《汉武帝外传》

When Emperor Wu of Han heard the Queen Mother of the West speak of the ten continents amid the great seas of the eight directions, all of them places rarely touched by human footsteps, he realized that Dongfang Shuo was no ordinary man of the world. He invited Dongfang Shuo into a private chamber and personally asked where the ten continents lay, what things were found there, what they were called, and how they had come to be. The emperor wrote down the answers with his own hand.

Dongfang Shuo replied: "I am merely a student of immortality, not one who has attained the Dao (the Way). Your Majesty's realm is flourishing, and you esteem the teachings of the Confucians, the Mohists, and the other schools of moral orthodoxy, while suppressing the doctrines of those who cultivate the Dao beyond the mundane world, regarding them as empty and absurd. For this reason I restrained my longing for seclusion and came to court, and I hid my life of nourishing vitality and cultivating the Dao in order to serve in the palace. It was also because Your Majesty honors the arts of the Dao, yet wishes to keep my bearing and conduct within bounds.

"I once traveled with my master. Northward we reached Zhuling, Fusang, the Mirage Sea, the Mound of Endless Night, the Hills of Pure Yang, the realm beneath Primal Azure, and the Abyss of the Moon Palace. I wandered among the Seven Mounds and passed back and forth through the region of the Ten Zhe. I trod the Red Prefecture, toured the Five Peaks, crossed the lakes and marshes, and rested among famous mountains. From my youth until now I have journeyed through the Six Heavens (the six tiers of the heavenly realms in Daoist cosmology), and what I have seen of the heavens goes no further than this.

"Yet all this still cannot compare with the Sons of Soaring Emptiness and the Officials of Flying Truth (immortals who travel through the sky). They ascend and descend through the Nine Heavens and see clearly in every direction. To the north they reach the Gouchen star region, which borders the Huagai star region. To the south they fly to Taidan and dwell in Daxia. To the east they arrive at the Dawn Clouds of Tongyang, and to the west they press upon the Fields of the Cold Caverns. The places they go lie far beyond what the sun and moon can illuminate or the Milky Way can reach. Above them there is nothing more, and below them there is no end. How could what I know compare with this? I am truly ashamed that I cannot satisfy Your Majesty's wide-ranging inquiry."

Note: In the original text, the passage beginning with "未若凌虚之子" ("It cannot compare with the Sons of Soaring Emptiness") appears twice; the translation merges the two according to their meaning.

When Emperor Wu of Han toured Hejian, he saw a purple-blue vapor (qi) rising from the ground and reaching straight up to the sky. Those who read the clouds and vapors declared that an extraordinary woman would be found there. The emperor sent men to search, and they found a young woman alone in an empty lodge. Her appearance was exceptionally striking, but both of her hands were clenched into fists. The emperor ordered her hands opened, but several attempts to pry her fingers apart failed. So the emperor opened her hand himself, and at once it stretched out straight.

From then on she enjoyed the emperor's favor and was called "Lady Fist" (Quan furen). She was later promoted to Jieyu (a rank of consort in the inner palace) and lived in the Gouyi Palace. She was versed in the "arts of the Plain Girl" (Sunü zhi shu; techniques of the bedchamber connected with nourishing life), and so she was deeply beloved. After fourteen months of pregnancy she bore a son, who became Emperor Zhao of Han. The emperor said, "In ancient times Yao was carried for fourteen months before he was born, and now Lady Gouyi has done the same." He therefore ordered that the gate of her residence be named the "Gate of Yao's Mother."

Later, when the emperor went to Ganquan, she accompanied him. She told him, "According to my fate, I was meant to bear Your Majesty a son. When the boy reaches the age of seven, I must die. This year I surely cannot return, so I hope Your Majesty will take good care of yourself." When she had finished speaking, she passed away. After she was placed in the coffin, her body vanished, and a fragrance drifted for more than ten li. She was then buried at Yunling. The emperor was deeply grieved, and, suspecting that she was no ordinary person, ordered the tomb opened to see. The coffin was empty of any corpse, with only her clothes and shoes remaining. The emperor then had the Tongling Terrace (Terrace of Spirit Communion) built at Ganquan. Afterward, dark-blue birds often alighted on the terrace and flew back and forth, until the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han, when they no longer appeared.

Emperor Wu of Han went to Mount Tai to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices (the imperial rites of sacrifice to Heaven and Earth). Among the rocks of the mountain lived a Daoist of Mount Tai who was called Lord Jiqiu. Those who knew him said that as he approached one hundred years of age, he grew younger instead. On the day of the Feng and Shan rites, as the emperor prepared to climb the mountain, Lord Jiqiu came to greet him, wearing a Zhangfu cap (an ancient style of headwear), dressed in yellow, and carrying a zither. He said to the emperor, "Do not climb the mountain lightly. You will surely injure your foot." The emperor did not listen. After walking a few li, he broke a toe on the narrow, difficult rocky path, and had to halt. He performed only the sacrifice and then returned.

The King of Huainan loved learning and was also talented. He gathered Daoist books from across the world and recruited fangshi (masters of esoteric arts). These men could all employ spirit and qi (shen and qi) to summon the wind and call down the rain. Among the common people it was said that the King of Huainan could attract immortals, living and traveling with them; the immortals changed unpredictably, appearing sometimes as boys and sometimes as old men. The original text breaks off at the word "King" (wang).

The Prince of Huainan (Liu An) loved learning and the arts, and he gathered Daoist books from all under Heaven and drew in fangshi (masters of esoteric techniques, those who studied the arts of the Way). These masters were said to be able to wield Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy), calling up the wind and summoning the rain.

Among the common people it was rumored that the Prince of Huainan could summon immortals and keep company with them, and that his transformations were beyond fathoming: at times he became a child, at times an old man. It was also said that he could conceal his body and fly, and that he practiced fuqi (taking in Qi, cultivating by regulating the breath and refining Qi), living without eating grain.

