of Zhongling." That night, an immortal came before Hu Zixian leading two dogs made of thatch. Hu Zixian gave one of them to the old tavern woman. When she mounted it, the thatch dog turned into a dragon and carried them up to Mount Huayin.

Hu Zixian would often shout from the mountain: "Zixian and the old tavern woman are here." He also left behind this song:

The three spirits respond to one another in the dark, echoing each other like the two halves of a tally fitting together; yoked side by side, the thatch dogs wind and coil, transforming into dragons as they depart; together they ascend Mount Hua, declaring that they have come in answer to the age; if one serves a ruler without uprightness, one will in the end meet with retribution for good and evil.

Fuju Xiansheng

Master Fuju (负局先生, Fuju xiansheng) was of unknown origin, and he spoke with the accent of the Yan and Dai regions. He often carried his mirror-polishing tools on his back and wandered through the marketplaces of the Wu region, polishing mirrors for people at one coin per mirror. As he worked, he would always ask the owner whether they suffered from any illness, and if someone was sick, he would take out a purple pill and give it to them. Everyone who received his medicine was cured. This went on for several decades.

Later, a great plague broke out. He went from house to house distributing his medicine, saving the lives of tens of thousands, and accepted not a single coin. Only then did the people of Wu realize that he was a Zhenren (真人, a realized person, one who has attained the Dao). Afterward, he made his home atop a sheer cliff on Mount Wu, and from there he lowered medicines down to the people below. When he took his leave, he said to those beneath him, "I am returning to Mount Penglai (the legendary immortal mountain in the eastern sea), and I will send down divine water for you." One day, white water suddenly poured from the top of the cliff and rushed down through the cracks in the rock. Those who drank it were cured of many illnesses. The local people built more than ten shrines in his honor.

The immortal Fuju had a bearing radiant with spirit (shen, 神). Though clad in coarse cloth, he held a noble nature within. His healing arts matched the brilliance of Bian Que, and his heart and will rested between heaven and earth. He drew the spring waters of Penglai to irrigate this perilous peak. Now he returns to Mount Penglai, to share the long life of Heaven itself.

Zhu Huang

Zhu Huang was a native of Guangling. In his youth he suffered from a long illness and had grown emaciated, so he went to Mount Sui to become a disciple of the Daoist Ruan Qiu. Ruan Qiu took pity on him and said, "If you can simply get rid of the Three Corpses (sanshi, spirits that Daoism holds dwell within the body and harm both body and mind) in your belly, you will have the foundation for becoming a true immortal, and I can teach you the Dao (the Way)." Zhu Huang replied, "Once my illness is cured, I am willing to serve you as a retainer for thirty years, and I will never return home without leave."

Ruan Qiu gave Zhu Huang seven kinds of medicine and had him take nine pills each day. After a hundred days, he expelled several dou of matter resembling liver and spleen. After a few dozen days of convalescence, Zhu Huang grew plump and strong, and his mind became more cheerful with each passing day. Ruan Qiu then gave him Laojun's Huangting Jing (the Yellow Court Scripture, a Daoist classic of health preservation and cultivation), instructing him to read it three times a day and, once he knew it by heart, to reflect on its meaning.

Later, Ruan Qiu and Zhu Huang entered the Jade Maiden Shrine on Mount Fuyang together. After nearly eighty years, Zhu Huang returned to his original home. His white hair had turned entirely black, and his temple hair had grown to over three chi. He passed through his family's home, stayed a few years, and then left again. In the late years of Emperor Wu of Han, he was still alive.

Zhu Huang had long been ill, yet good fortune came to meet him. A true immortal bestowed medicines upon him and rid him of the Three Corpses.

His heart was empty and still, his Shen (spirit) clear and bright, as if he could ascend to the realm of the deep and hidden. His hair turned from white to black; transcending the dusty world, he attained long life without aging.

Huang Ruanqiu

Huang Ruanqiu was a Daoist on Mount Sui. He wore clothes of animal hide and let his hair hang loose. His ears were seven cun long, and his mouth had no teeth. He could walk four hundred li in a day. He had grown scallions and lotus on the mountain for over a hundred years without anyone knowing. Later, he often came down the mountain to sell medicine, and Zhu Huang recognized him, whereupon people learned he was an immortal. Later, when the earth shook and the mountain collapsed, cutting off the roads, he had warned the people below in advance, and so the world together built a shrine to him and made offerings there.

The scallions grew thick and the mountain ridges were deep and secluded, and there truly lived such an extraordinary man. Clad in hide, hair unbound, his stride was light and swift, matched by no one.

He embraced the Dao and nurtured his life, and through subtle contemplation he reached the spirits. Zhu Huang's experience bore witness to his powers, and he also warned the common people below the mountain.