When Emperor Wu of Han heard of these things, he admired them greatly and wished to learn the Prince's Daoist arts. The Prince refused to transmit them, saying that there was no truth in any of it. Emperor Wu was furious and meant to have him killed. Learning of this, the Prince gave the order to depart together with the "Drought Minister" (hanchen), and from then on no one knew where he had gone. The precise meaning of the term "Drought Minister" is unclear here. People throughout the realm said that he had become an immortal, and some even claimed to have seen him.

Fearing that the affair would unsettle the people's hearts, Emperor Wu ordered the heads of the Prince's family members cut off in order to calm the populace, and had them styled the "Prince of Huainan." The authorities confiscated his fangshu (books of techniques, records of esoteric arts), among which were some materials on "Huangbai" (Yellow and White), the arts of refining gold and silver. These, however, were not the essential secret methods, and when tested they mostly proved ineffective. Since Emperor Wu had by now been stirred by the Prince of Huainan's Dao, he summoned men of esoteric arts from every region; from the area of Yan and Qi alone, those who came numbered in the thousands.

In the state of Qi there lived a man named Li Shaofang, who had reached the age of two hundred yet still had the face of a child. He could perform all manner of arts, and all of them proved effective. Emperor Wu of Han trusted him deeply, conferred on him the title General Wencheng, and treated him with the courtesy due to an honored guest.

In the Ganquan Palace, Li Shaofang painted images of Taiyi and the other deities so that people could make offerings to them. He said, "Only after Taiyi has been summoned can one ascend to Heaven, and only after ascending to Heaven can one reach Penglai." More than a year passed without any result, and the Emperor gradually lost patience. Li Shaofang also performed rites to summon and command ghosts and spirits, and these all worked. Only the offerings to Taiyi went unanswered, year after year. The Emperor, who was hasty and severe by nature, was greatly perplexed. Li Shaofang, meanwhile, grew ever more arrogant, and in a fit of anger the Emperor had him put to death.

A little over a month after General Wencheng was killed, an envoy sent by the Emperor was returning from east of the Pass with his attendants when he met Li Shaofang at Caoting. Li Shaofang said to him, "Tell the Emperor for me: why could he not endure a few more days, instead of ruining a great undertaking? He should take good care of himself. In forty years, let him come and find me at Mount Laocheng. We will work together then, and there need be no resentment between us." When the envoy returned, he reported all of these words to the Emperor.

The Emperor then ordered Li Shaofang's coffin to be opened. Inside there was no body, only a single bamboo leaf. Suspecting that Li Shaofang's disciples had stolen the corpse and hidden it, the Emperor ordered a search and interrogation, but not a trace could be found. He bitterly regretted having killed Li Shaofang. He summoned more masters of esoteric arts and had the rites to Taiyi performed anew at the Ganquan Palace. He also set up a separate altar to General Wencheng and presided over the offerings in person.

Around this time, the Commandery of Dong sent up a tiny person, only five inches tall, fully dressed in robe and cap. Suspecting it was a mountain spirit, the Emperor had it stand on his writing table and summoned Dongfang Shuo. As soon as Dongfang Shuo arrived, he called out to the little figure, "Juling, how did you suddenly run away to this place? Has the Queen Mother gone back?" The little figure did not answer.

Dongfang Shuo then said to the Emperor, "The peach tree planted by the Queen Mother of the West bears fruit only once every three thousand years. This child is unruly. He has already stolen and eaten the peaches three times, and having angered the Queen Mother, he was banished to the human world." The Emperor was astonished and became still more convinced that Dongfang Shuo was no ordinary mortal.

The little figure said to the Emperor, "The Queen Mother of the West sent me to tell Your Majesty that the way of seeking the Dao lies only in stillness and uprightness, and that one should not be hasty or agitated. In five years, she will meet with Your Majesty." When he had finished speaking, the little figure vanished.

The Emperor was even more amazed and summoned Dongfang Shuo again to question him. Dongfang Shuo said, "Your Majesty will understand in due time. I cannot speak of it." After that he said nothing more. Believing that Dongfang Shuo possessed divine powers, the Emperor did not dare press him.

Gongsun Qing, a man of Qi, said to Suo Zhong: "I have a secret text handed down from my master that speaks of the precious tripod. I would like to present it to the Emperor in your name. If I could be granted an audience, I would offer a jade sheep as a congratulatory gift." Suo Zhong agreed. But after reading the text, he grew suspicious and tactfully declined, saying: "The matter of the precious tripod has already been settled, and there is nothing more to be said."

Gongsun Qing then took advantage of an occasion when another person was submitting a report and sent the matter up through that channel. His memorial read:

"When the Yellow Emperor obtained the precious tripod, he consulted Gui Yuqu (a legendary minister of the Yellow Emperor). Gui Yuqu replied: 'Your Majesty has obtained the precious tripod and the divine light, and so you may prolong your years. The first day of the month in the year Jiyou fell exactly on the winter solstice. This is the reckoning of the Way of Heaven, which ends and begins again in an endless cycle.' The Yellow Emperor then watched for the sun's shadow and calculated the calendar, repeating the calculation twenty times, for a total of one hundred and eighty years, and in the end he ascended to Heaven as an immortal. This year, too, the first day of the month coincides with the winter solstice, which matches the Yellow Emperor's circumstances in that age. I risk death to report this."

Emperor Wu was delighted on hearing this and summoned Gongsun Qing to question him. Gongsun Qing replied: "I received this book from Master Shen. He has died, having departed through shijie (corpse liberation)." Shijie is a Daoist legend describing a way in which a cultivator leaves behind the body and sheds the physical form to become an immortal.

Emperor Wu asked: "Who was Master Shen?" Gongsun Qing replied: "He was a man of Qi, Master Anqi, who together with others once received transmission from the Yellow Emperor, and he held this book recording the precious tripod. Master Shen often told me: 'The sage ruler of the Han will arise from among the great-grandsons of Gaozu. When the precious tripod appears, one can communicate with the spirits. By performing the Feng and Shan sacrifices, ascending Mount Tai to sacrifice to Heaven, only the Yellow Emperor and the rulers of the Han are able to accomplish this. After performing the Feng and Shan sacrifices, one can ascend to Heaven. The Yellow Emperor fought the hundred demons while cultivating the arts of immortality, and only after more than a hundred years was he able to communicate with the spirits.'"

"The Yellow Emperor once offered the suburban sacrifice to the Supreme Lord at Yong, fasting for three months. Gui Yuqu departed through shijie and was later buried at Yong; the present Great Hong Tomb is what was later called his grave. The Yellow Emperor received the myriad spirits at the Bright Court, and the Bright Court is Ganquan. He ascended as an immortal through the Cold Gate, and the Cold Gate is Gukou. The Yellow Emperor mined copper at Mount Shou and cast the tripod at Mount Ke. When the tripod was complete, a dragon lowered its whiskers to welcome the Yellow Emperor up to Heaven. More than seventy of his ministers and palace attendants climbed up and rode the dragon away with him. The lesser ministers, unable to get on, all seized hold of the dragon's whiskers; the whiskers were pulled out, and the Yellow Emperor's bow fell as well. The common people looked up as the Yellow Emperor ascended to Heaven, and they clutched his bow and the dragon's whiskers and wept. For this reason, later generations called his tomb 'Tripod Lake' (Dinghu) and that bow 'Wuhao' ('Crow's Cry')."

Emperor Wu sighed: "Ah! If only I could truly be like the Yellow Emperor, and regard leaving the world as no more than casting off clay." He ordered sacrifices to be made at the tomb of the Yellow Emperor at Mount Qiao, then turned and asked Gongsun Qing: "Since the Yellow Emperor became an immortal and did not die, why is there still a tomb?"

Gongsun Qing replied: "After the Yellow Emperor ascended and departed, his ministers could not stop longing for him, so they buried his robe and cap. That is not the tomb in which the Yellow Emperor himself was truly buried."

Emperor Wu sighed again: "When I ascend to Heaven in the days to come, my ministers will surely long for me as well, and will bury my robe and cap at Dongling, will they not?"

Lu Nüsheng was a native of Changle. From childhood she loved cultivating the Dao (the Way). At first she lived on sesame seeds and water, and afterward she abstained from the five grains altogether, keeping to this practice for more than eighty years. She grew more youthful and robust with each passing day, her complexion as rosy as peach blossoms. She could walk three hundred li in a single day, and when she ran she could even overtake a deer. It is said that by the time people met her, she had already lived more than three hundred years.

Later, while gathering herbs on Mount Songgao, Lu Nüsheng suddenly saw a woman sitting in a mountain stream. Recognizing her as a divine being, she kowtowed and bowed repeatedly, performing the ceremonial qishou bow, and begged to be taught the essential secret of immortality. After a long while, the woman said: "I am an attendant official of the Supreme One of the Three Heavens. It is your destiny to become an immortal, which is why you have been able to see me. I will transmit to you the precious secret text and its essential teachings, so that you may subdue the Five Peaks and command the host of spirits." Having said this, she produced the Wuyue Zhenxing Tu (Charts of the True Forms of the Five Peaks) and passed it to Lu Nüsheng, explaining how to use it and the rules that must be observed.

After Lu Nüsheng had achieved success in her cultivation of the Dao, she one day bade farewell to her relatives and acquaintances, saying that she was going to enter Mount Hua. Fifty years later, someone who had known her met her in front of the temple on Mount Hua. Her appearance was more youthful than ever; she was riding a white deer, accompanied by thirty jade maidens. She also asked this person to convey her greetings to her relatives and friends in her hometown, giving very clear instructions.

The Charts of the True Forms of the Five Peaks are identical to the Text of the Queen Mother. That such documents can be seen in the world today may be because they were handed down through figures such as Li Shaojun, Dong Zhongshu, and Lu Nüsheng. Before Dong Zhongshu departed, he passed the documents to Yue Ba; Lu Nüsheng first transmitted the chart to Ji Zixun, who later passed it to Feng Junda. Before entering Mount Xuanqiu, Feng Junda in turn passed the chart to Zuo Yuanfang.

The term "abstaining from grains" (jue gu) refers to the practice of bigu among Daoist cultivators, that is, not eating the five grains; qishou is a respectful kneeling bow of ancient times. The "Charts of the True Forms of the Five Peaks" are secret diagrams in Daoism associated with the Five Peaks, which the text says can be used to subdue the Five Peaks and command the spirits.

Feng Junda was a native of Longxi who loved cultivating the Dao (the Way) from his youth. At first he took goldthread (huanglian) for more than fifty years. Later he entered Mount Wushu, where he refined and consumed mercury for over a hundred years. When he returned to his home village, he looked only about thirty years old. He often rode a green ox, and so he came to be called the "Green Ox Daoist."

When he heard on the road that someone was gravely ill and close to death, he would take medicine from the bamboo tube at his waist and give it to the person, whether or not he knew them. Sometimes he also applied acupuncture, and often a single needle was enough to cure the illness. Many people witnessed his healing firsthand, yet he never told anyone his family name or personal name. People knew him only as the man who rode a green ox, and so they called him "Green Ox."