Nü Wan (The Woman's Pills)

Nüwan was a woman who sold wine in the marketplace of the old state of Chen. The wine she brewed was often excellent. Once, an immortal passing by her house drank her wine and left five scrolls of the Plain Book (Su Shu) as payment. The Plain Book is a work on nourishing life and on the arts of the bedchamber. When Nüwan opened it, she found that it taught the methods of nourishing life and of sexual union between men and women. She secretly copied out the key instructions, then arranged a room, invited young men to drink fine wine, kept them overnight, and followed the methods in the book. After thirty years had passed, her appearance was still like that of a woman of twenty. Some years later, the immortal passed by again and said to her with a laugh, "To steal the arts of the Dao (the Way) without a master's guidance is like having wings but not knowing how to fly." Nüwan then abandoned her household and followed the immortal away, and no one ever knew where she went.

The eulogy says: The arts of Xuan and Su hold their essential instructions, and they can be sought close at hand, within oneself. Pengzu and Nüwan both obtained them, and the former set down the key instructions in five scrolls that were handed down. Nüwan grasped their subtle mysteries, and so the immortal came to her; she opened the scrolls and practiced as the book taught, as if she had passed beyond the mortal world together with the immortal.

Lingyang Ziming was a native of Quanxiang. He loved fishing, and at Xuan Creek he hooked a white dragon. Frightened, Ziming loosened the hook, bowed to the dragon, and let it go. Later he caught a white fish, and inside its belly was a writing that taught him methods of ingesting and refining. Ziming then climbed Mount Huang, gathered the five mineral resins, and took them dissolved in boiling water. The five mineral resins are a kind of mineral-based medicine spoken of in ancient times. Three years later, the white dragon came to meet him, and he departed, afterward dwelling on Mount Lingyang for over a hundred years. Mount Lingyang rises more than a thousand zhang above the ground. Ziming once called out loudly to the people below and had them climb halfway up the mountain, and he told them that Zi'an of the creek would one day come, and asked whether Ziming's fishing gear was still there. More than twenty years later, Zi'an did indeed die, and people buried him beneath the rocky mountain. A yellow crane flew down and perched in a tree beside the grave, crying out, "Zi'an!"

The eulogy says: When Lingyang Ziming was fishing, a white dragon bit his hook; later he obtained an auspicious white fish and practiced the miraculous methods it conveyed. He took the five mineral resins dissolved in water, climbed the mountain to cultivate himself, and departed riding a rainbow. Zi'an did indeed die, so for what, then, was the crying yellow crane searching?

Hanzi was a man who called himself a native of Shu. He loved to let his dogs run for sport. Once, a dog ran off into the mountains, [the original text here contains repeated wording; the content about the "dog leaping up the mountain and riding a rainbow" connects with the preceding eulogy]】【.

Hanzi said he was a native of Shu and loved to hunt with dogs. Once, his dog ran into a mountain cave, and Hanzi followed it in. He walked inside for more than ten days and covered several hundred li. At last he came out at a mountain summit, where he saw lofty terraces, halls, and palaces, pine forests of green, and immortal officials and guards standing in strict array. There he met his former wife, who was washing fish. She handed him a talismanic letter (fulu) and some medicine, and asked him to take them back to Magistrate Qiao of Chengdu. When Lord Qiao opened the envelope, he found fish roe inside. He put it in a pond and raised it for a year, and all the fish grew into the form of dragons. Lord Qiao then sent the talismanic letter back to the mountain.

Hanzi's dog changed color to a deeper red and grew long plumage, and it often accompanied Hanzi on his comings and goings. After more than a hundred years, Hanzi stayed on the mountain to live, descending only now and then to protect his own clan. The people of Shu built a shrine at the mouth of the cave to make offerings to him, and drums, music, and the calls of heralds could often be heard there. People from thousands of li to the southwest all worshiped him together.

Hanzi, searching for his beloved dog, chanced upon the cave where immortals dwell. Palaces and pavilions soared high, and green pines stood in rows like a forest.

He received the talismanic letter and the immortal medicine, and traveled between the world of immortals and that of humans. Later he made his home on a numinous, beautiful ridge, and his fame spread far and wide.

Muyu

Muyu was a native of Heping Township in the south of Julu. His mother was poor and of humble standing, and made her living by helping with births. Once she reached out to examine a child just born to a woman in labor. The child opened its eyes the moment it was born, looked at Muyu's mother, and burst into laughter, which frightened her terribly.

That night she dreamed of a man in a tall crown and red robes, standing guard over the child. He said, "This is the Lord of Fate (Siming Jun), the deity who governs human lifespans and destinies. He wishes to repay your kindness by enabling your son Muyu to attain the Dao (the Way) and become an immortal." Muyu's mother quietly believed this and kept it in mind. Later she gave birth to a son and named him Muyu.

When the child she had delivered reached the age of fifteen, carriages and horses arrived at his home one night and took him away. He then came to the house of Muyu's mother and called out, "Muyu, Muyu, come drive my carriage for me." The two departed together. More than twenty years later, one early morning a stork carried a fish two feet long and left it on the door of Muyu's mother. She kept the matter to herself and told no one, and simply sold the fish. Thirty years after that she died, and her own mother lived to the age of one hundred before passing away.

The Lord of Fate had revealed a marvel and left the midwife terrified. The pledge of repayment was made, but not yet fulfilled.

When Muyu's cultivation of the Dao reached a certain level, he came at night in a light and swift carriage to fetch her. In the end he repaid the kindness, granting his mother long life, and only after a very long time did she depart from the world.