Feng Junda heard that Lu Nüsheng (a legendary female immortal) had received the Wuyue tu (Charts of the Five Peaks) from a Perfected One (zhenren), and for many years he asked to borrow it. Eventually Lu Nüsheng received him and transmitted it to him, and also explained in detail the rules for using it. Feng Junda lived in the human world for more than two hundred years, after which he entered Mount Xuanqiu and disappeared without a trace. Before leaving, he passed on the Wuyue zhenxing (True Forms of the Five Peaks, a Daoist talismanic chart that depicts the shapes of the Five Peaks and is regarded as protective) to Zuo Yuanfang, who in turn passed it on to Ge Xiaoxian.

From Lu Nüsheng, the Green Ox Daoist had heard the following: if a household keeps the Wuyue zhenxing, each of the Five Peaks will send five spirits to guard the chart. If the dwelling is near mountains or rivers, the spirits of the rivers and marshes will likewise send attendant officials to protect the person and the household. The text that follows is damaged. The original becomes incoherent at the phrase "xiongni yu Ge Xiaoxian ye," after which it repeats earlier material and ends at "rivers and marshes."

The deities of the Five Directions will also dispatch attendant officers to protect the wearer and their household. If a malicious person tries to harm the bearer, that person will in the end suffer the consequences of their own evil; and if anyone has already conspired to do harm, the Five Deities will punish the ringleader. These matters may also be confirmed through omens in dreams.

The talisman can also drive away pestilence from all five directions, guard against disasters of water and fire, and may even be worn while walking across the edge of a sharp blade. When carrying this Zhenxing (真形, "true form," a sacred image or talismanic figure of a deity), one must concentrate the mind in visualization and revere it with sincerity, honoring it above one's reverence for a ruler or a father. Whenever one is about to undertake an affair, one should first burn incense in a quiet place and make a report to the Lords of the Five Peaks (the deities who govern the Five Sacred Mountains).

The Lords of the Five Peaks constantly record the good deeds of a Daoist practitioner, and they also watch for treachery and impurity, pointing out where a person has gone astray. Improper conduct brings calamity upon oneself, while treachery and impurity bring misfortune upon one's family. One must therefore be careful and live in reverent awe.

When a Daoist practitioner wears this true form, or carries it in hand while traveling through mountains and forests, the earth spirits and presiding deities throughout the mountains will come to the boundaries of their domains to welcome and pay homage. The true form radiates a brilliant light that protects the bearer and holds evil at bay; the exalted forms of the Five Peaks lend their authority and credibility to shelter the one who carries it. Even ghosts and spirits treat it with humble courtesy, so how could ordinary people dare to treat it lightly?

Li Shaojun, courtesy name Yunyi, was a native of Linzi in the state of Qi. In his youth he loved Daoist arts and entered Mount Tai to gather herbs, practicing abstention from grain (bigu), reclusive withdrawal from the world, and methods for preserving life. Before his practice was complete, he fell ill in the mountain forest. Master Anqi happened to pass by and found him, and Li Shaojun kowtowed and begged for help. Moved by compassion for a man so devoted to the Dao (the Way) yet dying of illness, Master Anqi gave him a spoonful of Shenlou powder. Li Shaojun rose at once, fully healed.

Li Shaojun asked to follow Master Anqi and willingly offered to serve and labor for him. Master Anqi agreed to accept him as a disciple and led him to Chicheng, Mount Luofu, and Mount Taiheng, then west to Yumen, traveling through the Five Peaks and viewing the great rivers. Several decades passed this way. One day Master Anqi told him: "Xuanzhou has summoned me, and I must leave today. You cannot yet go there with me, so we will part for now. In six hundred years I will meet you here." He then transmitted to Li Shaojun the methods of refining the divine elixir, working the furnace fire, and Feixuan (soaring into the mysterious), and agreed with him on oral formulas. Before long, Master Anqi departed riding a dragon and tiger, guided and escorted by several hundred attendants, and ascended to heaven in a feathered carriage.

After returning, Li Shaojun practiced fasting and purification. He also sold goods in the marketplace, traded in the Six States, and at times served as an official, a teacher, or a physician healing the sick, and even worked as a hired laborer. He changed his name and wandered everywhere, never letting anyone know that he possessed the Daoist arts.

In the time of Emperor Wu of Han, Li Shaojun heard that the emperor was recruiting fangshi (masters of occult techniques) and honored the Daoist arts. He lamented that he was growing old and, without wealth, could not complete the Great Elixir. He said that neither farming nor trade could raise enough money for refining the elixir, and that he was not skilled at such things. Hearing that the Son of Heaven loved the Dao, he wished to seek an audience and refine the elixir for him, so that he would obtain what he needed and not worry over money. He added that he had already lived in the world more than five hundred years yet had never been able to improve his circumstances through influence and power, and he feared he would in the end die like ordinary people.

So Li Shaojun presented his techniques to Emperor Wu, claiming he could coagulate mercury into silver and transform cinnabar into gold, and that by taking the completed Golden Elixir one could ascend to heaven in broad daylight and live forever. He also described how immortals grow vermilion feathers and round wings of light, how in refining qi (vital energy) they walk through the air, how in concealment they vanish without trace, and how they ride flying dragons across the eight directions. He said that he had eaten the great jujubes of the Dark Sea and the great plums of Mount Zhong, and that he had received oral formulas from his late teacher, Master Anqi, and therefore believed these elixir methods could succeed.

Emperor Wu summoned him and treated him with great respect, bestowing many gifts and even building a residence for him. The emperor believed that Li Shaojun would surely help him attain eternal life. Once, Li Shaojun was drinking with the Marquis of Wu'an, and among the guests was an old man over ninety. Li Shaojun said he had once gone hunting with the old man's grandfather, and the old man, as a child, had indeed seen Li Shaojun with his grandfather. The whole company was astonished.

The emperor owned an ancient bronze vessel. Li Shaojun recognized it at a glance and said that Duke Huan of Qi had once displayed it in the Wuqin Palace. When the emperor examined the inscription on the vessel, it was indeed an object of Duke Huan of Qi, and he came to believe that Li Shaojun was several hundred years old. Yet Li Shaojun appeared to be only about fifty, with a ruddy face and glowing skin, and his eyes, brows, and teeth were like those of a youth of fifteen. The feudal lords and powerful nobles, hearing that he could spare people from death and restore the aged to youth, sent him great quantities of money and goods.

Li Shaojun secretly refined a divine elixir, but once it was done, he did not take it. He also asked Emperor Wu for the Book of the Five Emperors, Six Jia, and the Left and Right Numinous Flight (a Daoist ritual-magic text) in twelve scrolls. In the seventh month of the fourth year of the Yuanfeng era, the emperor handed the books over to him.

In the ninth month of the sixth year of Yuanfeng, Li Shaojun claimed illness and submitted a memorial: "Your Majesty devotes your mind to seeking the mysterious and pursuing long life, and so you have widely gathered masters of the Dao from every quarter. Your sincerity has moved Heaven, and so the spirits descend. Were it not for a karmic bond from former lives, how could such an opportunity arise? However, the rules of elixir refining are strict and require distance from all that is rank and impure. The immortal way values nurturing the myriad beings and extending benevolence even to insects, yet Your Majesty has not been able to give up extravagance or keep away from music and sensual pleasure; campaigns of killing do not cease, and joy and anger are not removed. Men die in battle in distant lands, and blood is shed even in the markets and court. As things stand, the Way of the divine elixir is difficult to accomplish. I am now gravely ill and old, have wasted my days, and cannot personally observe the fast and witness the transformation of Pengzu's cinnabar. I fear that this matter has already become remote."

He went on to say that the Golden Elixir formula handed down by his late teacher Master Anqi had been truly proven, but could be cultivated and used only if one followed the rules and observed the prohibitions. He described the transformations of cinnabar, the leaping of dragon and tiger, and the refining of lead and tin into gold, and said that taking even a small amount of the elixir would restore one's jing (essence) and qi, and in the end one would ride a rainbow to heaven and travel far in a carriage of clouds. Only thus could the formula's divine efficacy be proven, and only thus could he show that he had not deceived the emperor. Yet Li Shaojun handed over only the minor elixir formula to Emperor Wu, not the major one, and afterward claimed to be gravely ill and unable to rise.

That night, Emperor Wu dreamed that he and Li Shaojun were climbing Mount Song. Halfway up, an envoy in embroidered robes, riding a dragon and bearing a staff of office, descended from the clouds and said that Taiyi (the title of the Celestial Emperor) had summoned Li Shaojun. Upon waking, the emperor sent people to inquire after Li Shaojun and told his close attendants: "If the dream proves true, Shaojun is about to leave me."

The next day Li Shaojun's illness grew severe. The emperor went in person and ordered those around him to demand the formula books from Li Shaojun, but before this could be completed, Li Shaojun died. Weeping, the emperor said: "Shaojun has not died. He has merely chosen to leave this way." When the body was being prepared for burial, Li Shaojun suddenly vanished, yet his clothes and belt remained intact as if worn, like a cicada shedding its shell. So people had no choice but to bury his garments as his remains.

More than a hundred days later, someone said they had seen Li Shaojun in the marketplace at Puban in Hedong, riding a green mule. Hearing this, the emperor at once had the coffin opened. It was empty, and the coffin nails had not come loose; only a pair of shoes remained. The emperor was even more distressed and regretted that he had not kept Li Shaojun properly by his side. The following year, the Liang Terrace caught fire, and many precious secret books and Daoist texts were burned.

In the beginning, Li Shaojun had been on good terms with the court counselor Dong Zhong. Dong Zhong fell gravely ill, emaciated and weak, and Li Shaojun gave him two doses of prepared medicine and a written formula. The formula listed ingredients such as the herb of the Wu and Ji stems, the fatty essence of Houtu (Sovereign Earth), the tallow of the Gen beast, the root of the Xianyou plant, the sweet elixir of a hundred flowers, and the herb held in the dragon's mouth. It specified that they be decocted in a bronze cauldron in the first ten days of the Hai month, that boys and girls be purified by bathing, and that the fire be carefully regulated. When the medicine was done, it was to be taken in pills the size of a parrot's egg, three at a time. After one dose the body would become light; after three doses, lost teeth would grow back; after five doses, one's life would no longer be in danger.

Dong Zhong was upright by nature and well read in the Five Classics, but he knew nothing of Daoist arts. He often laughed at people who took medicines to seek the Dao, and had repeatedly submitted memorials urging Emperor Wu to recognize that the span of life is fixed and that aging follows a constant principle, so that Daoist arts could not extend life. Even when he saw the marvelous effects of medicines, he still held that it was simply the way things were by nature, not the doing of the medicine. After receiving the medicine, he never took it, nor did he ask Li Shaojun to clarify the formula, but merely put it away.

A few months after Li Shaojun left, Dong Zhong's illness worsened again. The emperor repeatedly spoke of the dream in which he had seen Li Shaojun off, sighing in regret. Only then did Dong Zhong remember the medicine and try taking it. Before he had finished half of it, he could get up and walk, his body was light and vigorous, and all his earlier ailments were gone. After finishing the medicine, his strength was restored to what it had been at thirty, and so he came to believe that the way of long life truly exists. He resigned his office and traveled about searching for Daoists. He asked people about the meaning of the formula but never could understand it, though his white hair turned black and his appearance was robust.

Dong Zhong later lived to over eighty before he died. On his deathbed he said to his son Daosheng: "I received Shaojun's divine formula but did not believe in it and take it in time, and I regret this until death. Later you may seek out someone who understands this art and ask him to explain the formula. If you can take it over a long period, perhaps you can rise beyond the common cycle of life and death." Daosheng obeyed his father's last words, refused to take office, and traveled about seeking someone who understood the formula.