Xuan Su called himself a native of Hejian. He prepared medicine from croton seeds and sold it in the marketplace, seven pills for one coin, claiming it could cure a hundred ailments. The Prince of Hejian had fallen ill and grown emaciated; after he bought and took the pills, more than ten snakes were expelled from his body. The prince asked what principle lay behind the medicine, and Xuan Su said: "The illness in Your Highness's body is a calamity left by your ancestors six generations back, which has fallen upon their descendants; it was not something you brought upon yourself. Your Highness has often spared mother deer, allowing their fawns to live. Your benevolent heart moved Heaven, and that is why I was able to meet you."

An elderly retainer in the prince's household (a senior attendant of the family) said that his own father's generation had already seen Xuan Su, and that Xuan Su's body cast no shadow. The prince therefore had Xuan Su stand in the sunlight to be examined, and sure enough, no shadow could be seen. The prince wished to give his daughter to Xuan Su in marriage, but Xuan Su left in the night. Later, people saw him again at the foot of Mount Changshan.

His form was visible, yet he had no shadow; at that time, only Xuan Su was like this. He dispensed his marvelous pills and entrusted their efficacy to the good deed of rescuing a mother deer.

He spread the Dao (the Way) from Hejian and received intimate and generous favor. Like a soaring dragon, he moved unconstrained, withdrawing far beyond the world, swift beyond compare.

The Book of Changes (Yijing) says that the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate, the primordial source of all things before they differentiated) gives rise to the two modes of Yin-Yang. Only after Yin-Yang had differentiated did the myriad people come to exist, and with people came life and death. The principle of life and death was made clear in this way. All things unfold in their own ways and take shape in an undivided wholeness, and each carries within it its own corresponding patterns. These transformations are marvelous and subtle, and their principles cannot be exhausted in words.

The sages looked up to observe the signs of the heavens and looked down to examine the patterns of the earth. The sun and moon move in their courses and the four seasons succeed one another. The Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), manifested in the five planets, are governed by the Supreme Subtlety Enclosure (Taiwei yuan, the name of an ancient star official), and are used to observe states that lack righteousness, to see good and ill fortune in advance, and thereby to warn the ruler. Between heaven and earth, movement and stillness, speech and its verification have always been mutually connected, and so it has been since antiquity. Nature, though it does not speak, cannot be said not to have its changes and workings.

The preface to the Book of Zhou records that Sang Jiao asked Juanzi whether it could be true both that people die and that immortals exist. Juanzi replied, "Words may indeed be spoken in two ways." The Xiaojing yuanshenqi (Hook of the Divine Mysteries of the Classic of Filial Piety) says that beyond heaven and earth there are realms of wondrous creation, empty and profound. Between heaven and earth are established the Five Sacred Peaks and the Three Terraces (Santai, the name of an ancient star official). The essence of Yang governs the outside and the essence of Yin governs the inside, and as this vital essence moves up and down it weaves the myriad things into order. The Dao (the Way) does not operate in only one manner.

That plants and trees grow in spring and wither in autumn is the ordinary course of things. Yet among trees there are more than one hundred and eighty kinds, such as the pine, the parasol tree, the juniper, and the sandalwood. Among plants there are zhiying (lingzhi blossom), pingshi (duckweed fruit), lingzhao (spirit pond plant), huangjing (polygonatum), baifu (white talisman plant), zhushuo (bamboo mist), jiehuo (fire-warding plant), and others, and the kinds said to bring long life without death number in the thousands and tens of thousands. In the depths of winter, some plants and trees remain lush and unwithered through frost and snow. Seeing such examples, why should one find it strange that immortals exist in the world?

I once obtained the Xian tu (Illustrated Record of Immortals) compiled by Ruan Cang, a grand master of the Qin dynasty, which recorded more than seven hundred immortals from the six generations down to his own time. The First Emperor of Qin loved to seek out immortals in the hope of gaining something from them, so that masters of methods gathered in great numbers and prayers and sacrifices spread everywhere. These matters were probably cases of using nearby things to lodge illusory claims, taking fantasy for reality, and they are not worth believing. As for the Huanglu (Yellow Record) of the Duke of Zhou, which records that the planet Venus descended to become a prince and a duke, and that Jupiter transformed into the Duke of Ningshou, many schools have similar accounts. The sages did not speak of such things openly, because they have no fixed standard. Still, since there are occasions on which such things do appear, one should not abandon the Dao entirely. Yet to keep a distance from such claims and not believe them lightly is itself to uphold the correct Way. The Analects says one should speak little of the strange, of feats of strength, of disorder, and of spirits, and the deeper meaning of this can be grasped from what has been said here.

The lower volume of the Liexian zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Immortals) ends here.

Notes on collation: In the first instance, the original text lacked the character "家" (jia), which has been supplied on the basis of the Siku edition. In the second, the original read "年" (nian), which has been changed to "神" (Shen, spirit) following the Siku edition. In the third, the original read "私" (si), which has been changed to "師" (shi, master) following the Siku edition. In the fourth, the original read "麟" (lin), which has been changed to "伶" (ling) following the Siku edition.