When Daosheng reached Jiangxia, he met Master Boze. The master said: "This is not an immortal medicine of divine elixir and gold and jade; it can only let a person live several hundred years." He then explained in detail the true names and meanings of each ingredient in the formula. Daosheng prepared and took the medicine according to the formula and is said to have lived to the age of three hundred seventy. Afterward he entered Mount Jitou, and from then on no one knew whether he attained the Dao and became an immortal.

At that time, Zhuo Yuancheng, ZhangZiren, Wu Shisheng, Cai Zisheng, Wei Zhongming, Zhang Yuanda, and others also took this medicine, and some lived to three hundred, others to five hundred. It is said that until they died they never fell ill, their bodies did not weaken or show age, their teeth did not fall out, their hair did not turn white, and their sexual vigor did not decline. The author sighs: this was probably only Li Shaojun's ordinary technique, and it could already do this for people; what then would the effects of his more advanced techniques have been?

When Li Shaojun left the world, he secretly passed the twelve scrolls of the Liujia Zuoyou Lingfei Shu (Techniques of the Six Jia and the Left and Right Numinous Flight) to Shu Guoyan, and passed the divine elixir and Feixuan formula to his fellow villager Ji Zixun. Both later studied the Daoist arts and are said to have become immortals. Li Shaojun also passed the Kunlun Shenzhou Zhenxing Tu (Diagram of the True Forms of Kunlun and Shenzhou, depicting the geography of Kunlun and the Divine Continent) to Ji Zixun.

Shuguo Yan (束郭延), courtesy name Gongyou, was a native of Shanyang. In youth, Shuguo Yan loved Daoist arts, and on hearing that Li Shaojun had attained the Dao (the Way), went to seek an audience. Kowtowing, Shuguo Yan begged to stay at Li's side and do menial work such as carrying the towel and comb and sweeping the floor. Li Shaojun agreed.

Seeing that Shuguo Yan was careful in work and sincere in character, Li Shaojun judged that this disciple could be taught the Daoist arts. Before leaving, Li privately transmitted to Shuguo Yan secret methods, among them the "Art of Numinous Flight of the Left and Right of the Five Emperors and Six Jia" (Wudi liujia zuoyou lingfei zhi shu) and the "Twelve Matters of Roaming the Void and Summoning the Truth" (Youxu zhaozhen shi'er shi). Li told Shuguo Yan: "These too are essential gateways of the Dao. If you practice them diligently, you will also ascend to Heaven." After handing down the oral instructions, Li Shaojun sent Shuguo Yan on the way.

Back home, Shuguo Yan compounded and took the "Powder of Numinous Flight" (lingfei san). As a result, it is said, Shuguo Yan could write at night, and in the bedroom the body gave off a glow that lit the surroundings. After practicing the "Art of the Six Jia, Left and Right," Shuguo Yan was said to be able to divine fortune and misfortune throughout the world. Whether or not the person was known to Shuguo Yan, anyone about to die was foreseen in advance. Shuguo Yan could also command ghosts and spirits and subdue tigers and leopards, seemingly able to do anything. Shuguo Yan lived in the village for four hundred years without any decline in appearance.

In the twenty-first year of the Jian'an era of the Han, one day several dozen people riding tigers and leopards came to welcome Shuguo Yan, and the neighbors all saw it with their own eyes. Shuguo Yan bade farewell to relatives and friends, saying that the destination was the Kunlun Terrace. Before departing, Shuguo Yan passed the formula for the divine elixir (shendan) and the secret essentials of the "Numinous Flight of the Five Emperors" to Master Yin.

Master Yin was named Gui, with the courtesy name Gongdu, and came from Taiyuan. In the first year of the Yuanxi era of the Jin, Yin Gui entered Mount Taihe in Nanyang and handed these essential methods down to a disciple, Shan Shiyuan of Henei.

Shuguo Yan had first received the transmission from Li Shaojun, and later passed the art of Numinous Flight on to Ji Zixun, who in turn received the scripture (Jing) of the divine elixir.

In this text, terms such as "Powder of Numinous Flight," "divine elixir," and "Art of Numinous Flight of the Left and Right of the Five Emperors and Six Jia" are all specialized names from Daoist cultivation and esoteric arts. The "Six Jia" is connected with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, with belief in divine generals, and with the tradition of numerological divination. The account describes the transmission of Daoist arts from one figure to the next, along with elixir-taking, cultivation, and ascension to Heaven.

Ji Liao, courtesy name Zixun, was a native of Linzi in the state of Qi, from the same hometown as Li Shaojun. In his youth he served in the prefectural government and was recommended for his filial piety and integrity. He later became a court gentleman (langzhong), then joined the army and rose to the rank of Commandant of the Imperial Son-in-Law (fuma duwei).

In his later years he came to understand that managing worldly affairs and handling official business did nothing to prolong life, so he followed Li Shaojun to learn the methods of healing and medicine. After they had spent a long time together, he realized that Li Shaojun held the Way of longevity, and he served Li Shaojun with a disciple's courtesy and took Li as his teacher. Li Shaojun, for their part, saw that Zixun was single-minded and capable of achievement, and gradually transmitted the Daoist methods of cultivation. These included embryonic breathing (taixi, a breath so subtle it resembles that of a fetus), embryonic eating (taishi, the Daoist practice of abstaining from grain), arresting the years (delaying aging), and halting white hair (turning gray hair black).

Zixun cultivated for over two hundred years, and his appearance did not age. Among his neighbors he valued sincerity and humility. He was fond of quiet and often read the Yi alone, occasionally writing short commentaries, all of which showed real insight. In Li Shaojun's later years, Li also taught him an art called the "Great Transformation of the Impermanent Master," and when Zixun practiced it as taught, it never failed to show results.

Once, Zixun saw a neighbor holding a child and asked to hold it. He lost his grip, and the child fell to the ground and died. The neighbors had always respected Zixun and dared not show grief. They simply buried the child, believing it had been fated not to grow up. After some time, people gradually stopped speaking of it. Later, when Zixun returned from a journey, he brought the child back to the house. The family feared it was a ghost and did not dare take it. Zixun said, "Take the child and do not be afraid. This truly is your child." The child recognized its mother and laughed, reaching for her. She took the child, though doubts lingered in her heart. After Zixun left, the father came home, and the two dug up the burial site to look. They found that the dead child, originally buried in a vessel, had turned into a clay figure about six inches long. The child later grew into adulthood.

There were also elderly people whose hair had gone completely white. Zixun merely sat facing them and talked, and after a single night their hair had turned black by the next day. It is said that he performed no special act, and that the blackening lasted for a year and two hundred days. Yet some people's hair did not turn black, probably because miraculous transformations differ in depth.

Eminent figures in the capital heard of Zixun's deeds and all longed to meet him, but could find no way. Among Zixun's neighbors was a young man studying at the Imperial Academy. The eminent figures said to him, "You study so hard in order to pass the examinations and gain wealth and rank. If you can invite Ji Zixun for us, we will see that you rise to distinction without toil."

The student agreed. He went home and personally attended Zixun, sweeping in the morning and evening and waiting at hand, and this went on for nearly two hundred days. Zixun asked him, "You are not a practitioner of the Way. Why are you able to do this?" The student replied, "I am only a junior from your village. Serving you according to the etiquette between young and old is simply what I ought to do." Zixun said, "Why not speak truthfully instead of pretending? I already know your intention. Those eminent people wish to see me. Why should I begrudge making the trip, only to leave you without glory or office? Go back and tell them that I will come on a certain day of a certain month."

The student was delighted. He returned to the capital and told the eminent figures what Zixun had said. When the appointed day arrived, Zixun had still not set out, and the student's parents, worried that their son would be seen as having broken his word, went to see Zixun. Zixun said, "Are you afraid I will not go? I will not let your son break his word. I will set out now." He said he would leave his residence at the midday meal. The student's parents said, "Master Ji may not arrive at the appointed time, but he will surely go in the end."

Afterward, when the student returned home and reckoned the time, he found that Zixun had arrived in the capital at noon that very day. That meant Zixun had covered more than a thousand li in less than half a day. The student went to pay his respects, and Zixun asked, "Who are the people who wish to see me?" The student answered, "Very many wish to see you, Master. I dared not ask you to visit each in turn. I only wished to know where you are staying, so that they could come to you themselves."

Zixun said, "There is no need to summon them. I have already traveled over a thousand li. Would I now quibble with these people over a little distance? Today, tell them each to clear their guests away and sweep their houses. I will go at noon, and decide then whose house to visit first."

The student notified the eminent figures as instructed. At midday, Zixun did indeed visit twenty-three households, and in each one a Zixun appeared, staying in its own place. The eminent figures were all delighted, each believing that Zixun had come to their house first. The next day, when they asked one another, they discovered that every household had had a Zixun at that moment. The figures were identical in clothing and appearance, but their conversation differed according to what each household asked, and each answered separately.

Every household had prepared wine and food and entertained Zixun with full ceremony. When people far and near heard of this, they were greatly astonished, and the eminent figures again wished to call on Zixun in person. Zixun said to the student, "Those people think I have double pupils and eight colors in my eyes, and that is why they want to see me. In truth I have nothing particular to say to them. Since they have already received me with full courtesy, I will not go again." With that, he departed.

He had barely stepped out the door when the carriages and horses of the eminent figures filled the roads. The student told them that Zixun had just gone along the eastern road, riding a blue-black mule. The crowd at once gave chase on horseback, and they saw the mule walking slowly, yet their horses could never catch up. They pursued for half a day, always remaining about a li behind, and in the end could not overtake Zixun, so they each turned back.

Zixun was a fellow villager and disciple of Li Shaojun. Humble and circumspect, Zixun devoted himself to probing the mysteries of the great Dao and studied under an enlightened teacher. Had Zixun continued this practice, it seems he would surely have come to master the full range of its profound principles.

Wang Zhen, courtesy name Shujian, was a native of Shangdang. In his youth he served as a minor clerk in the commandery, and it was not until the age of seventy that he began to take an interest in Daoist arts. Before long he came across an immortals' scripture (jing) in which a passage had been recorded among miscellaneous notes. In the time of King Xuan of Zhou, someone went out to the countryside and questioned a woodcutter. The woodcutter walked along singing: "Don the golden cap, enter the Heavenly Gate, draw in the long-lasting Jing (essence), swallow the Mysterious Spring, sound the Heavenly Drum, and nourish the Niwan."

People at the time did not understand what this meant. Only the Archivist Beneath the Pillar (the official in charge of the records) said: "These are the words of someone who has lived a very long time, and they conceal a secret method." The man was in fact an ancient fisherman. How do we know? It is said that a person who lives to eight hundred has square pupils, and one who lives to a thousand has vertical, multicolored patterns in the eyes. This woodcutter was one who had lived a thousand years.

Having read this passage, Wang Zhen could not grasp its meaning, and so he went about asking Daoist masters for instruction. After many years he met someone who knew how to explain it. This person told him: "This is only a shallow method for prolonging life. It can merely slow the onset of old age and delay the whitening of the hair." The person then passed on the essentials to Wang Zhen:

"Donning the golden cap" means constantly visualizing the lung Qi (vital energy) within the Niwan (what Daoism calls the brain), and then letting the breath slowly circulate throughout the whole body, so that the body remains radiant and supple. "Swallowing the Mysterious Spring" means stirring the saliva in the mouth with the tongue and then swallowing it, which is said to keep a person from growing old. "Sounding the Heavenly Drum" means knocking the teeth thirty-six times every morning, which settles the Shen (spirit) and Qi within the body. At night, one visualizes a stream of red Qi entering through the Heavenly Gate (here meaning the mouth), spreading through the body inside and out, and transforming into flame in the brain; with this firelight one illuminates the whole body, until it seems as bright as fire itself. This visualization is also called "refining the form."

The Niwan refers to the brain, and the Heavenly Gate refers to the mouth. The practice of holding the breath and swallowing the Qi is called "embryonic breathing," and the practice of stirring the saliva beneath the tongue and swallowing it is called "embryonic feeding." These methods must be practiced continuously, without interruption.

Wang Zhen received the oral instructions and practiced embryonic breathing, embryonic feeding, and form-refining, and the results were said to be remarkable. He abstained from grain for over two hundred years, and his complexion remained rosy. He could walk fast enough to keep up with a horse, and his strength matched that of several men. He sighed and said: "With these methods I can only achieve deathlessness. How can they compare with the alchemical methods of divine elixirs, gold, and jade?" He therefore became a disciple of Ji Zixun, who transmitted to him the "Zhouhou Formulas" (a secret technique conveniently carried on one's person).

Emperor Wu of Wei heard of Wang Zhen and summoned him for an audience. Seeing that he looked about thirty years old, the emperor at first suspected him of lying and inquired into his home village. The locals all said the same thing: many of them had known Wang Zhen since childhood. Only then did Emperor Wu believe that he possessed Daoist arts, and he treated him with great respect.

Meng Jie, a man of the commandery, studied under Wang Zhen for more than ten years. Wang Zhen transmitted to Meng Jie the methods of steamed elixirs and minor edibles (xiaoer), and Meng Jie is said to have thereby "crossed over" (escaped worldly life and death). The villagers calculated that Wang Zhen had lived four hundred years. Later, one day, Wang Zhen climbed Mount Nüji with three young concubines and told his disciples that he would compound an elixir and depart. He never returned. It is said that Wang Zhen could travel three hundred li in a single day.

Meng Jie would hold a jujube pit in his mouth in order to go without eating. After ten years of practice, he could also stop breathing and remain motionless like a corpse, for as long as a hundred days or even half a year. He also had a wife and children. This is said to be the method of the woodcutter in the countryside that Wang Zhen had studied.

Meng Jie was plain and cautious by nature and did not speak lightly. Emperor Wu of Wei once built a thatched hut for him and put him in charge of the practitioners of esoteric arts in every region. In the reigns of Emperor Hui and Emperor Huai of Jin, some still claimed to have seen Meng Jie in the marketplaces of Chang'an. Emperor Wu of Wei was likewise skilled at gathering practitioners of esoteric arts and Daoists, and treated them with great deference; but those who had attained the Dao mostly refused to reveal the key secrets to him.

Liu Jing, courtesy name Taixuan, was a native of Nanyang and once served as a palace attendant (shilang) under Emperor Xiaowen of the Han. Later he left worldly life and studied the Daoist arts under a master named Zhang of Nae, from whom he obtained the formula for the Vermilion Blossom Pill (a elixir prepared with zhuying). He compounded and took it according to the formula. It is said that he lived to the age of one hundred and thirty, yet looked to be only about thirty.

Liu Jing afterward took Ji Zixun as his teacher. Ji Zixun transmitted to him secret methods such as the Twelve Matters of the Five Emperors' Numinous Flight and the Six Jia, and the True Forms of the Ten Continents of the Immortals. Liu Jing practiced them according to the oral instructions and achieved considerable results. It is said that he could command ghosts and spirits, summon wind and rain, and conjure meals for people to eat, and that he could even vanish suddenly while sitting or standing.

He could also foretell the fortunes and misfortunes of others, along with the days on which they would come to pass, and he could perform sacrifices to Heaven on a person's behalf to petition for a longer life. Some people are said to have gained ten more years this way, though when the term ran out they died all the same. Those who did not believe in him died as well when the predicted date arrived. He once traveled together with Wang Zhen through famous mountains and the Five Peaks.

In the time of Emperor Wu of Wei, Liu Jing still frequently visited the homes of his disciples. Huangfu Long, hearing that he possessed Daoist arts, followed him to study. Liu Jing passed on to Huangfu Long two methods: the Mica Nine-Seed Pill (an elixir made from mica and other substances) and the Way of Intercourse (jiaojie zhi dao, a sexual practice for nurturing life). Huangfu Long prepared and took the pill according to the formula and practiced the technique as taught. It is said that his appearance and complexion grew younger by the day, his hair did not turn white, and his teeth did not fall out, and that he lived past three hundred years. Whether he was truly able to transcend life and death, however, the text states that it is unclear.

In the third year of the Huangchu era of Wei, Liu Jing entered Mount Heng, and thereafter he was never seen again.

Liu Jing once told Huangfu Long: "The essential secret of nurturing the body is to swallow the saliva in your mouth every morning. This makes a person strong and gives the face a ruddy glow. It also expels the Three Worms (in Daoist health lore, spirit-parasites that dwell in the body and harm body and mind) and strengthens the teeth. What is called the Jade Spring is simply the saliva in the mouth. In the morning, before rising, rinse the mouth slowly until saliva fills it, then swallow. After that, knock the teeth together fourteen times above and below, and stop after repeating this three times. This is called refining Jing (essence), and it is said to bring long life."

He added: "The art of nurturing life through the bedchamber is difficult to master, and only those of deep cultivation can practice it. Engaging in intercourse is like riding a bolting ox or a startled horse: the slightest carelessness may throw you off. You are by nature fond of sensual pleasure, so should you not use these words to restrain yourself?" By Liu Jing's account, he worried that Huangfu Long would for this reason be unable to transcend life and death.

Han Wudi Waizhuan (Unofficial Biography of Emperor Wu of Han): a Daoist legend recounting the deeds of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty.