《玄品录》

The Grand Historian says: Daoist teaching centers the spirit and guides action in accord with the formless Dao. Its heart is detached, yet it enables all things to find their proper place. The Daoist approach follows the great patterns of Yin-Yang’s movement, draws on the strengths of Confucianism and Mohism, and distills the essentials of the School of Names and the Legalists. It changes with the times and adjusts to circumstances; put into practice in social life, it suits every situation. Its guiding principles are concise and easy to follow. It does little, yet achieves much.

I was deeply moved by this and wondered: Surely such people exist in the world. Perhaps they live in seclusion, unknown and hard to find, so that the Grand Historian’s judgment cannot persuade later generations. I therefore resolved to seek such figures among the ancients. Beginning with Laozi, I gathered the moral teachings and writings of those who shared his Way, arranged them by category, and in doing so seemed to trace these figures’ footsteps.

In the past, the Zhuangzi, also known as the Nanhua, praised the arts of the Dao throughout the world without including Confucius among them. I have modeled this book on that idea: by leaving Laozi out, I mean to show him the highest reverence. Yang Xiong, whose courtesy name was Ziyun, said, “Confucius is known for his writing and learning, while Laozi is known for the mysterious Dao.” I have therefore named this book The Mysterious History.

Daoist thought is broad and profound. It is the standard followed by perfected beings who have attained the Dao, and a guiding method for bringing order to the age and establishing teachings. The Grand Historian’s account has already judged it; I wish to learn these principles and pass them on.

Written by Zhang Tianyu, Outer Historian of Jurong, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month in autumn of the Yihai year.

Records of the Mysterious Tradition, Volume One

Compiled by Zhang Tianyu, Outer Historian of Jurong, a native of Haichang in Wu Commandery.

The Zhou Dynasty

Category of the Dao and De

Yin Xi was a minister of the Zhou dynasty, well versed in the arts of inner cultivation and accustomed to taking refined substances. He cultivated his De in secret and practiced diligently, unknown to the people of his time. When Laozi traveled west, Yin Xi observed unusual signs in advance and knew that a realized person would soon pass by. He searched far and wide and found a way to detain him; as expected, he met Laozi. Laozi, too, saw that Yin Xi was exceptional, so he wrote the two sections of the Dao De Jing and taught them to him.

Later, Yin Xi traveled with Laozi to the region of the drifting sands, where they took giant sesame seeds, a Daoist legendary substance for nourishing life. After that, no one knew where they had gone. Yin Xi also wrote nine works, known as the Guan Yin Zi. Liu Xiang praised their powerful, forceful, and unrestrained style. Their subject matter was broad and expansive, yet still governed by principles; they could clear the mind and lighten one’s movements without descending into wild abandon.

Zhuangzi also recorded Yin Xi’s words: “When the mind clings to no fixed views, the forms of external things appear of themselves. In action, be as flexible as water; in stillness, as clear as a mirror; in response, answer like an echo. Be elusive and apparent, still and lucid. Live in harmony with those who are like you, and take the lead with those who have understood first. He never rushes ahead of others, yet always follows their lead.”

Yin Xi was regarded as an ancient realized person of broad vision and deep understanding. He was originally known as Master Wenshi.

Yin Gui, styled Gongdu, was from Taiyuan and was a cousin of Master Wenshi. He was well versed in the Five Classics and especially knowledgeable about astronomy, prophetic diagrams, and apocryphal texts. Later, he received more than a hundred Daoist scriptures and regularly took huangjing, a medicinal herb commonly used in Daoist health practices. Master Wenshi had first met Laozi at Hangu Pass and built a thatched hut on Mount Zhongnan during the reigns of King Kang and King Zhao of Zhou. In the time of King Mu, the hut was renovated and renamed the Louguan, where adepts were welcomed. Yin Gui studied there with the hermit Du Chong. He later attained the Dao and was known as the Perfected One of Great Harmony.

Du Chong, styled Xuanyi, was from Haojing. In the ding-si year of King Zhao of Zhou, he heard that Master Wenshi had ascended to transcendence. He devoted himself to studying the mysteries and cultivating the Dao at Lingzhai. At that time, five hermits came from afar. Quiet and open-minded, upright and refined, they neither competed for fame nor claimed merit, and together they promoted the principle of humility without self-praise. King Mu of Zhou therefore built a Daoist temple and established a shrine, appointing Du Chong as a Daoist priest. After living for more than 120 years, Du Chong attained the Dao and ascended to heaven. He was given the title Perfected One of the Supreme Ultimate.

Xin Jue, also known as Ji Ran, came from the area around Kuiqiu and Pushi. He studied under Laozi, was widely learned, and had knowledge of every subject. King Ping of Chu asked him, “I have heard that you attained the Dao from Laozi. Can you explain it to me?” Xin Jue replied, “Dao and De can set crooked things right and restore them to proper order; they can quell disorder and bring peace to the realm. Once sincere virtue is restored, the world will be at peace, and everything depends on the ruler alone. Accumulating virtue leads to kingship; accumulating resentment leads to ruin. This is why Yao and Shun prospered, while Jie and Zhou suffered calamity.” King Ping of Chu said, “I respectfully accept your instruction.”

Later, Xin Jue traveled south through the regions of Wu and Yue, where Fan Li became his student. When Yue was preparing to attack Wu, Fan Li advised, “I have heard my teacher say that weapons are inauspicious objects, warfare goes against virtue, and fighting is merely the lowest means of getting things done. Secretly plotting a war that violates morality, delighting in the use of deadly weapons, and staking one’s life and family on the basest means—this is unacceptable.” Goujian did not listen, and was defeated at Fujiao. Later, the court offered Xin Jue the rank of Grandee, but he declined and withdrew to Mount Yu in Yubu, Wuxing. He wrote twelve volumes and called himself Master Wen.

The thought and writings of Master Wen took the Laozi as their foundation. Liu Zongyuan once edited his text and clarified its meaning. The book says, “Shen is the deep source of wisdom. When Shen is clear, wisdom shines brightly; wisdom is the treasury of the mind. When wisdom is impartial, the heart is at peace.” It also says, “To learn the highest teachings, understand them through Shen; to learn teachings of the middle level, understand them through the mind; to learn the lowest teachings, merely hear them with the ears.” It further says, “When someone holds high office, look at whom they recommend; when they are wealthy, look at what they pursue; when they are poor, look at what they accept.” It also says, “Human nature seeks peace, but appetites and desires damage that peace.” These, too, are aspects of Master Wen’s thought. During the Tianbao era, Master Wen was honored with the title Perfected One of Transcendent Mystery, and his book was called the True Scripture of Transcendent Mystery.

Lu Tong was Jieyu, the eccentric man of Chu. He enjoyed cultivating life and ate the fruits of the Chonglu tree and the seeds of turnips. He traveled among famous mountains throughout the land for several hundred years, and people continued to see him.

When Confucius was preparing to travel to Chu, Jieyu passed by him singing: “Phoenix, oh phoenix, how your virtue has declined! What is past can no longer be retrieved, but what lies ahead may still be set right. Let it be, let it be! Those who govern today are in danger.” Confucius got down from his carriage, hoping to speak with him, but Jieyu hurried away. Confucius was unable to talk with him.

Gengsang Chu was from Chen and had once served Laozi, so he gained a deeper understanding of Laozi’s Dao. He lived on Mount Weilei, sending away his clever and quick-witted attendants and keeping his concubines, who placed too much emphasis on benevolence and righteousness, at a distance. He associated with people who were plain and clumsy, and had those busy with affairs take care of matters for him. After he had lived there for three years, Mount Weilei was prosperous and enjoyed abundant harvests.

Later, he traveled to the region of Hao and lived in seclusion on Mount Yufeng in Biling. The Gucave Lingguan is said to have been his dwelling place. He wrote nine chapters, known as the Gengsangzi, also called the Kangcangzi. The book was later lost. During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty, Wang Bao presented a copy of it, and Gengsang Chu was posthumously honored as the Perfected One of the Grotto Numinous. The book was also called the Numinous Grotto Scripture.

Nanrong Qu went to pay a visit to Laozi. Laozi asked, “Why have you brought so many people with you?” Frightened, Nanrong Qu turned to look behind him. Laozi said, “Do you not understand what I mean?” Nanrong Qu lowered his head and pondered. Then he raised it with a sigh and said, “Just now I forgot how I should answer, and as a result I even forgot what I wanted to ask.”

Laozi asked, “What do you mean?” Nanrong Qu replied, “If I do not understand the Way, people will call me foolish; if I do understand it, that only makes me anxious. If I am not benevolent, I will harm others; yet if I practice benevolence, that too makes me anxious. If I do not act with righteousness, I will harm others; yet if I do, that too makes me anxious. I only want to be at ease and escape these troubles. Is that possible?”

Laozi said, “Can you hold fast to the Dao (the Way)—‘embrace the One,’ as the phrase goes—and never lose it? Can you stop seeking from others and turn inward to seek within yourself? Can you rest contentedly? Can you be like an infant? An infant acts without understanding what it is doing, and walks without knowing where it is going. Its body is like a withered branch, its mind like extinguished ashes. At such a state, good fortune does not come, and calamity does not descend. If neither fortune nor calamity has any bearing on you, then what disaster from outside could reach you?”

At first, Nanrong Qu took Gengsang Chu as his teacher. Gengsang Chu said, “My abilities are limited; I cannot dispel the attachments in your heart. Why not go south and visit Laozi?” So Nanrong Qu went to see Laozi and said, “I would like to seek your guidance during my journey to Chu.”

Yin Wen studied Laozi’s Dao and made a Huashan-style crown to express his aspirations. He followed the Way without being entangled in worldly affairs, and did not adorn himself with external things. He hoped to bring peace to the world so that the people could preserve their lives, and that both he and others could have what they needed to live; beyond that, he sought nothing. He did not feel ashamed when insulted, and stepped in to quell disputes among the people. He sought to stop attacks and end wars, thereby saving the world. With these ideas, he traveled from place to place, advising rulers above and teaching the people below, never forgetting the world. The book Yin Wenzi consists of two chapters.

Shicheng Qi was a reclusive gentleman of the Zhou dynasty. He crossed mountains and rivers and traveled a long way to see Laozi. “I have heard that you are a sage,” he said, “so I was not deterred by the distance. I have come especially to ask how to cultivate myself.”

Laozi said, “The Dao is so vast that it has no bounds, and so subtle that nothing escapes it. It is boundless and can contain everything; it is deep and remote, beyond measure. One who has truly attained the Way can fathom the reality of all things and hold fast to their root. Such a person is not burdened by heaven, earth, or the myriad things, and their spirit is never exhausted.” Shicheng Qi heard this and gained some insight.

Cui Qu was a capable minister of the Zhou dynasty. He asked Laozi, “If we do not govern the world, how can we bring peace to people’s hearts?” Laozi said, “You must never disturb people’s hearts. When the human heart is oppressed and low, it longs to climb upward; when it gains power and rises high, it may be imprisoned or put to death. It can grow hot like a blazing fire, then cold like ice. Its changes are sudden and hard to manage. Even if you go beyond the four seas, the human heart, when still, is deep as an abyss; when it acts, it seems to hang in the sky, impossible to bind. Perhaps nothing is more prone to anger and arrogance, or harder to restrain, than the human heart.

“In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor began to disturb people’s hearts with benevolence and righteousness. This practice continued through the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, and the world was thrown into great confusion. People began to suspect one another’s joys and anger, the clever deceived the foolish, good deeds were blamed in turn, and the false mocked the truthful. The world declined day by day. The great virtue of the Dao was no longer shared, and people’s innate nature and the truth of their lives fell into disorder. Everyone pursued cleverness, and the people’s strength was drained away. New instruments of punishment appeared: saws, ink lines, mallets, and chisels were used to punish offenders, and the world fell into chaos. The root of the calamity lies in disturbing people’s hearts.” The author suggests that Laozi, prompted by Cui Qu’s question, lamented the decline of virtue and used it to warn people.

Bai Ju was a minister of the Zhou dynasty who had once studied with Laozi. While traveling in the state of Qi, he saw people who had been punished, their bodies marked with ink and bearing the effects of sawing, blows from mallets, and punctures from chisels. The text then reiterates that the world’s disorder has its root in disturbing people’s hearts. The author suggests that Laozi grieved over the steady decline of virtue and used Cui Qu’s question to warn people.

Bo Ju was a senior official of the Zhou dynasty. He studied with Laozi and, while traveling in the state of Qi, saw a man about to be executed. He took off his court robe and covered the man with it, then looked up to the sky and wept bitterly. “Alas, you! The world is full of troubles, yet you alone have suffered them first. Do not steal or kill. Only when honor and disgrace have been established do people see the harm they bring; only when wealth has accumulated do people see one another competing for it. When people are driven into poverty and made to toil without rest, how can we expect them not to end up like this?

“In ancient times, those who ruled the world treated the people’s gains as the people’s own achievement, and their losses as their own fault. They credited the people for upright conduct and blamed themselves for what was crooked. Thus, whenever anything fell out of its proper order, the ruler stepped down and reproached himself. Today, things are different: matters are concealed so the people cannot understand them; tasks are made difficult, and then the people are blamed for not daring to undertake them; burdens are made heavier, and then the people are punished for being unable to bear them; distances are made long, and then those who fail to arrive in time are put to death. When people know their strength is spent, they resort to deceit. In this way, the world gains more and more fraud each day. How could the people not resort to deception? When strength is lacking, people deceive; when understanding is lacking, they mislead; when wealth is lacking, they steal. When theft occurs, whom should we blame?”

Much of what Bo Ju said came from Laozi’s thought.

Lie Yukou was from the state of Zheng and lived at the same time as Duke Nu of Zheng. His teachings took the Yellow Emperor and Laozi as their foundation. He lived in the district of Pu in Zheng for forty years, unknown to anyone. At first, he took Huqiuzi as his teacher.

Lie Yukou was a native of Zheng and lived at the same time as Duke Ruo of Zheng. He took the teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi as the foundation of his thought. He lived for forty years in an orchard in Zheng, and no one knew who he was. At first, he studied under Huqiuzi; later, he took Laoshang as his teacher and became friends with Bohun Wuren. After nine years of deeply absorbing the Daoist arts of these two teachers, he became able to ride the wind.

His disciple Yan Hui asked him, “Do people who seek the Dao do so in order to become wealthy?” Liezi replied, “Jie of Xia and Zhou of Shang scorned the Dao and prized profit, and so brought about their own ruin.”

Liezi was poor, and his face showed signs of hunger. Someone said to Ziyang of Zheng, “Lie Yukou must be a man of the Dao. He lives in your state, yet is so poor. Could it be that you do not value worthy people?” Ziyang immediately ordered an official to send grain to Liezi. Liezi went out to meet the envoy, bowed twice, and declined the gift.

After the envoy left, Liezi returned inside. His wife looked at him and beat her chest, saying, “I have heard that the wives and children of people who possess the Dao can live at ease and in happiness. Yet we look hungry. When you passed by, the lord of Zheng sent someone with grain, and you refused it. Is this not simply what fate has decreed?”

Liezi smiled and said to her, “The lord of Zheng does not truly understand me. He sent me grain only because he listened to someone else. If he later blames me, it will likewise be because he listened to someone else. That is why I refused the grain.” Later, the people indeed rose up and killed Ziyang of Zheng.

The original work attributed to Liezi comprised twenty chapters. Liu Xiang removed repeated material and retained eight chapters, giving the work the title Daoist School. Daoist teaching grasps the essentials and holds to the root, esteeming stillness, emptiness, and following things as they naturally are. In its application to self-cultivation, it emphasizes non-contention and accords with the meaning of the Six Classics.

During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty, the court named the book The True Classic of the Perfect Virtue of Pervading Emptiness. During the Xuanhe era of the Song dynasty, Liezi was honored as the “True Lord Who Pervades Emptiness and Contemplates the Wondrous.”

Zhuang Zhou, courtesy name Zixiu, served as a minor official in the lacquer garden of Meng during the reign of King Hui of Liang. He was widely learned, though the foundations of his scholarship largely followed the thought of Laozi. He wrote more than a hundred thousand characters, most of them expressing his ideas through parables.

When King Wei of Chu heard that Zhuang Zhou was a worthy and capable man, he sent an envoy with generous gifts to invite him to serve, promising to make him prime minister. Zhuang Zhou smiled and said to the envoy, “A thousand pieces of gold are a great gain, and the rank of minister is a high position. Have you never seen the ox used in the suburban sacrifice? It is fed for many years and dressed in splendid embroidered robes before being led into the Grand Ancestral Temple for the rites. By then, could it become a little pig again if it wished to? Leave at once, and do not defile me. Only by never serving as an official throughout my life can I live as I wish and fulfill my aspirations.”

Zhuang Zhou’s writings are known as the Zhuangzi. The book says: “Silent and vast, without form, change has no fixed pattern. Is it death or life? Does it coexist with Heaven and Earth, or travel alongside the spirits? Boundless, one does not know where it leads; fleeting, one does not know where it goes. The myriad things are arrayed in profusion, yet none can serve as their final resting place.”

Among the ancient arts of the Dao, there were ideas that resonated with this thought, and Zhuang Zhou was the first to develop and promote this way of thinking. He used far-ranging, wondrous expressions, unrestrained and unconventional speech, and words without fixed boundaries. He often gave free rein to his ideas, without being confined by convention. He believed that the world was so mired in confusion that the Dao could not be discussed seriously with people. So he used expansive, elaborated speech to express it, repeated emphasis to clarify what was true, and parables to extend its meaning. Alone, he roamed in spirit with Heaven and Earth, yet did not look down on the myriad things. He did not cling to disputes over right and wrong, while remaining able to live alongside the common world.

His writing may seem interwoven and intricate, yet it has order and does not lapse into confusion. His words shift and vary, strange and winding, yet are deeply worth appreciating. His thought is abundant and inexhaustible: above, he travels with the Creator; below, he befriends those who transcend life and death and have neither beginning nor end. As for its foundations, they are immense, open, profound, and free-flowing; as for its purpose, it may be called harmonious and far-reaching, tending toward the highest realm. Even so, his responses to change and understanding of the myriad things still cannot be fully expressed or exhausted. They are profound and subtle, beyond fathoming.

According to the Zhen’gao, Zhuang Zhou once studied under Master Chang Sang and received subtle teachings of the Dao. This is why his work came to be called the Zhuangzi. He lived in seclusion on Baodu Mountain and later rose to become a Compilation Officer of the Palace of the Supreme Ultimate. People call his book the True Scripture of Southern Florescence. During the Xuanhe era of Emperor Huizong of Song, he was further honored with the title “True Lord of Subtle Mystery and Primordial Understanding.”

Fan Li, whose courtesy name was Shaobo, was from the land of Xu. He once served Taigong Wang (Jiang Taigong) and was fond of taking medicinal substances and drinking water. Later, he became a student of Jiran and served as a senior official in the state of Yue. He once said that to succeed, one must act in accordance with the patterns of Heaven and Earth.

After Fan Li helped King Goujian defeat the state of Wu, he reflected: “Of Jiran’s ten strategies, we used five and already achieved success. Since these strategies can be used to govern a state, I too would like to use them to build a family fortune.” He then sailed in a small boat across the Five Lakes, changed his name, and went to the state of Qi, where he took the name Chiyizi Pi. Later, he settled in Tao, adopted the name Zhu Gong, and amassed a fortune worth hundreds of millions, becoming known as Tao Zhugong. He distributed his wealth among poor friends and relatives, then went to Lanling to sell medicine. In later generations, people passed down the story from one generation to the next, saying they had seen him.

Guiguzi was a recluse of the Zhou dynasty who lived in the Valley of Ghosts, from which he took his title. No information survives about his home region, family, personal name, or courtesy name. The book attributed to him was probably composed during the Warring States period. Guiguzi seems to have grasped and expounded principles that the various classics had left untouched, including the Book of Changes, the Laozi, and the Scripture of Hidden Tallying. He may well have been an outstanding figure of his age. He once said, “There is no fixed standard for what the world demands, and a scholar has no teacher who is fixed for all time.” He also said, “When others act, I remain still; when others speak, I listen attentively. Understand your own nature, and you will have few entanglements; understand your destiny, and you will have no worries.” These are excellent sayings. As for chapters such as “Nourishing the Spirit and Cultivating the Will,” it would not be too much to say that their teachings accord with the intent of the source of Dao and De, while also revealing traces of the subtle workings of the spirit.

In his “Poem on Roaming as an Immortal,” Guo Pu wrote: “By the Green Stream, a thousand fathoms high, there lives a Daoist. I ask who he might be; they say he is Guiguzi.” These lines express deep admiration for Guiguzi. Xu Guang says that there was a Valley of Ghosts in Yangcheng, Yingchuan. The commentators on Guiguzi’s book include Huangfu Mi, Tao Hongjing, and Yin Zhizhang.

Heguanzi was a native of Chu who lived around the transition from the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period. He lived in seclusion, wearing worn-out clothes and tattered shoes, and took his name from the pheasant-feather cap he wore; his personal name is unknown. He wrote about matters of the Daoist school, and his teachings probably came from the lineage of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. Yet he never forgot his ambition to plan and scheme, and to make his way across the world; this can be seen to some extent in his writings. The book says, “Petty men who serve a ruler do their utmost to obscure his discernment and block his eyes and ears. They exploit his authority and wreak havoc throughout the realm. Heaven is too high and distant to reach; blessings cannot be summoned, and calamities cannot be avoided.” These words show that he was not entirely indifferent to worldly affairs. The book also says, “The phoenix is the essence of Yang energy, the qilin is the essence of Yin energy, and the people are the essence of De.” This, too, is a marvelous saying. Jia Yi composed his “Rhapsody on the Owl,” and many of its phrases were probably drawn from Heguanzi’s book.

Qin

Daoist Figures

Guo Sichao was from the state of Yan. He and his three brothers all attained the Dao. The eldest, Sichao, lived on Mount Leiping in Huayang, where he planted five kinds of fruit trees. The area was also well suited to growing nai trees, known as “Nai of the Land of Blessing.” They were said to ward off calamities and epidemics.

There was a pond in front of his home, which Sichao had built. He once took a small boat out on it, tapping the side of the boat as he sang:

“Clear pond waters reflect the mountain peaks’ spiritual beauty; dense woods spread their green. Black birds fly over the quiet fields, while we talk at ease. I strike the oar and ride the wondrous waves, bowing in prayer to the morning breeze. Before the time has come to transcend the world, I stand in the woods, serene and free.”

He sang again:

“My spirit roams beyond the Nine Heavens; I devote myself to the Dao and at last become a Golden Immortal. I fold away the wings of the numinous phoenix and conceal the scales of the divine dragon. Even if I raise my heart, small as a square inch, every wind that blows upon it is but dust and grime. I look back at those pitiable mortals: who among them can truly direct the course of their own destiny?”

“Roaming through the air, I ride the currents in flight; my steps are wondrous, without form or direction. The full sun’s disk shines upon brilliant rosy clouds, and nine phoenixes sing toward the sun. Radiant wings stir the Milky Way; auspicious clouds gather and soar. Thus I reach the celestial palace of Taiwei and drink the golden spiritual brew. I wander freely in the distant, mysterious heavens, attached neither to life nor to death.”

“I guide the divine chariot and dance above the Divine Empyrean; rosy clouds enfold me, and ninefold sunlight shines upon my body. I ride the dragon chariot with the High Sovereign, then arrive at the Northern Florescent Palace. Divine tigers pass through woods like carved jade; wind and clouds merge as one. I open the gate to the netherworld, display wondrous transformations, and finally vanish without a trace.”

After Guo Sichao attained the Dao, he was appointed Left Immortal Duke in the Nine Palaces and also served as Canopy Bearer of the Jade Terrace. The Song dynasty Book of the Xuanhe Era of Tribulation states:

“The Three Qi—hidden, subtle, and wondrous—cannot be fathomed in words; the myriad spirits gather and transform in ways that cannot be reached by speculation. Honoring and recording the Most High Perfected, those who have attained the Dao, is precisely a way to spread the Great Dao.”

The book also says that the merits and virtue of Perfected Guo, Attendant of the Jade Terrace, correspond to the ten directions. He ranks among the Nine Palaces, his body suffused with jade light, and is already able to ascend to Taiji. He supports the canopy of Huachen and oversees the service of the Void Sovereign. Since he spreads the wondrous laws of the Mysterious, he should be granted an honorific title. He was therefore specially invested with the title “Perfected One Who Preserves the Light of Taiwei.”

Jiang Shumao was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Baling during the Qin dynasty. He lived in seclusion on Mount Gouqu, where he grew five kinds of fruit trees and five kinds of pungent vegetables. He sold the harvest to buy cinnabar, a mineral commonly used in Daoist alchemy, for his cultivation. A plant called “jiupeng” still grows in the mountains today; it is said that its seeds may have been left behind by him.

After attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal, Jiang Shumao once wrote to the officials of the Celestial Bureaucracy (Taiji), saying: “In the past, I studied the Dao at Guigu, attained the Dao at Shaoshi, and nurtured my wings at Huayang—a metaphor for cultivating body and mind and storing up strength—as I waited to ascend to the Realm of Ease, the land of the immortals. Later, I rode in a wind-swift carriage, the vehicle of the immortals, and feasted as I wandered on Mount Gouqu. Thinking of how swiftly the human world changes, with the scenery still here but the people gone, I could not help sighing: What, after all, was all my labor for?”

Zhang Liang, courtesy name Zifang, came from a family whose ancestors were from the state of Han. After Qin conquered Han, Zhang Liang spent his family fortune hiring an assassin, hoping to kill the King of Qin and avenge Han. Five generations of his family had served as chancellors of Han, so Zhang Liang often studied ritual in Huaiyang. Later, he traveled east to meet Canghai Jun, who provided him with a strongman carrying an iron hammer weighing 120 jin.

The King of Qin was making an inspection tour eastward. When he reached Bolangsha, Zhang Liang and the assassin lay in wait and attacked, but they struck the king’s decoy carriage by mistake. The king was furious and immediately ordered a search for the assassin. Zhang Liang changed his name and fled to Xia Pi, where he went into hiding.

One day, Zhang Liang was strolling along the bridge at Xia Pi. An old man in coarse clothes came up beside him, deliberately tossed his shoe beneath the bridge, then turned to Zhang Liang and said, “Young man, go down and pick up my shoe.” Zhang Liang was startled and wanted to strike him. But seeing that the man was old, he swallowed his anger, went down for the shoe, and knelt to hand it back. The old man held out his foot and told Zhang Liang to put the shoe on for him. “Young man, you can be taught,” he said, arranging to meet Zhang Liang there at dawn five days later.

At dawn five days later, Zhang Liang hurried to the meeting place, but the old man had already arrived. He angrily rebuked Zhang Liang for being late, then arranged to meet him again five days later at the crowing of the rooster. The second time, Zhang Liang hurried there, but the old man had again arrived first and again reproached him for being late. Five days after that, Zhang Liang went in the middle of the night. After a while, the old man arrived too and said happily, “That is how it should be.” He took out a book and said, “Study this, and you will be able to serve as a ruler’s teacher. In ten years, turmoil will arise under Heaven. Thirteen years from now, come to me beneath Mount Gucheng in Jibei. The yellow stone there will be me.” Then he departed and vanished.

At dawn, Zhang Liang examined the book. It was the Taigong’s Art of War, attributed to Jiang Taigong. Zhang Liang found it extraordinary and studied it often. While living in Xia Pi, he became known for championing justice. Later, he offered counsel to the Duke of Pei, Liu Bang. The duke valued him greatly and often followed his strategies, ultimately gaining the empire as a result.

After Zhang Liang accompanied Emperor Gao, Liu Bang, to establish the capital in Guanzhong, he often fell ill. He therefore practiced daoyin, a health regimen involving physical movement and regulated breathing, abstained from grain, and shut himself away. More than a year later, the emperor planned to depose the crown prince and appoint instead the son of Lady Qi, Prince Ruyi of Zhao. Empress Lü sought Zhang Liang’s advice, and he recommended inviting the Four Elders of Shangshan, four recluses living in the mountains, to come out and support the crown prince. After the four elders attended a banquet with the crown prince, the emperor ultimately decided not to replace him. This was due to Zhang Liang’s plan to bring the four elders forward.

Zhang Liang said, “For generations, my family served as chancellors of Han. After Han fell, I spared no expense in seeking revenge for it. Now, with a few words, I have become a ruler’s teacher, received a fief of ten thousand households, and been made a marquis. This is the highest rank a commoner can attain, and I am content. I hope to set aside worldly affairs and follow Chisongzi, the legendary immortal, in cultivating the Dao.” He then studied Daoist arts, hoping to transcend the ordinary world and ascend to immortality. After Zhang Liang died, he was given the posthumous title Marquis Wencheng.

The old man Zhang Liang had first met on the bridge at Xia Pi had said to meet him beneath Mount Gucheng thirteen years later. Thirteen years later, as Zhang Liang accompanied Emperor Gao through Jibei, he found the yellow stone there, just as the old man had said. He took it back and carefully offered it reverence and sacrifice. When Zhang Liang died, the yellow stone was buried with him. Whenever people visited his tomb, and during the summer and winter sacrificial rites, they also made offerings to the stone. The Tianshou Temple in Chenliu County was where this event was commemorated and worshipped. During the Zhenghe era of Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhang Liang was granted the title Perfected One Who Rides the Void.

Cao Can was a native of Pei County. During the Qin dynasty, he served as a prison official, while Xiao He was the chief clerk; both were highly respected in the county. After Liu Bang became Duke of Pei, Cao Can followed him in the capacity of a palace attendant.

In the first year of Emperor Hui of Han, Cao Can was appointed chancellor of the state of Qi, which then had seventy cities. The realm had only recently been pacified, and King Hui of Qi was still young. Cao Can summoned many local elders and teachers to ask how best to settle the people. The Confucian scholars of Qi numbered in the hundreds, and their opinions differed, so Cao Can found it difficult to decide. He heard that Gai Gong of Jiaoxi was well versed in the teachings of Huang-Lao, centered on the thought of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi and advocating quietude and Wuwei (non-action). He sent someone with generous gifts to invite him.

Gai Gong told Cao Can that good government depended above all on quietude, allowing the people to settle naturally, and went on to explain the principles of governing the state. Cao Can then gave up the main hall and arranged for Gai Gong to live there. In governing Qi, he relied chiefly on the methods of Huang-Lao. After serving as chancellor of Qi for nine years, he had brought the state to stability, and people praised him as a worthy chancellor.

Later, when Xiao He died, Cao Can succeeded him as chancellor. He made no changes to the existing policies, following in every respect the regulations Xiao He had established, and governed with generosity and quietude. After serving as chancellor for three years, he died. His posthumous title was Marquis Yi.

The people sang: “Xiao He established the laws, clear in their order and consistent throughout. Cao Can succeeded him, faithfully keeping the old system intact. He put the way of quietude into practice, and the people lived in peace and harmony.”

Sima Jizhu was a native of Chu who set up a divination stall in the eastern market of Chang’an. Song Zhong served as a Grand Master of the Palace, and Jia Yi as a Erudite. One day, the two went out together to bathe. On the road, they discussed the teachings of ancient sages and the ways of governing the world, and reflected on human affairs and the workings of the heart. As they talked, they began to sigh to one another. Jia Yi said, “I have heard that if the sages of antiquity did not serve at court, they were surely to be found among outstanding physicians.” So the two rode together in a carriage to the market and walked among the divination stalls.

It had just rained that day, and few people were on the roads. Sima Jizhu sat at ease, attended by three or four disciples, and was explaining the principles behind the workings of Heaven and Earth, the changing courses of the sun and moon, Yin-Yang, and good and ill fortune. The two officials bowed in greeting. Judging from their appearance that they were men of understanding, Jizhu received them courteously and asked his disciples to invite them to sit.

Once they were seated, Jizhu continued what he had been saying. Song Zhong and Jia Yi listened and were suddenly awakened to his meaning. They straightened their robes and sat upright, saying, “From your bearing and your words, and from our own observations of the world over many years, we have never encountered anyone like you. Why, then, are you in such a lowly place, practicing such a humble trade?”

Jizhu threw back his head and laughed. “You two seem to understand the arts of the Dao. How can you speak such shallow, vulgar words? Whom does the emperor value today? Whom does he honor? Your words amount to praising high rank and generous stipends while looking down on divination.” Jizhu spoke at length, setting forth hundreds of points. His discussion ranged widely over the thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi, explained the principles of Dao and De with great clarity, and showed how divination could also benefit people. Song Zhong and Jia Yi were at a loss, and sat in dismay without a word. They could only bow again and take their leave. Once outside the market gate, they climbed into their carriage with difficulty, bent over the crossbar at the front, and sat with their heads bowed, not daring even to breathe loudly.

Three days later, Song Zhong met Jia Yi outside the palace gate. They sent the others away and spoke privately, lamenting: “The more cultivated one’s De, the more secure one becomes; the greater one’s power, the greater the danger. If you hold a lofty position, the day you lose your life may not be far off. If a diviner is not careful and cannot see into matters, his spirit will be depleted. If you cannot plan thoroughly for your ruler, you will have nowhere to settle yourself. These two paths are far apart, like wearing a heavenly hat on your feet and earthly shoes on your head. This is what Laozi meant by ‘the nameless is the beginning of the myriad things’: the formless, nameless source is the root from which all things arise. Heaven and Earth are vast and open, and the myriad things grow and flourish in profusion. Some are secure, others are in danger, and no one knows where they themselves stand. How could you or I foresee such things? Those who endure in the world can become ever more secure; even devotion to righteousness like that of the Zeng family may not change this.”

Later, Song Zhong was ordered to travel as an envoy to the Xiongnu, but turned back before reaching his destination and was punished for it. Jia Yi became tutor to the Prince of Liang. After the prince fell from his horse and died, Jia Yi blamed himself so bitterly that he stopped eating, and eventually died in despair. The scripture says this was the result of pursuing only outward glory while severing oneself from the root.

The Daoist text Zhengao records that Jizhu later entered a stone chamber on Mount Weiyu, received “the essence of stone and the radiance of gold,” concealed his form and transformed his body, and followed the example of Xiling Zidu. When he departed, he left his body between the pillows and mats as a substitute. His tomb lies south of Panshan in Chengdu, Shu Commandery. It is said that Zhuge Wuhou once erected a stele before the tomb praising Jizhu’s De. The inscription ends: “From the deep and tranquil source, Yin-Yang takes form in union. Heaven and Earth meet and revolve, and the myriad things flourish and appear. The Master made the principles clear and distinguished the soft from the firm; even ghosts and spirits found illumination through him, and the six measures were thereby revealed.”

Jizhu had a son and a daughter, both of whom attained the Dao. The son was named Fayü and the daughter Jihua; both are said to have lived on Mount Weiyu. Jizhu studied the Jing of Jade, consumed the essence of the Luminous Elixir, and received the radiance of Fuchen. Even now, his face is said to look like that of a twenty-year-old woman, while his beard is three feet long and black as ink. Lord Dongqing says this is how it happened—truly extraordinary.

Dongfang Shuo, courtesy name Manqian, was from Moci County in Pingyuan Commandery. For several decades, he served as a writing tutor in “Haizhong.” Later, he submitted a memorial to Emperor Wu of Han, setting out proposals to improve government affairs, and was appointed as a gentleman official.

By the time of King Zhao, people held different views of him: some considered him a sage, while others thought he was an ordinary man. He deliberately appeared profound at times and simple at others, sometimes silent and sometimes animated. At times he spoke with frank loyalty; at others he told jokes. No one could fathom his intentions.

In the early years of Emperor Xuan’s reign, he resigned from his post as a gentleman official to avoid the troubled times, leaving his achievements behind at the government residence before drifting away on the wind. Later, someone saw him selling medicine in Kuaiji. People around the Five Lakes who knew him suspected that he was the numinous essence of the Year Star.

In a eulogy accompanying a portrait of Dongfang Shuo, Xiahou Zhan praised his broad, lucid mind and imposing bearing. He could rise above ministers and chancellors and mock the powerful; no one could stand against him, and he was more than a match for the mighty. He was not pleased by high rank, nor troubled by low status. He treated emperors as colleagues, his contemporaries as companions, and the eminent as mere weeds. His courage and bearing surpassed those of ordinary people, and his presence eclipsed the age. He was, one might say, an outstanding figure among the people, set apart from the common world.

Yang Xiong, too, considered Dongfang Shuo perceptive, talented, and versatile, impossible to sum up by a single quality. His witty replies made him seem like a comic performer; he kept his intelligence hidden, as though concealing it deep within. His frank remonstrations made him seem upright, while his unconventional conduct made him seem unrestrained. He did not approve of Boyi and Shuqi, but admired Liuxia Hui. He advised his son to learn to adapt to the times: he considered Boyi and Shuqi’s retreat to Mount Shouyang foolish, and Laozi’s service as a clerk in the royal archives astute. He ate his fill and walked at ease, taking office instead of farming. He kept himself hidden while moving through the world, savored the ways of society, acted unconventionally, and did not pander to the customs of the age. Yang Xiong considered him perhaps the foremost of comic figures.

Yan Lugong (Yan Zhenqing) also composed a eulogy for a portrait of Dongfang Shuo, with an inscription on the back of the stele. Both are in Dezhou.

Sima Tan’s ancestors served as Grand Historians in the Zhou royal house. Sima Tan himself held the office of Grand Historian. He studied astronomy under Tang Du, the Changes under Yang He, and Daoist teachings under Master Huang. He served during the Jianyuan and Yuanfeng eras. Concerned that scholars did not understand the true meaning of these teachings, but merely followed their teachers and clung to the wording of texts, he set out the main aims of the Six Schools.

The “Appended Statements” in the Commentary on the Changes says: “The principles of the world converge in one, though people’s thoughts differ; they reach the same destination, though they travel by different paths.” The Yin-Yang, Confucian, Mohist, School of Names, Legalist, and Daoist schools all put forward teachings intended to govern the world. They differ only in how they reason: some see things comprehensively, while others do not.

On careful examination, the Yin-Yang school’s teachings are very detailed and contain many prohibitions, which constrain people and make them excessively cautious. Yet its principles for following the changes of the four seasons must not be discarded. Confucian teachings are broad but lack concise guiding principles; they demand great effort yet yield little, and so are difficult to put fully into practice. Still, their accounts of the rites governing ruler and minister, and parent and child, and their distinctions between husband and wife, and young and old, cannot be changed. The Mohists prize frugality, but their doctrines are difficult to follow and cannot be adopted wholesale. Yet their emphasis on farming as the foundation of livelihood and on economy in spending must not be abandoned. The Legalists are harsh and show little compassion, but their clear ordering of the ranks and duties of ruler and minister, superior and subordinate, cannot be altered. The School of Names makes people cling to words and can cause them to lose sight of things as they truly are. Yet its analysis of whether names accord with realities must be examined.

The Daoist school advocates Wuwei (non-action), while also holding that nothing is beyond doing. Its principles are in fact easy to put into practice, though difficult to express in words. Daoist methods take emptiness and nothingness as their foundation and use responsiveness to things as their way of acting. They do not cling to fixed positions or unchanging forms, and so can investigate the realities of all things. They neither go ahead of the myriad things nor fall behind them, and thus can become their master. They have laws but do not cling to laws; they act in accordance with circumstances. They have standards but do not fix upon any unchanging standard; they respond to things and decide what to accept or reject accordingly. Thus it is said that sages endure because they hold to the principle of adapting to change. Emptiness and stillness are the Dao’s constant state; responsiveness to change is the guiding principle by which a ruler governs ministers.

When the ministers come together, let each of them speak, so that their views are laid bare. When words accord with facts, this is called “upright”; when words do not accord with facts, this is called “exaggeration.” If false words are not trusted, treachery will not arise. The worthy and the unworthy will naturally be distinguished, and black and white will become clear. The ruler need only decide on this basis whom to appoint. What, then, could remain unaccomplished?

In this way, one accords with the Great Dao, enters the profound and mysterious, and illuminates the world all around, before finally returning to the nameless. Human beings live by virtue of spirit, and spirit depends upon the body. If spirit is overused, it is depleted; if the body is overtaxed, it declines. When body and spirit separate, a person dies. The dead cannot live again, and what has separated cannot be joined anew. Therefore, sages prize the nurturing of body and spirit. From this we can see that spirit is the root of life, while the body is what sustains it. If one does not first settle body and spirit, how can one speak of having a way to govern the world? Sima Qian inherited his family’s calling, and the family records preserve this account of Sima Tan’s words.

The foundation of life lies in the Dao’s nurturing transformation; the body is merely what life depends on to endure. If one does not first settle the spirit and regulate the body, how can one claim to have a way to govern the world?

Zi Qian lived through changing times, and his family recorded his sayings.

Mei Fu, whose courtesy name was Zizhen, came from Shouchun County in Jiujiang Commandery. In his youth he studied in Chang’an and mastered the Book of Documents and the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. He later served as a literary officer in the commandery and was subsequently appointed assistant magistrate of Nanchang County. During Emperor Cheng’s reign in the Han dynasty, the Grand General Wang Feng was highly favored. The Wang family held power, and the court repeatedly faced ominous portents, yet none of the officials dared to speak frankly in remonstrance. Mei Fu submitted memorials three times, sharply examining the rise and fall of the Qin and Han dynasties and their successes and failures. He also cited the “Song of the Tenth Month,” using the lesson of a fallen state to admonish the emperor and pointing out the excessive power of the imperial in-laws. His words were earnest, but Emperor Cheng did not heed them.

Emperor Cheng had long been without an heir. Mei Fu believed that the “Three Lineages”—the ancient account of succession among the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties—should be established, and that a descendant of Confucius should be enfeoffed as heir to the Shang. He again submitted a memorial, examining ancient texts and drawing on the Zuo Commentary, the Guliang Commentary, and the Book of Rites to support one another. He argued that Confucius’s descendants should be honored as descendants of King Tang of Shang. The court then issued an edict enfeoffing a descendant of Confucius as the “Duke of Yin, Successor to the Fine Line.”

At that time, Mei Fu was at home studying and nurturing his nature. During the Yuanshi era, when Wang Mang held power, he one day left his wife and children behind and departed for Jiujiang. After that, people said he had become an immortal. Later, some claimed to have seen Mei Fu in Kuaiji, living under a different name and serving at the entrance to a marketplace in the Wu region. On the north bank of the great river in Fengcheng County, Hongzhou, there is a shrine called the Abbey of Ascending to Immortality. During the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song, the court bestowed on Mei Fu the title “Perfected One Who Concealed Himself as an Official of Shouchun.”

Daoism and Confucianism

Ban Si studied alongside his younger cousin Ban Biao. Their family was well off and kept books bestowed by the imperial court. People who loved ancient books came to visit from far away; among his father’s friends, everyone from Yang Ziyun onward had called at their home. Although Ban Si studied Confucianism, he admired the thought of Laozi and Yan Junping, a Han dynasty recluse known by his courtesy name Junping, who was renowned for keeping to a quiet and self-contained life and studying the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi.

Huan Tan wanted to borrow books from Ban Si. Ban Si replied in a letter: “A person like Yan Junping advocates setting aside cleverness and artifice, cultivating life, and preserving one’s true nature. Quiet and detached, he follows nature and takes all things between Heaven and Earth as his teachers and friends, without submitting to worldly conventions. He fishes in mountain valleys, and nothing can disturb his mind; he lives among the hills, and changes throughout the world cannot take away his joy. He does not fall into the traps laid by sages, nor accept the bait offered by arrogant rulers. At ease, he gives his mind full rein, and no one can pin him down with words. That is what makes such a person precious.

“But now you are bound by the ropes of benevolence and righteousness and pulled along by the reins of reputation. You follow the path of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, and strive to emulate the sincere virtue of Yan Hui and Min Ziqian. Since you are already entangled in worldly teachings, why borrow the Great Dao to show yourself off? Long ago, someone went to the state of E to learn how to walk. He failed to learn even the slightest resemblance to their way of walking, and instead forgot how he had walked before. In the end, he could only crawl home. I fear the same may happen to you, so I will not lend you the books.”

This account of Ban Si’s conduct and arguments is broadly representative of him. To avoid the taboo on the name of the Han emperor Liu Zhuang, the text refers to Zhuangzi as “Yan Zi.”

Yan Zun, courtesy name Junping, was a native of Shu. By nature he was detached from worldly concerns and deeply learned. He devoted himself to studying the Book of Changes and especially cherished the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi.

He often practiced divination for people in the city of Chengdu. Though he considered it a humble trade, he believed it could be used to help others. When people came asking about improper or crooked matters, he would use the divination signs to guide them. If they asked about gain and loss, he urged them to act appropriately; if they asked about their children, he urged them to be filial; if they asked about younger brothers, he urged them to be respectful and obedient; if they asked about their subordinates, he urged them to be loyal. He always guided people toward goodness by responding to their circumstances. More than half of those who listened to his advice changed their ways.

Each day he received only a few clients, earning enough to support himself. Then he would pack away his divination stall, lower the curtain, and teach the Laozi. He had read widely and understood nearly everything. Drawing on the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, he wrote more than a hundred thousand words. When Yang Xiong was young, he studied under him and learned a great deal from Junping.

A wealthy man from Shu named Luo Chong asked Junping, “Why don’t you enter government service?” Junping replied, “I have no means to take office.” Luo Chong then prepared a carriage, horses, clothing, and provisions for him. Junping said, “I am simply in poor health; I do not lack those things. I have enough, while you think you do not. How can you use what you lack to supply someone who has enough?”

Luo Chong said, “I have ten thousand in gold, while you don’t even have a single shi of grain. How can you say you have enough?” Junping replied, “That is not so. When I used to stay at your house, your family members were still working after dark, rushing about day and night, never feeling satisfied. Now I earn my living by divination. I need not even leave my bed, and money comes to me of its own accord. I also have several hundred coins lying under a layer of dust an inch thick, and I don’t know what to do with them. Does that not show that I have enough, while you are the one who lacks?”

Luo Chong felt deeply ashamed when he heard this. Junping sighed and said, “Increasing my wealth would deplete my spirit; enhancing my reputation would endanger my life.” In the end, he never entered government service. He lived to be over ninety, making his living by divination until his death. The people of Shu respected and loved him, and they still praise him to this day. He had a shrine in Mianzhu County, Hanzhou. During the Shaoxing era of the Song dynasty, the court posthumously honored Junping with the title “Perfected One of Wondrous Insight.”

The original surname was Zhuang. During the Zhanghe era of Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han, when Ban Gu compiled the Book of Han, he changed “Zhuang” to “Yan” to avoid the name taboo of Emperor Ming of Han. In ancient times, both Zhuang and Yan were common surnames, so Laozi was also called “Lao Yan.” Gu Shenzi said: Junping lived in the middle of the Western Han. After Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, Junping withdrew from the world and lived in seclusion. He was perhaps a realized person from antiquity.

End of Volume One of the Record of Profound Masters.

Volume Two of the Record of Profound Masters

Western Han

Daoist Recluse

Zheng Pu, courtesy name Zizhen, lived in seclusion at the mouth of the valley. He was tranquil and free of desire, steadfastly kept to the Great Dao, and practiced noble virtue. Like Yan Junping, he cultivated himself and guarded his principles: he would not wear clothes that went against them, or eat food that did. When General-in-Chief Wang Feng invited him with due courtesy during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, Zheng never wavered in his resolve and remained in seclusion until the end of his life. In the Fayan, Yang Xiong praised him for farming beneath the mountain cliffs without changing his convictions, saying that his reputation spread throughout the capital. A shrine dedicated to him stood in Hanzhong.

Yang Xiong, whose courtesy name was Ziyun, was from Chengdu in Shu Commandery. His family was poor when he was young, but he loved the Dao and its arts. He read widely, almost without exception. He spoke little and liked to think deeply. His mind was quiet and free of striving, and he had few desires. He did not rush after wealth and status, nor did poverty and low standing make him despondent. He did not deliberately polish his conduct to win a reputation. By nature, he was broad-minded and loved only the writings of sages and philosophers. If something did not accord with his convictions, he would not do it, even if it could bring him wealth and status.

He wrote works such as the Taixuan and the Fayan, exploring the fundamental principles of Heaven, Earth, and humanity, and became a renowned Confucian scholar of the Han dynasty. The roots of his learning lay in Laozi’s Dao, as his writings make clear. For example, he said, “Only stillness and depth are a dwelling place for holding fast to De (Virtue/Power); only clarity and tranquility are a courtyard where the spirit-mind can roam and rest.” The Taixuan also says that one should settle the mind in the depths of an abyss and nurture the roots of one’s fine spiritual nature. It explains: “When the mind is hidden in the depths of an abyss, the spirit does not scatter outward.” These statements all show that he had deeply understood Laozi’s teachings.

Daoist figures

The Three Mao Lords, the three perfected immortals worshipped on Mount Mao: the Great Lord was named Ying, with the courtesy name Shushen; the Middle Lord was named Gu, with the courtesy name Jiwei.

Among the Three Mao Lords, the eldest was named Ying, with the courtesy name Shushen; the middle brother was named Gu, with the courtesy name Jiwei; and the youngest was named Zhong, with the courtesy name Sihe. They were all from the southern quarter of Xianyang.

The eldest was born in the bing-shen year, the fifth year of the Zhongyuan era under Emperor Jing of Han. His two younger brothers were born in the wu-xu and geng-zi years. At eighteen, the eldest left home and took leave of his parents. He went to Mount Heng, where he studied the Dao De Jing and the Commentary on the Zhou Changes, devoting himself to seeking the Dao. Later he traveled to Xicheng and met Lord Zongzhen, a revered Daoist deity. There he was assigned to manage clothing, documents, and books and charts. He attained the Dao and became a disciple of Lord Zongzhen. At forty-nine, he returned home with the power to bring the dead back to life, astonishing his parents. He served them until the mourning period was over, then remained at home for fifty-three years.

During Emperor Jing’s reign, the middle brother was recommended as a Filial and Incorrupt official. In the first year of the Yuanshuo era, he was recommended for his ability and virtue and appointed a Gentleman of the Five Offices. He later became tutor to the Crown Prince, and in the first year of the Yuanfeng era was appointed Colonel for the Pacification of the Hu and Grand Administrator of Wuwei.

The youngest brother was known in his youth for his upright conduct and lived in seclusion on Mount Huayin. In the third year of the Jianyuan era under Emperor Wu of Han, he was recommended for his integrity but declined the appointment. Later he moved to the Liang kingdom and became a guest of King Xiao. In the second year of the Dijie era under Emperor Xuan of Han, he became Magistrate of Luoyang, then served as Colonel of Xicheng and Grand Administrator of Shangjun. After Emperor Yuan of Han took the throne, he was appointed a Senior Gentleman of the Five Watchings and later became Grand Administrator of Xihe.

At that time, the middle brother held the post of Commander of the Guard, responsible for security in the capital and protection of the palace, and it was also time for him to take up his appointment. Several hundred people from their home district came to see him off. The eldest said to the guests, “Though I have not attained high office with a stipend of two thousand shi, nor become a minister or chancellor, I should still hold an office among the spirits. The Heavenly Emperor has recognized and selected me to fill the post of Lord Huo Lin, Supreme Minister of the Eastern Peak and Director of Destiny. I am to guide and receive those who study the Dao, and oversee the registers of life and death for Hao and Yue. This, too, is an important position among the divine officials of the Supreme Perfected tradition. On the third day of the fourth month next year, I will ascend to Heaven. Will you be able to come visit me as you do today? If you can see me then, you need not spend anything; I will arrange your welcome myself.”

On the appointed day, as expected, a divine official descended to receive him. The eldest took leave of his clan and then said to the young people of the district, “When I leave this time, I will stay for a while on Mount Gouqu, east of the Yangzi River. Jiwei and Sihe may awaken late, but in the end they will repent, resign their offices and stipends, and come to find me.” With that, he bade everyone farewell and departed. It was the ding-chou year, the fifth year of the Chuyuan era under Emperor Yuan of Han. The eldest was then one hundred and two years old.

His two younger brothers were still in office. When they heard that their elder brother had become an immortal in broad daylight, they both resigned and returned home. In the fifth year of the Yongguang era, the ren-wu year, on the sixth day of the third month, they crossed the river to Mount Shu to seek him. When the brothers met, they wept with sorrow. The eldest said to them, “You have awakened too late.” He then taught them methods of deliverance, including divine powders and numinous prescriptions. They, too, became Perfected Ones and practiced in the grotto-heaven of Mount Gouqu. The eldest called the middle brother the Divine Lord of the Registers of Destiny and the youngest the Immortal Lord Who Preserves Life. These were offices conferred by Heaven.

In the geng-shen year, the second year of the Yuanshou era under Emperor Ai of Han, the eldest reached the age of one hundred and forty-five. On the eighteenth day of the eighth month, the jiyou day, he received a jade document of the Nine Bestowals, conferring his title and appointment from Heaven. He moved to the palace in the Jade Grotto of Chicheng, where he ranked as Supreme Perfected Director of Destiny, Supreme Minister of the Eastern Peak, and Perfected Man of the Great Origin. He said to his two younger brothers, “Now that I am leaving, I have duties to attend to and cannot visit often. I should come to this mountain twice each year. The eighteenth day of the third month and the second day of the twelfth month are our appointed dates. My teacher, Lord Zongzhen, and the Red Perfected One of the Great Void from Southern Peak will visit you on those days. Remember: when those who love the Dao wait for me on these dates, I will arrange to receive and guide them, and teach those who have not yet awakened.”

The two brothers then remained on Mount Mao to practice. They built a palace and temple in the grotto and spread the Daoist teachings beyond the mountain. They nourished all things and brought blessings to the people, while birds and beasts, too, each found their proper place. The spirits manifested signs of fortune and misfortune, and every crime could be uncovered. Their inner mastery of the Dao was complete, and their outward instruction was plain and accessible. From then on, rain and wind came in season, the five grains flourished, illness did not arise, violence did not occur, and there were no calamities in the region, nor theft or warfare in its towns.

At that time, the elders sang: “Mount Mao joins with Jinling, beside the lower reaches of rivers and lakes. The three divine lords ride white magpies, each governing a mountain peak. They summon rain to water the dry rice fields, and the crops on the uplands are nourished too. Wives and children all dwell in peace, leaving us free from every care. White magpies soar across the blue sky; who knows when they will come to visit again?”

When the three divine lords departed, each rode a white swan—or celestial bird—and descended at one of three places on the mountain. People saw this with their own eyes, and composed and sang the song in remembrance. Later, people used the places where the white swans had landed as landmarks, dividing Mount Gouqu into Great Mao, Middle Mao, and Little Mao. In fact, all these places belong to Mount Gouqu; originally, they had no separate mountain names.

The Rank of the Dao

Zhang Ling—whose name Daoist books respectfully avoid, calling him Zhang Daoling—was styled Fuhan and came from Feng County in the State of Pei. He was born at Mount Tianmu in Yuhang. Originally a student at the Imperial Academy, he studied the Five Classics extensively. As he grew older, he lamented, “This learning does nothing to prolong life.” He then turned to the Nine Cauldrons Elixir Scripture of the Yellow Emperor, a text on refining elixirs, and succeeded in making an elixir at Mount Fanyang. Later, in a stone chamber on Mount Song, he discovered secret Daoist writings.

At the time, the Central Plain was in turmoil and the Han dynasty was steadily declining. Zhang Ling believed that Confucian education had fallen into decay and could no longer save the crisis or help set the world aright. He therefore withdrew to Yuhang for ten years. Afterwards, he led his disciples into Shu, where local people came in great numbers to revere him as their teacher. He taught them honesty, a sense of shame, kindness, and compassion, and disliked resorting to punishment. When someone fell ill, he asked the sick person to recount their past misdeeds and make a covenant with the gods, pledging their life as the penalty for breaking it. In this way, people reformed and turned toward goodness. He also opened salt springs for the people’s benefit, drove away a great serpent, defeated demons twenty-four times, and established the Twenty-Four Administrations, early Daoist centers of governance and ritual, to protect the people of Shu from harm. Having attained the Dao through his practice, he was guarded by the gods of the mountains. For his outstanding merit, he was known as the Celestial Master (Tianshi). Among his disciples, Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng received some of his Daoist arts.

The Hidden Dao

Xiang Chang, styled Ziping, came from Chaoge in Henei. He lived in seclusion at home, valued balance and equanimity, and took pleasure in the Dao of Laozi and the Book of Changes. When reading the Book of Changes, he reached the hexagrams Decrease and Increase and remarked, “I understand now that wealth is inferior to poverty, and high rank to lowly status. I simply do not know how death compares with life.”

Xiang Chang was poor and had no money. Seeing that he was glad to help others, someone spun yarn for him. He accepted only what he needed and returned the rest. During the Jianwu era, after his children had all started families of their own, he stopped involving himself in household affairs and freely traveled among the famous mountains of the Five Marchmounts. In the end, no one knew what became of him.

Feng Meng, courtesy name Ziqing, was from Duchang in Beihai. When he heard that Wang Mang had killed his own son, Wang Yu, he said to a friend, “The three bonds of social order—between ruler and subject, father and son, and husband and wife—have been severed. If I do not leave, disaster may spread to my family.” He removed his official cap and hung it on the eastern city gate, then took his family by boat across the sea and settled in Liaodong.

Feng Meng had long been versed in the arts of Yin-Yang and foresaw the coming downfall of Wang Mang. He put a clay pot over his head and went through the marketplace crying, “The Xin dynasty! The Xin dynasty!” Then he disappeared from public view. After Emperor Guangwu ascended the throne, Feng Meng went to Mount Lao in Langya, where he devoted himself to nurturing his nature and cultivating the Dao in seclusion. People were all moved by his virtue. The court summoned him several times, but he refused to take office and ultimately lived out his natural lifespan.

Dao recluse (a person who withdraws from the world to cultivate the Dao)

Yan Guang, courtesy name Ziling, was from Yuyao in Kuaiji. He had a great reputation from a young age and once traveled and studied with Emperor Guangwu. After the emperor ascended the throne, Yan Guang changed his name and withdrew from public life. The emperor admired his virtue and summoned him several times, but he refused each summons and ultimately lived out his natural lifespan.

Dao recluse (a person who withdraws from the world to cultivate the Dao)

Yan Guang, whose courtesy name was Ziling, was from Yuyao County in Kuaiji Commandery. He had a great reputation from a young age and once traveled and studied alongside Emperor Guangwu. After Emperor Guangwu ascended the throne, Yan Guang changed his name and withdrew into seclusion, no longer showing himself in public.

Longing for Yan Guang’s talent and virtue, Emperor Guangwu sent people to search for him. Later, Qi reported that a man wearing a sheepskin coat was fishing among the lakes and marshes. Suspecting that the man was Yan Guang, the emperor prepared a comfortable carriage and gifts including dark incense, then sent an envoy to summon him. The envoy made three round trips before Yan Guang finally came to the capital. He stayed at an official guesthouse but lay down and would not get up.

Emperor Guangwu went to see him in person and, patting his belly, said, “Ah, Ziling, can’t you come out and help me govern the realm?” Yan Guang remained lying down and did not reply. After a long while, he opened his eyes, fixed his gaze on the emperor, and said, “In ancient times, Tang Yao and Yu Shun were renowned for their virtue, yet Chao Fu washed his ears, unwilling even to hear of Yao’s abdication. Scholars each have their own aspirations. Why press me like this?” The emperor said, “It seems I still can’t make you yield.” He then left in his carriage, sighing.

Later, Emperor Guangwu again invited Yan Guang to the palace, where they discussed principles and recalled old times. They sat facing one another for several days. The emperor asked casually, “How do I compare with the past?” Yan Guang replied, “Your Majesty has improved a little.” Later, the two shared a bed, and Yan Guang rested his feet on the emperor’s belly. The next day, the Grand Astrologer reported that a guest star had drawn close to the Imperial Star and that the situation was urgent. The emperor laughed and said, “It was only my old friend Yan Ziling sleeping beside me.”

In his reply to Situ Hou Ba, Yan Guang wrote, “When one cherishes benevolence and upholds righteousness, the people of the realm will gladly submit. Flattering others and yielding to the ruler’s wishes will, in the end, cost you your head.” The court appointed him Grand Master of Remonstrance, but he declined the post. Later, he farmed on Mount Fuchun. In later generations, the place where he fished came to be called Yanling Rapids, the waterside where Yan Guang had cast his line. In the seventeenth year of the Jianwu era, the court again summoned him with special honors, but he still refused to go. He died at home at the age of eighty, and Emperor Guangwu deeply mourned his passing.

Liang Hong, whose courtesy name was Boluan, was from Pingling in Fufeng. His family was poor, and he once tended pigs in the Shanglin Park. One day, a fire broke out through his carelessness and spread to another person’s house. Liang Hong gave all his pigs to the homeowner as compensation, but the homeowner still thought it was not enough. Liang Hong then offered to stay and work off the debt.

Later, Liang Hong returned to his hometown. Prominent families admired his noble character, and many wanted him to marry their daughters, but he turned them all down. A woman from the Meng family in the same commandery was plump and dark-featured, and could lift a stone mortar. She spent years looking for a husband and remained unmarried at thirty. When her parents asked why, she said, “I want to marry a worthy man like Liang Boluan.” When Liang Hong heard this, he sent a betrothal proposal and married her.

Before the wedding, Miss Meng asked to wear coarse clothes and straw sandals, and prepared tools for weaving and spinning. Only when the wedding day came did she change into finely decorated clothes. For seven days after they married, Liang Hong paid her no attention. His wife knelt before the bed and apologized, saying, “I have heard that my husband has lofty aspirations and has turned down many women. I, too, have turned down many men. Now that you have chosen me, how could I fail to come and apologize?” Liang Hong said, “I wanted someone who would wear coarse clothes and join me in retreating to the mountains. You wear fine clothes and make yourself up with cosmetics; this is not what I hoped for.” His wife replied, “I only wanted to see what my husband’s aspirations were. I have clothes of my own for living in retreat.” She then restyled her hair in a high knot, put on plain clothes, picked up her weaving tools, and came before Liang Hong. He was delighted and said, “Now this is truly Liang Hong’s wife, someone who can accompany me.” He gave her the courtesy name Deyao.

The couple settled together in the mountains of Baling, making their living by farming and weaving. They recited poetry and books and played music for their own enjoyment. Admiring the noble recluses of antiquity, they praised twenty-four virtuous men beginning with the “Four Elders of Mount Shang.” Later, Liang Hong traveled east through the pass. As he passed the capital, he wrote the “Song of Five Sighs”:

“Climbing the northern heights—ah, I sigh!

Hoping to see the imperial capital—ah, I sigh!

Its palaces are lofty and splendid—ah, I sigh!

The people suffer and toil beyond measure—ah, I sigh!

The capital stretches far beyond the horizon—ah, I sigh!”

When Emperor Xianzong of Han heard the song, he took it as criticism of the government and sent people to search for Liang Hong, but they could not find him. Liang Hong then changed his surname to Yunqi, his given name to Yao, and his courtesy name to Houguang. He lived with his wife and child in the Qi and Lu regions. Later, he left that area and went to Wu, where he lodged with a wealthy household belonging to Gao Botong and earned his living pounding rice beneath the eaves. Each day, when he returned home, his wife had a meal ready for him. She dared not raise her eyes to look at him; instead, she held the serving tray level with her eyebrows. This is the origin of the expression “holding the tray level with one’s eyebrows.” Gao Botong observed them and was amazed. “A hired laborer whose wife respects him so deeply must be no ordinary man,” he said. He then arranged for them to live inside his home.

Later, Liang Hong fell gravely ill. As he lay dying, he instructed his host not to let his son accompany his coffin back to their hometown. After Liang Hong died, Gao Botong and the others sought a burial place for him in Wu and chose a site beside the tomb of Yao Li. They said, “Yao Li was a man of fierce resolve, and Boluan was a man of high integrity; they can be buried side by side.” Liang Hong’s friend Gao Hui…

Dao Hidden

Gao Hui, whose courtesy name was Tong, was from Jingzhao. He loved the Laozi and lived in seclusion in the Hua-yin Mountains. He was on close terms with Liang Hong. Later, when Liang Hong traveled east, he thought of Gao Hui and wrote a poem:

“Crows call out, crying to summon their companions.

I long for Master Gao, and keep him in my heart.

I think of Gao Hui—when will we meet again?”

The two never saw each other again. Gao Hui was proud and unyielding by nature, and never held office in his life.

Dao’s Qualities

Wei Boyang was from the Wu region and came from a prominent family. By nature, he loved the arts of the Dao and had no wish to serve as an official. He usually lived quietly, cultivating his nature. People at the time knew nothing of his background and assumed only that he was governing the people and taking care of his health.

He went into the mountains to refine a divine elixir—the immortal elixir spoken of in Daoism. When it was complete, he took the elixir, died, and came back to life. He and a disciple surnamed Yu then became immortals and departed. On the way, they met a woodcutter. Wei Boyang wrote a letter by hand and asked him to deliver it to people in his home village and to two other disciples.

Wei Boyang wrote the Cantong qi (Token for Joining the Three), a work in three volumes on the correspondences among the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water). It appears to discuss the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), but in fact borrows the images and number symbolism of the hexagrams and lines to explain the principles of refining the Great Elixir. People do not understand its teaching on alchemy, and most interpret it through the principles of Yin-Yang, thereby straying from its original meaning.

According to research, even the great Confucian scholars Zhu Yuanhui and Cai Yuanding held the ideas in the Cantong qi in high regard and discussed it repeatedly. Without a deep grasp of the profound meanings of the Changes and the Laozi, it is difficult to glimpse the mysteries of this book.

Dao’s Yang

Tai Dong, whose courtesy name was Xiaowei, was from Ye in Wei Commandery. He lived in seclusion on Mount Wu’an, where he dug a cave for his home and made his living gathering medicinal herbs. When the provincial inspector toured his jurisdiction, or when government officials sent people to visit him, Tai Dong would claim to be ill and go away. As a result, no one was able to meet him.

Tai Dong, whose courtesy name was Xiaowei, was from Ye in Wei Commandery. He lived in seclusion on Mount Wu’an, where he carved out a cave for shelter and made his living gathering medicinal herbs. When the provincial inspector toured his jurisdiction, he sent someone to visit Tai Dong. Tai Dong went to pay his respects, despite being ill. The inspector took Zan by the hand and introduced him to Tai Dong, saying, “Xiaowei, you have settled yourself in such a way that you must endure real hardship. Why do you do it?” Tai Dong replied, “I am fortunate to preserve my natural disposition and life, nurture my spirit, and bring body and mind into harmony. A discerning governor like you has been charged with proclaiming imperial edicts and carefully managing every affair, day and night. Is that not harder still?” With that, he departed and remained in seclusion from then on.

Secluded in the Dao

Han Kang, whose courtesy name was Boxiu and who was also known as Tianxiu, was from Baling in the capital region of Jingzhao. His family had been prominent for generations. He often gathered medicinal herbs in famous mountains and sold them at the market in Chang’an. For more than thirty years, he always charged a fixed price and never haggled. Once, a woman came to buy medicine from him, but Han Kang still refused to change the price. Angrily, she said, “You must be Han Boxiu. That’s why you refuse to change your price.” Han Kang sighed, “I originally wanted to avoid fame. Now even a young woman knows who I am. What is the point of gathering herbs anymore?” He then left and went into seclusion in the Baling Mountains.

Silent in the Dao

Jiao Shen, courtesy name Zhongyan, was from Maoling County in Fufeng Commandery. In his youth, he took an interest in the teachings of Huang-Lao and lived in seclusion in a mountain valley, digging a cave to serve as his home. He admired the daoyin practices cultivated by immortals such as Chisongzi and Wang Ziqiao—that is, methods of nourishing and refining the body through regulated breathing and physical movements. Ma Rong and Su Zhang were his fellow townsmen, and people of their time held Jiao Shen in high regard. Hao Cang, a native of Runan, thought highly of him and wrote to sound out his aspirations:

“Zhongyan, my friend: You devote yourself to cultivating the Way in seclusion, living simply and frugally. Though one of us seems to travel among the clouds while the other trudges through the mud, and our circumstances differ, whenever the west wind rises I cannot help thinking of you. I have heard that the teachings of Huang-Lao advocate transcending the common world and entering the hidden realm, withdrawing to distant places; they also speak of governing the state and bringing peace to the people. If these principles were applied to government, could they leave visible results, like the tracks left by those who climb a mountain? I would like to follow you and learn a practicable way. What do you think?

“Long ago, Yi Yin did not possess the Way and its arts, but merely waited for a ruler like Yao or Shun to appear. Now the realm is at peace: this is the time for recluses like Chaofu and Xu You to emerge. Do not be like Boyi and Shuqi, who withdrew to Mount Shouyang and later regretted entering a troubled age. If one can truly ride dragons and harness phoenixes, roaming among the clouds, that is not something foxes, rabbits, swallows, and sparrows can scheme to attain.”

Jiao Shen did not reply. When he was over seventy, he still refused to marry. Later, he suddenly returned home and announced the day he would die. On that day, he did indeed pass away. Later, someone said they had seen Jiao Shen in Dunhuang, and people in subsequent generations believed that he possessed extraordinary abilities.

The Way Hidden.

Fa Zhen, courtesy name Gaoqing, was from Na County in Fufeng. He loved learning but was not bound to any single school of thought. For generations, his family had collected books and writings of every kind, both Daoist and secular. He once studied under a great Confucian scholar in the western regions of the Pass, and hundreds of people came from distant places to learn from him. His temperament was calm and quiet, he had few desires, and he avoided socializing or discussing worldly affairs.

The governor summoned him for an audience, and Fa Zhen went to meet him wearing only a simple headscarf. The governor wanted to appoint him as an administrative aide in the commandery office. Fa Zhen said, “Your Excellency has treated me with courtesy, so I have dared to regard myself as one of your guests. But if you intend to make me an official, I will hide south of the Southern Mountains or north of the Northern Mountains.”

Tian Ruo, a fellow commandery resident, recommended Fa Zhen, saying that he was versed in four fields of learning and lived in quiet seclusion, with a calm and tranquil disposition. He wished to follow the noble example of Laozi and would not yield to the lure of worldly honors. Tian Ruo added that if the court granted him even a low-ranking post, he would surely bring forth the clear and harmonious music of ritual, attracting the phoenix to descend. The emperor sincerely wished to summon him to court and sent for him four times in succession. Fa Zhen said, “Since I cannot withdraw from the world and wander far away, why would I drink the water used to wash my ears?” He then withdrew even further into seclusion and cut off contact with the outside world.

His friend Guo Zheng praised him: “Fa Zhen’s reputation can be heard, but he himself is hard to see. He wishes to escape fame, yet fame follows him; he tries to avoid it, yet it pursues him. He can truly be called a teacher for a hundred generations.” People therefore joined in having a stone carved in his honor, calling him “Master Xuande.”

Dao Transformation

Liu Kuan, courtesy name Wengrao, was from Hongnong and lived to the age of seventy-three. One day, Master Qinggu appeared in his sleeping quarters and taught him the method of Staff Liberation, a Daoist art in which a staff serves as a substitute body so that one may leave one’s physical form. When Master Qinggu was about to depart for Mount Hua to practice the Nine-Breath Qi-Nourishing method, a cultivation method centered on controlled breathing, he also passed on to Liu Kuan a furnace-and-fire alchemical formula. Liu Kuan practiced according to the formula and eventually attained the Dao. Later, he lived in Huayang Cave, where he guided and taught those just beginning their study of the Dao.

Liu Kuan served as an official under the Han dynasty, rising to the posts of Minister over the Masses and Grand Commandant. He delighted in doing good deeds quietly and providing relief to the poor and suffering. The people loved and turned to him, regarding him as they would their own parents.

Daoist Reclusion

Pang Gong was from Xiangyang in Nanjun and lived south of Xian Mountain. He had never entered the government offices in the city. He and his wife treated one another with the respect they would show a guest. Liu Biao, governor of Jingzhou, invited him to take office many times, but could not persuade him. Later, Liu Biao went to visit him in person and said, “How can preserving yourself compare with preserving the whole world?”

Pang Gong smiled and replied, “The swan and magpie build their nests high in the trees, where they have a place to roost at night. The numinous tortoise hides deep beneath the water, where it too has a place to rest at night. In choosing whether to advance or withdraw, people are like creatures choosing a nest: each finds the place suited to their own needs.” Then he stopped working in the fields, while his wife and children continued hoeing weeds ahead of him.

Liu Biao pointed to him and said, “You toil away in the fields and refuse to serve as an official. What will you leave to your descendants?” Pang Gong said, “The things people leave their descendants are all dangers. I leave mine security. What I leave is different, but you cannot say I leave them nothing.” He then took his wife and children up Mount Lumen to gather herbs, and never returned.

Liao Fu, courtesy name Wenqi, was from Pingyu in Runan. He studied the Han Poetry and Ouyang Commentary on the Book of Documents, and once taught several hundred students. His father was found guilty of an offense and died in prison. Reflecting that his father had lost his life by breaking the law, Liao Fu came to fear holding office. When the period of mourning ended, he sighed, “Laozi once asked: Which is closer to us, reputation or life? Would I really take office for the sake of reputation?” He resolved to keep away from official life and devote himself to studying the classics. He was especially skilled in astronomy and the calculation of the calendar. The regional and prefectural authorities, as well as the central government, summoned him to serve, but he declined every time.

Knowing that famine was coming, Liao Fu stored several thousand hu of grain and used it all to aid his clan and relatives by marriage. He also gathered and buried those who had died of epidemic disease and had no one to arrange their funerals. People of the time called him “Master of the Northern Suburb.” He died at home at the age of eighty.

Fan Ying, whose courtesy name was Jiqi, was from Luyang in Nanyang. As a young man, he studied in the Three Capital Regions, learned the Jing lineage of the Classic of Changes, and mastered the Five Classics. He was skilled in using wind divination, calculations, the Yellow River Chart and Luo River Writing, and the Seven Stellar Divisions to predict celestial phenomena and disasters.

He lived in seclusion at the southern foot of Mount Hu. Officials from the prefectures and commanderies repeatedly invited him to serve, but he refused each summons. The court recommended him as a worthy and upright man of the Way, but he did not take up the appointment. In the second year of Yongjian, Emperor Shun issued an edict ordering the proper rites to be prepared and summoned him to court with great ceremony. Fan Ying firmly declined, claiming to be gravely ill. The emperor then issued a stern edict ordering the local officials to provide a carriage and send him on his way. After Fan Ying reached the capital, he continued to claim illness and refused to rise. The court had him forcibly carried in a carriage into the palace, but he still refused to submit to the court’s rites.

Emperor Shun angrily said, “I can make you live or die, exalted or lowly, wealthy or poor. Why do you treat my command with contempt?”

Fan Ying replied, “My life is subject to Heaven’s command. To live out one’s natural span is Heaven’s will; to die before one’s years are complete is also Heaven’s will. How can Your Majesty decide whether I live or die? When I see a tyrant, it is as though I see an enemy. I would not wish to stand in the court of such a ruler; how, then, could I gain honor through him? Even as a commoner, living in a cramped house, I can be content. I would not trade such a life for imperial splendor, so how could that make me lowly? How can Your Majesty decide whether I am exalted or lowly? Even if an improper stipend amounted to ten thousand zhong, I would not accept it. So long as I can hold to my convictions, I do not disdain a simple life of coarse food and plain drink. How can Your Majesty decide whether I am poor or wealthy?”

The emperor could not make Fan Ying yield, but respected his reputation. He therefore let him leave the palace and had the imperial physicians tend to his illness. He also ordered the Director of the Carriages to escort the Secretariat officials in welcoming and seeing Fan Ying off, gave him a rest arm and a staff, and treated him with the respect due a tutor.

Whenever disasters or unusual phenomena occurred at court, the emperor issued an edict asking Fan Ying for his views on their significance and what they foretold. Much of what he said proved true. Fan Ying died at home in his seventies.

Wang Yuan, courtesy name Fangping, was from Shuhai. He was recommended for his filial piety and integrity, appointed Gentleman of the Palace, and later promoted to Grand Master of Palace Leisure. He had a thorough command of the Five Classics and was especially learned in astronomy, prophetic charts and texts, and the methods of the Yellow River and Luo River. He could foresee the fortunes of rise and decline throughout the realm and knew the auspicious and inauspicious portents in every region of the Nine Provinces. Later, he resigned from office and went into the mountains to cultivate the Dao. After completing his cultivation, Emperor Huan of the Han summoned him repeatedly, but he refused to leave the mountains. The emperor ordered a commandery governor to bring him forcibly to the capital. Wang Yuan lowered his head, kept silent, and did not answer a single question.

The emperor then ordered more than four hundred characters to be written on the panels of the palace gate, all foretelling future events. Displeased by these words, he had them scraped away. As soon as the characters on the surface were removed, new ones appeared beneath them; the ink had even penetrated into the wood.

Wang Yuan did not appear in public again. His descendants and the people of his home region passed down his story through the generations and worshipped him together. Chen Dan, a former Grand Commandant from the same commandery, built a Daoist shrine for Wang Yuan and bowed to him morning and evening. But he sought only blessings and protection from calamity; he did not follow Wang Yuan in cultivating the Dao. Wang Yuan lived in Chen Dan’s home for more than forty years. Then he told Chen Dan, “My allotted years are nearly over. I must leave and cannot stay any longer. I will depart tomorrow at noon.” At the appointed time, Wang Yuan “died.” Chen Dan knew he had departed through transformation and did not dare lay the body on the ground. He could only weep and sigh: “Master, you have left me. What am I to do?” He prepared a coffin and burial clothes, burned incense, and dressed Wang Yuan on the bed. After three days and nights, the body suddenly vanished, though its clothes and sash remained fastened, like a snake shedding its skin. More than a hundred days after Wang Yuan’s departure, Chen Dan also died. Some said that Chen Dan had attained Wang Yuan’s Dao and departed through transformation; others said Wang Yuan knew Chen Dan was about to die, so he entrusted him to others before leaving.

Later, Wang Yuan was on his way to Mount Kuocang. Passing through the Wu region, he stayed at the home of Cai Jing, at Xumen Gate. Cai Jing was an ordinary commoner, but the shape of his bones showed that he had the potential to become an immortal. Wang Yuan went to his home specifically to see him and said, “You are destined to transcend the mundane world, but in your youth you never heard about cultivating the Dao. Now your Qi is scant and your flesh abundant, so you can only leave your physical form through corpse liberation. This happens quickly: in an instant, you can depart like a dog slipping through a hole.” Corpse liberation is a Daoist practitioner’s way of showing, through a body left behind or other signs, that they have departed from their physical form. Wang Yuan taught Cai Jing the essentials of cultivating the Dao, then left.

Later, Cai Jing indeed departed like a cicada shedding its shell, and no one knew where he had gone. More than ten years later, he suddenly returned home and told his family, “On the seventh day of the seventh month, Lord Wang will pass this way. That day, prepare several hundred hu of wine and food for his attendants.” Having said this, he left again. On the appointed day, Wang Yuan arrived as expected, with his full retinue and ceremonial escort. His imposing presence was like that of a great general. He also invited Magu to meet him at Cai Jing’s home.

A neighbor, Chen Wei, kowtowed and asked to meet Wang Yuan, hoping to serve him as Cai Jing had. Wang Yuan said, “Stand up first and face the sun.” He examined Chen Wei from behind and said, “Alas, your heart is crooked, and your shadow is crooked too. The Way of the immortals cannot be passed on to you.” He therefore gave him only the office of Earthly Master. Before leaving, he placed a talisman and a document of transmission in a small box and told Chen Wei, “These can be used to ward off calamities and deal with ghosts.” Chen Wei later lived to the age of one hundred and ten and also received a letter from Wang Yuan. The letter was written in regular script, with broad strokes, though it was not especially neat. Until then, no one had known Wang Yuan’s reputation; it was Chen Wei who later made him famous.

Han Chong, courtesy name Changji, was from Pilin in Hao Commandery. From a young age, he was fond of Daoist arts. Wang Wei, the immortal of Linwu, styled Zhangxuan, taught him a method called “Flowing Pearl Elixir,” a practice of the Daoist tradition. Han Chong followed it with reverence and made considerable progress. Zhangxuan told him, “You may cultivate this Way and also enter government service; it will not prevent you from becoming an immortal.”

Han Chong then entered government service and gradually rose to become magistrate of Wanling County. He governed with benevolence and used the Daoist Way to bring calm to the people. Tigers and wolves kept their distance, and locusts did not enter his jurisdiction. Later, he became governor of Runan and promoted his clerk Yuan An, who eventually rose to the post of Minister over the Masses. People of the time widely believed that Han Chong had a keen eye for talent.

When Empress Yin was buried in the capital, senior officials from nearby commanderies and kingdoms, whose annual salaries were two thousand shi, were all expected to attend the rites at her mausoleum. Han Chong, however, lived simply and frugally. His wife was displeased and began to weep. Shao asked why, and Feng Yi, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, replied, “Han Chong, governor of Runan, is honest and frugal, with lofty aspirations. He devotes himself to embodying the Way, to the point of forgetting himself. Though he holds high office, his wife spins and weaves with her own hands. He governs with benevolence, regarding the people as though they were injured and showing them constant care. He is also widely learned and discerning in recognizing talent, displaying the insight of a gentleman. He is like a luminous pearl in the darkness, Your Majesty’s Zichan—a statesman renowned for his virtue and ability. His wife does not understand the principles of poverty and frugality; her complaint that she has no clothes to wear only makes Han Chong’s virtue shine more clearly.”

The emperor greatly admired this account and increased Han Chong’s stipend, raising his rank to that of a senior official drawing two thousand shi. Later, Emperor Xiaoming toured Runan and visited Han Chong’s residence. Han Chong asked his wife to leave the residence and stay temporarily with a poor, widowed old woman. Hearing of this, the emperor exclaimed, “Han Chong is truly one who has endured a hundred refinings without being consumed.” He then bestowed fifty bolts of fine silk on him.

Han Chong served in the commandery for fourteen years. His achievements in government and moral instruction were outstanding, and he was nominated as the best official in the realm. At the age of seventy-four, Zhangxuan taught him the “Method of Hidden Liberation,” enabling him to leave the human world and enter Mount Dahuo. He also taught him the method of “Transformation by Escape, with the Muddy Pellet and Purple Gate as protectors,” allowing him to transcend the ordinary world. Later, Han Chong served as Left Supervisor of Central Affairs in Huayang Grotto-Heaven.

Tao Yinjü (Tao Hongjing) remarked: “The relevant accounts in the Book of Han are largely the same, though the wording differs slightly.”

Guardians of the Dao

Xia Fu, courtesy name Zizhi, was from Chenliu. From childhood, he enjoyed cultivating the Dao and taking alchemical medicines such as wood fungus and mica. Later, he entered Mount Hao and studied the art of refining the soul under Master Red Beard. He also served as an Attendant Gentleman of Bright Dawn in the Huayang Grotto. In his youth, the court once summoned him to take office. He hung the summons on a mulberry tree and left, showing that his aspirations lay far beyond public office and that he had no attachment to a career in government.

The Book of the Later Han and the Biographies of Eminent Recluses both record that Xia Fu was from Yu County in Chenliu. During Emperor Huan’s reign, he was recommended for office but refused to serve because of his uprightness and willingness to speak frankly.

Transformation through the Dao

Liu Lan, courtesy name Zixiang, is recorded in the Book of Han as having the courtesy name Zixiang. He was originally from Yingchuan and had loved the study of the Dao and Virtue since childhood. The Liu family had been wealthy for generations. He often gave away his possessions but did not regard his gifts as favors. He helped bury the dead and aided the poor, assisting many people.

He was later recommended for the post of Assistant for Accounts, then served as a Gentleman and was promoted to Governor of Chenliu. When he was five hundred li from Chang’an, he gathered and buried the dead along the way and gave relief to the poor, restricting his own spending to help others. At Yangping, he met Master Ma Huang. The master said to him, “Your benevolence has moved Heaven and Earth, and your hidden store of De is known to spirits and ghosts. The Most High will reward your goodness, so he has sent me to transmit the Way of Longevity to you.”

Liu Lan knocked his head on the ground and struck himself with his hands, pleading to remain with the master and serve him. Master Ma Huang then took him into Mount Tongbai and taught him the Eight Guardians of Concealment and the method of ingesting the Essence of the Five Stars. The Eight Guardians of Concealment and the Essence of the Five Stars are Daoist cultivation practices, belonging respectively to the categories of concealment and protection, and ingestive cultivation. After Liu Lan completed his cultivation, his name was entered in the register as Donghua. He entered the Huayang Grotto and served as Right Supervisor of the Central Office of the Register of Destiny.

Three Kingdoms

Daoist and Confucian Learning

Zhang Ji, whose courtesy name was Ziming, traveled to study at the Imperial Academy when he was young. He was thoroughly versed in both inner and outer learning. Gao Gan, governor of Bingzhou, recommended him to serve as magistrate of Leping County, but Zhang did not take up the appointment. He later moved to Changshan and lived in seclusion, with several hundred disciples studying under him.

When Taizu served as chancellor, he summoned Zhang Ji, but Zhang did not go. During the Taihe era, the court issued an edict seeking out reclusive scholars. The commandery submitted Zhang’s name several times, but by the time the court sent men to summon him, he was old and often ill and could not make the journey.

On the third day after Lu Yu took office as governor of Guangping, his subordinates told him that, according to precedent, he should send a calling card and pay Zhang Ji a visit. Lu Yu said, “Mr. Zhang is precisely the sort of person who does not seek to serve the emperor above or court the feudal lords below. How could a mere calling card serve as a token of respect?” He therefore sent only the chief clerk, bearing a letter and gifts of sheep, wine, and other items, to convey his greetings.

Zhang Ji died at the age of one hundred and five. That same year, after taking office, Governor Wang Su issued an order to the counties: “I had heard of Zhang Ziming in the capital, and after arriving here I had hoped to visit him. Now I hear he has died, and I deeply regret it. He devoted himself to learning and lived in seclusion, refusing office. He did not compete with the world of custom, but found joy in the Dao. Long ago, in Jiang County, there was an impoverished old man whom Zhao Meng honored, thereby fostering harmony among the feudal lords. I regret that Mr. Zhang, though old, remained diligent in his love of the Dao, yet received none of the honors and courtesies he deserved. On receiving this order, send an official to console his family, inscribe an account of his deeds prominently on his gate, and grant him special recognition, to comfort the deceased and encourage those who come after.”

Daomo

Jiao Xian, whose courtesy name was Xiaoran, was from Hedong. When warfare broke out in the Guanzhong region at the end of the Han dynasty, he became separated from his family and fled alone to the riverbank. He ate wild grasses and drank river water, and had neither clothes nor shoes. From the south, Zhu, the local official of Taiyang, saw him and mistook him for a fleeing soldier. He wanted to send a boat to capture him. Hou Wuyang, who came from the same commandery, told the county authorities that the man was simply a fool. The county then registered him in the household records and gave him five sheng of millet gruel each day. People often looked down on him, but he never walked along crooked paths, always following the tracks between the fields. When gathering crops, he did not take the large ears of grain. When hungry, he did not eat whatever he could find; when cold, he did not put on just any clothes. Whenever he went out and saw women, he hid until they had gone, then came out again.

He built himself a simple hut and kept it very clean. He made a bed from wood and covered it with a grass mat. When the weather was cold, he lit a fire to warm himself, groaning and talking to himself alone. During the Taihe and Qinglong eras, he once set off southward across the river with a staff in hand. The river was in flood, so he said to himself, “It is not yet possible.” From then on, people gradually began to suspect that he was not truly a fool. His words often came true, and people came to call him a recluse. He died at the age of eighty-nine.

Shi Delin was from Anding. In the sixteenth year of Jian’an, when warfare broke out in the Guanzhong region, he moved south into Hanzhong. He never built up an estate, nor did he marry or have children. In daily life, he often read the five thousand words of the Laozi and other Daoist inner texts, reciting them day and night without pause. When he lacked food, he would sometimes go out to beg, but refused to use what he received. When people asked his name, he never told them. People of that time therefore called him “Cold and Poor,” perhaps because he devoted himself entirely to the mysteries of the Dao and spoke little.

Zuo Ci, courtesy name Yuanfang, was from Lujiang. In his youth he studied the Five Classics thoroughly and was also well versed in astrology and apocryphal texts. Seeing that the Han dynasty’s fortunes were nearing their end and the realm was about to descend into chaos, he sighed: “In these declining times, those who hold high office are likely to meet disaster, while those who accumulate great wealth are likely to lose their lives. The glories and riches of this world are not worth coveting.” He therefore began studying Daoist arts and devoted himself to practice on Mount Tianzhu. There he obtained a manual on the elixir from a stone chamber and, after training, was said to be able to perform all manner of transformations.

Cao Cao summoned Zuo Ci, wanting to test his abilities and learn Daoist arts from him. Zuo Ci said, “To study the Dao, one should seek stillness and Wuwei (non-action); this does not suit someone of high rank.” Cao Cao was suspicious by nature and tried several times to kill him, but never succeeded. When Zuo Ci was in Jingzhou, Liu Biao, the governor of the province, considered him a corrupter of the people and also wanted to kill him. Sensing this in advance, Zuo Ci took his leave and departed.

Later, Zuo Ci met Sun Quan, ruler of Wu. Sun Quan had long known of his Daoist arts, so he treated him with courtesy and great respect. The Zhengao records that Zuo Ci often travels to and from Mount Xiaokuo today. He once searched for a site at the foot of the mountain, intending to receive an appointment anew. Zuo Ci appears very young; this is said to result from cultivating the furnace fire and gaining the benefits of “Jiuhua.” He lived in seclusion on Mount Kuocang. Near the end of the Jian’an era, Zuo Ci crossed the river in search of Mount Mao and entered a grotto on the mountain. He also sought cinnabar to refine the Jiuhua Elixir. Zuo Ci was a disciple of Li Zhongfu and the teacher of Ge Xuan.

Daoist Ranks

Ge Xuan, courtesy name Xiaoxian, once studied scriptures and methods under Zuo Yuanfang. He had taken medicinal substances derived from plants and was especially skilled at treating illness and using arts to drive away ghosts and spirits. He could also manifest multiple forms. He is said to have been a disciple of Li Zhongfu and the teacher of Ge Xuan.

Ge Xuan, whose courtesy name was Xiaoxian, once studied scriptures and ritual methods under Zuo Yuanfang. He took medicinal plants, and was especially skilled at treating illness and dispelling ghosts and demons. He could also create apparitions and transform himself. Emperor Wu of Wu wanted to summon him and planned to grant him an official post and honors. Ge Xuan refused. He wished to leave, but was unable to do so, so Emperor Wu treated him as an honored guest.

One day, Ge Xuan said to his disciple Zhang Gong, “The ruler of this world has detained me, leaving me no time to prepare the Great Medicine. Now I will depart at noon on the thirteenth day of the eighth month.” When the day came, Ge Xuan dressed carefully and entered a room. His breath then ceased, but his complexion remained unchanged. His disciples burned incense and kept watch for three days. At midnight on the third day, a fierce wind suddenly arose, its roar like thunder. It tore down houses and snapped trees, and even extinguished the candle flames. After a long while, the disciples relit the candles and found that Ge Xuan had vanished. Only his clothes remained neatly arranged on the bed, with the belt still fastened. The next morning, the disciples asked the neighbors, who said there had been no strong wind. It turned out that the wind had blown only through the courtyard where Ge Xuan lived, toppling the fence and breaking the trees.

The Zhengao records that Ge Xuan first lived on Chang Mountain and later moved near Gaizhu Mountain. He could ride tigers and command ghosts and spirits, and could do almost anything, though he had not quite attained an immortal’s office. The Notes on Recluses says that Ge Xuan was a senior kinsman of Ge Hong, sharing the same great-grandfather, and was also Zheng Siyuan’s teacher. In his youth, he entered the mountains to cultivate the Dao and become an immortal, and no one in the world knew his whereabouts. According to tradition, an immortal from the Eastern Sea sent him a letter addressed to “Immortal Lord.” Ge Hong was therefore also called Immortal Lord.

Daoist Accounts

Bao, whose courtesy name was Taixuan, was from Chen in the Eastern Sea region. In his youth, he entered the mountains to cultivate the Dao and become an immortal, and no one in the world knew his whereabouts. According to tradition, an immortal from the Eastern Sea sent him a letter addressed to “Immortal Lord.” Ge Hong was therefore also called Immortal Lord.

Daoist Accounts

Bao Shuo, whose courtesy name was Taixuan, was from Chenliu County in Shuhai Commandery. When he was five, he told his parents, “I was originally a child of the Li family in Quyang County. When I was nine, I fell into a well and died.” Bao Shuo’s parents searched far and wide, found the Li family, and questioned them. They discovered that everything he had said matched the facts.

Bao Shuo was versed in both inner and outer teachings and was familiar with astronomy, the River Chart and the Luo Writing. He rose through official ranks to become governor of Nanyang. Once, while inspecting his jurisdiction, he sailed out to sea and encountered a storm. Severely hungry, he boiled white stones and ate them, thus surviving the ordeal. Later, he met the Perfected Yin Jun and received oral instructions in Daoist methods. He also took Zuo Yuanfang as his teacher, studying the Central-section methods and the Inner Text of the Three Sovereigns. It is said that he could command ghosts and spirits, seal off mountains, and subdue demons and monsters. He lived to be over a hundred.

According to the Declarations of the Perfected (Zhengao), Bao Shuo and his younger sister were both recipients of blessings earned through the accumulated hidden virtue of their ancestors over seven generations. The siblings now both serve as officials in the underworld and reside at Huayang. Tao Hongjing believed that Bao Shuo practiced the “Supreme Clarity Corpse-Release Method,” a Daoist cultivation method for leaving the physical body behind and ascending. He was presumably the highest-ranking among the underworld officials.

Bao Shuo’s daughter, Bao Gu, was the wife of Ge Hong, who served as a Regular Mounted Attendant.

Daoist Words

Zhang Xuanbin was from Dingxiang. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Wei, he was recommended for the post of Maocai, a system of recommending officials during the Han and Wei periods. He later returned to his native region and became a student of Master Su of Xihe, receiving methods for consuming and ingesting wood-based substances. He also practiced the methods of the Cavern Chamber and White Origin, Daoist visualization techniques.

Daoist Words

Zhang Xuanbin was from Dingxiang. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Wei, he was recommended as a Maocai, an outstanding candidate for office. He later returned to his home region and became a disciple of Master Su of Xihe. He took wooden pellets, a kind of ingestible preparation made from wood, while practicing the methods of the White Origin in the Cavern Chamber, a Daoist meditation practice. Later, he met the Perfected One Fan Ziming and, at Mount Shaoshi, received instruction in the Dao of Transformation and Concealment, the art of becoming invisible and changing form.

He once lived on Mount Tianzhu, then entered the interior of Huayang, where he served as the Administrator of Prohibitions. This was an official post responsible for rain, safeguarding life, and overseeing the state. Zhang Xuanbin was skilled at speaking about emptiness and often discussed being and nonbeing with others. He said, “Nonbeing is the foundation of great being; lesser being arises from it. By gathering lesser being, one can nurture lesser nonbeing; through great being, one can perceive great nonbeing. Being contains nonbeing, and nonbeing contains being. Thus, I cannot see the myriad things, and the myriad things cannot see nonbeing. By relying on being, one can accomplish nonbeing; by relying on nonbeing, one can attain nonbeing. Since nonbeing has no dwelling place, even empty space can serve as its dwelling. Before I was born, even ‘nonbeing’ did not exist in the world.”

He said that he had once visited Lord Zuo of Penglai, Song Chensheng, and discussed nonbeing with him; they broadly understood each other’s meaning. None of the Perfected Ones on Mount Tongbai could refute him. He also said, “If we trace things further back, we cannot even fathom the root of being. How, then, can we fathom the root of nonbeing?” His bearing was lofty, and so too was the principle he upheld.

Wang Bi, whose courtesy name was Fusi, was from Gaoping in Shanyang. He was intelligent from a young age and, before he was fifteen, had already taken a keen interest in the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi. He Yan, Minister of Personnel, greatly admired him and said, “Someone like this is already ready to discuss the relationship between Heaven and humanity.”

When He Yan had just finished his commentary on the Laozi, he took it to show Wang Bi. Seeing the depth and subtlety of Wang Bi’s commentary, He Yan organized his own writing into two treatises on the Dao and De. He also set out the refined ideas they had discussed earlier and said to Wang Bi, “I thought I had brought these principles to their utmost. Can you still raise objections?” Wang Bi immediately refuted each point in turn, and everyone present felt that He Yan had been bested.

Wang Bi once proposed that all things between Heaven and Earth take “nonbeing” as their root. The Origin is the root that brings all things into being, brings affairs to completion, and is present everywhere. Yin and Yang rely on it to transform and generate; the myriad things rely on it to take shape; the worthy rely on it to cultivate De; and even the unworthy rely on it to preserve themselves. Thus, though “nonbeing” holds no official rank, it is supremely honored.

Wang Bi also wrote a commentary on the Classic of Changes, and most later Confucian scholars revered his teachings.

Jin Dynasty

Daoran

Sun Deng, whose courtesy name was Gonghe, was from Jiyun Commandery. He had no family and lived in an earthen cave in the mountains north of the commandery. He enjoyed reading the Classic of Changes and playing a one-stringed zither.

Sun Deng, whose courtesy name was Gonghe, was from Ji Commandery. He had no family and lived in a cave in the earth in the mountains north of the commandery. He enjoyed reading the Book of Changes and often played a one-stringed zither. His temperament was calm; he never felt sorrow or anger.

Someone once threw him into the water to see whether he would become angry. When Sun Deng climbed out, he laughed instead. He once lived in Yiyang. A charcoal burner in the mountains saw him and, realizing he was no ordinary man, tried to speak with him, but Sun Deng did not respond. When Emperor Wen heard of this, he sent Ruan Ji to visit him. Ruan Ji met Sun Deng and spoke with him, but Sun Deng still did not respond.

Ji Kang spent three years in Sun Deng’s company. He asked what Sun Deng had in mind, but Sun Deng never answered. As Ji Kang was leaving, he asked, “Are you really not going to say a single word, sir?” Only then did Sun Deng reply: “Do you understand fire? When fire burns, it gives off light, but one cannot simply make use of its light; the key is knowing how to use it. A person is born with abilities, but cannot simply act on those abilities; the key is knowing how to put them to use. Firelight can last only if fuel is found, so one must know how to preserve its brightness. Abilities can be put to proper use only when one recognizes what is truly right, so one must know how to preserve one’s life. These days, you have many abilities but little insight, and in the present age it will be hard for you to escape misfortune. You would do well to stop pursuing things.”

Ji Kang was unable to follow Sun Deng’s advice. Later, in his “Poem of Hidden Grievance,” he wrote: “Once I felt ashamed before Liu Xiahui; now I am ashamed before Sun Deng as well.” In the end, no one knew what became of Sun Deng.

Daozhi

Guo Wen, whose courtesy name was Wenju, was from Ruan County in Henei. From childhood he loved mountains and streams and longed for a reclusive life. Whenever he went out to admire the scenery, he would often forget to return home for more than ten days. After his parents died and his period of mourning ended, he still did not marry. He left home to visit famous mountains, wearing only a deerskin garment and a headcloth of kudzu fiber. He gathered bamboo shoots and the fruits of trees and exchanged them for daily necessities. Any grain left over he gave to people in need.

Wang Dao heard of Guo Wen’s reputation and sent someone to invite him. When Guo Wen arrived, he was lodged in the Western Garden. Wen Jiao once asked him, “Sir, living alone, do you have no feelings?” Guo Wen replied, “Feelings arise from longing. If one does not long for anything, there are no feelings.” Wen Jiao then asked, “You live alone deep in the mountains. If you fell ill and died, or were eaten by crows or wild animals, would that not be pitiable?” Guo Wen said, “People who are buried are eaten by ants too. What difference does it make?”

Wang Dao once hosted a gathering with guests and had music played, hoping to test Guo Wen, so he sent someone to summon him. Without shifting his gaze, Guo Wen walked straight through the splendid hall as if he were crossing open country in the mountains. Those present were discussing profound and subtle matters. Guo Wen often said that he could hear the words of those who had attained understanding, but that the workings of Heaven were vast and deep, and no one could glimpse their mysteries.

One day, he suddenly asked to return to the mountains. Later, when Su Jun’s rebellion broke out and his forces invaded, everyone believed Guo Wen had foreseen the upheaval and left in time. Ge Hong and Yu Chan both wrote biographies of him, praising his virtue. During the Qianhua era of the Liang dynasty, Guo Wen was bestowed the title True Lord of Numinosity and Radiance.

Daozhi

Ji Kang, whose courtesy name was Shuye, was from Quan County in the State of Qiao. He lost his father at an early age. Gifted by nature, he was far more talented than ordinary people. He stood seven chi and eight cun tall. His speech was refined and his bearing graceful, yet he made no deliberate effort to improve his appearance, leaving it as nature had shaped it. People praised his bearing as that of a dragon or phoenix, and said he was naturally unadorned.

Though no teacher instructed him personally, Ji Kang read widely and was learned in many fields. He became related by marriage to the imperial house of Wei and later served as a Grand Master of the Palace Secretariat. He practiced ways of nourishing his nature and taking substances for health, and also loved playing the qin and composing poetry, believing these pursuits were enough to give expression to his thoughts. He held that whether someone could become an immortal was determined by inborn endowment, not attained through years of study. As for breathing and movement practices for health, he believed that mastering their principles could bring a long and contented life, perhaps even one as long as Pengzu’s. He therefore wrote the “Treatise on Nourishing Life.”

Ji Kang often thought of those who shared his feelings: Ruan Ji of Chenliu and Shan Tao of Hanoi. They were close companions of Xiang Xiu, Liu Ling, and Ruan Xian, Ruan Ji’s nephew; Wang Rong later joined them as well. They gathered among the bamboo groves, and their circle came to be known as the “Bamboo Grove Gathering.” Wang Rong said that he had lived near Ji Kang in Shanyang for twenty years and had never seen him show anger or delight.

Ji Kang sometimes gathered herbs while traveling through the mountains and countryside. If he came upon a place that pleased him, he would lose track of time and forget to return. Qiao Su once met him and said he seemed like an immortal. Later, in the mountains of Jixian, Ji Kang met Sun Deng and spent time in his company. Sun Deng was quiet and reserved, and kept a firm hold on himself. When Ji Kang was about to leave, he asked Sun Deng to offer him a parting word. Sun Deng replied, “Your talent is great, but you have yet to learn enough about how to preserve yourself.”

Ji Kang also met Wang Lie, and the two entered the mountains together. Wang Lie once found a substance like malt syrup, the marrow of a stone. He drank half and gave the other half to Ji Kang, but both portions hardened into stone. Another time, Wang Lie saw a white scroll in a stone chamber and hurriedly called Ji Kang to take it. In an instant, the scroll had vanished. Wang Lie sighed, “Shuye’s aims and interests are extraordinary, but he never seems to meet with the right opportunity.”

When Shan Tao was about to leave his post selecting officials, he recommended Ji Kang as his successor. Ji Kang then wrote to Shan Tao, severing their friendship. The letter said, in essence: “I have heard the words left by a Daoist: taking the herb huangjing can prolong life. I believe this very much. I love wandering through mountains and marshes, watching fish and birds, and it brings me great joy. Once I take office, I will no longer be able to do these things. How could I give up the life I love to pursue what I fear? For now, I only want to live in a humble lane, raise and educate my descendants, and occasionally gather with friends and relatives to talk about our lives. Then I can drink a cup of turbid wine and play a tune on the qin. That would be enough for me.”

After the letter circulated, people understood that Ji Kang could not be constrained by others. Bao, the governor of Nanhai, was said to possess the ability to communicate with spirits. Xu Ning, a man from Donghai, became his disciple. One night, Xu Ning heard music coming from Bao’s room and was amazed by the exquisite playing. He asked Bao who was playing. Bao replied, “That is Ji Shuye.” Xu Ning said, “Ji Kang was executed at the eastern marketplace. How could he be here?” Bao answered, “Shuye merely showed that his physical form had come to an end; in truth, he underwent corpse liberation.” Corpse liberation is a Daoist account of practitioners leaving the mortal world and becoming immortals through the transformation or relinquishment of their body. This story appears in Gu Kaizhi’s “Eulogy to Ji Kang.”

Ruan Ji, styled Sizu, was from Yushi County in Chenliu Commandery. He was striking in appearance, broad-minded and free-spirited, and carried himself with proud ease. Later, he departed from the world through shijie, a Daoist legendary means of transcending the physical body and becoming an immortal. See Gu Kaizhi’s “Praise of Ji Kang.”

Ruan Ji, styled Sizu, was from Yushi County in Chenliu Commandery. He was striking in appearance, broad-minded and free-spirited, and carried himself with proud ease. He followed his own nature without restraint, yet did not show joy or anger on his face. At times he would shut himself away to read and not go out for months; at other times he would wander among mountains and waters, playing until nightfall and forgetting to return home. He read widely and especially loved the Zhuangzi and the teachings of Laozi. He once wrote the “Discourse on Understanding Zhuangzi,” praising the Dao of Wuwei (non-action); its contents need not be recorded here in full. He wrote more than eight thousand “Poems of Longing,” which earned the admiration of people of his time.

Ruan Ji loved wine, was skilled at giving long whistles, and could also play the qin. When pleased, he often forgot himself, and people of his time generally considered him foolish. Hearing that the cooks at the infantry camp were skilled at brewing wine and had stored three hundred hu of it, he asked to serve as infantry commandant and from then on took no interest in worldly affairs. He could also express approval and disapproval with his eyes: when he saw people who prized conventional etiquette, he gave them a sidelong glance with the whites of his eyes showing. According to legend, when someone he liked came to visit, he welcomed them with a direct gaze, his pupils showing.

He once met Sun Deng on Mount Sumen and spoke with him about the past and present, as well as methods of cultivating the spirit and guiding Qi. Sun Deng did not respond. Ruan Ji then gave a long whistle and left. Halfway down the mountain, he heard a sound from the valley like the cry of a luan phoenix. Looking back, he saw that it was Sun Deng giving a long whistle. After returning, he wrote “Biography of the Great Man,” whose general meaning was this:

The so-called gentlemen of the world know only how to obey rules and restrain themselves. They hold ritual vessels in their hands and never let their steps stray beyond convention. Their words and actions concern only the present, though they also seek lasting fame. Thus they win praise in their home districts, and their reputations spread to neighboring states. They aspire to rise to the Three Excellencies, and even at the lowest, they refuse to lose the post of governor of a province.

Have they never seen the lice that live in the seams of clothes, hiding in the torn padding and believing themselves to dwell in a safe and comfortable place? They dare not leave the seams, nor let their movements stray beyond the crotch of the garment, convinced that they follow the rules in every respect. But when a fire breaks out and burns the whole city, the lice trapped inside the clothes cannot escape either. How are gentlemen confined within the worldly order any different from these lice? This, too, was the aspiration in Ruan Ji’s heart.

Ruan Ji often drove alone wherever his fancy took him, following no set road. When the carriage reached a place with no road onward, he would weep bitterly, then turn back. Once he climbed Mount Guangwu and gazed out over the sites of the battles between Chu and Han. He sighed, “There were no heroes in the world, so these fellows became famous.” Ruan Ji died in the fourth year of the Jingyuan era.

Daoist and Confucian Learning

Xiang Xiu, whose courtesy name was Ziqi, was from Huai County in Henei. He was intelligent and perceptive, had far-reaching insight, and was especially fond of the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi. As a young man, he won Shan Tao’s admiration.

The Zhuangzi, written by Zhuang Zhou, is divided into the Inner Chapters and the Outer Chapters. In addition to the existing commentaries, Xiang Xiu wrote his own, bringing out the work’s subtle meaning and greatly advancing the study of metaphysics. However, he had not finished commenting on “Autumn Floods” and the first part of “Supreme Happiness.” During the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, Guo Xiang, whose courtesy name was Zixuan, took up Xiang Xiu’s commentary, organizing and expanding it.

Xiang Xiu was friends with Ji Kang and Lü An, but each had different interests. Ji Kang was proud and unconstrained, Lü An carefree and uninhibited, while Xiang Xiu loved reading. When Xiang Xiu planned to comment on the Zhuangzi, he told Ji Kang and Lü An first. They both said, “Why does this book need a commentary? You’re only giving up something enjoyable for nothing.” When the commentary was finished, Xiang Xiu showed it to them. Ji Kang said, “Is this one better than your earlier work?” Lü An exclaimed, “Zhuang Zhou is still alive!” Xiang Xiu also commented on the Zhouyi. Its main ideas are worth reading, though its strengths and weaknesses differ from those of the Han dynasty Confucian scholars’ commentaries. It is not as outstanding as his commentary on the Zhuangzi.

Ji Kang was also skilled at forging iron, and Xiang Xiu often helped him. The two sat facing each other, at ease and content, as if no one else were there. Later, Xiang Xiu was summoned by the authorities of his home commandery and went to Luoyang. Emperor Wen asked him, “I hear you aspire to live in seclusion at Mount Ji. Why have you come here?” Xiang Xiu replied, “I believe that men like Chao Fu and Xu You, who held fast to their personal integrity, did not understand Yao’s intentions. They are therefore not worth admiring too greatly.” Emperor Wen was pleased by his answer.

Later, a neighbor played the flute, its clear, piercing notes carrying far. Remembering the days when he had toured and feasted with Ji Kang, Xiang Xiu listened and sighed with emotion. He then wrote “Rhapsody on Remembering the Past.” He rose to the post of Palace Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry and later died.

Daoist and Confucian Learning

Huangfu Mi, whose courtesy name was Shi’an and whose childhood name was Jing, was from Anding. He was the great-grandson of Huangfu Song, a Grand Commandant of the Han dynasty.

Daoist and Confucian Learning

Huangfu Mi, whose courtesy name was Shi’an and whose childhood name was Jing, was a native of Anding. He was the great-grandson of Huangfu Song, a Grand Commandant of the Han dynasty. At the age of twenty, he had little interest in reading. Later, he studied under his fellow townsman Xi Tan. His family was poor, so he carried books with him while working the fields. In time, he read widely in the classics and the writings of the various schools, becoming deeply learned.

Huangfu Mi was quiet by nature and had few desires. Later, he resolved to pursue a lofty way of life. He devoted himself to writing and called himself “Master Dark Banquet.” He wrote treatises on ritual and music, sages, and perfected beings. Later, though he suffered from wind paralysis, he refused to put down his books. When someone urged him to cultivate a reputation and make many friends, he responded with his Treatise on Guarding the Mysterious, saying, “Poverty is the ordinary lot of a scholar; low status damages one’s moral principles.” He did not seek wealth, honor, or advancement, but immersed himself in ancient texts until he forgot his illness and even to eat. People of the time called him “book-obsessed,” meaning someone consumed by reading.

Someone warned him that excessive reading would wear down his spirit. Huangfu Mi replied, “If I hear the great Dao in the morning, it would be worth dying that very evening. Besides, the length of one’s life is already determined and arranged by Heaven.” The court once recommended him for the post of Filial and Incorrupt, summoned him to serve as an official under the Chancellor, and recommended him as a worthy and upright man, but he declined every summons. He submitted a request to Emperor Wu of Jin to borrow books, and the emperor sent him a cartload. Though frail and often ill, he continued reading without pause. The court summoned him repeatedly, but he never took office. He died in the second year of the Taikang era.

His works, including The Record of Emperors and Kings and biographies of recluses, hermits, and virtuous women, were all highly regarded in his time.

Volume Two of the Record of Mysterious Qualities ends here. Next comes Volume Three of the Record of Mysterious Qualities.

Compiled by Zhang Tianyu of Haichang, Wu Commandery, the Outer Historian of Mount Qugu

Daoist Qualities

Ge Hong, courtesy name Zhichuan, was from Jurong in Danyang. He loved learning from an early age. Because his family was poor, he cut firewood himself and exchanged it for paper and ink. At night he often copied books and read them aloud, and so became known for his Confucian learning. He was calm by nature and had few desires. He took no particular pleasure in games and did not even know how many lines a chessboard had or what the pieces were called. Plainspoken and unassuming, he did not pursue fame or profit. He often shut his door to visitors and rarely socialized. Yet when seeking books or asking about the meaning of texts, he did not shrink from long and difficult journeys, always hoping to learn something.

Ge Hong was especially devoted to the arts of immortal cultivation and daoyin practices for health and longevity. His elder kinsman Ge Xuan, revered in Daoism as the Immortal Lord Ge, attained the Dao and became an immortal. Ge Xuan passed secret methods of alchemical preparation to his disciple Zheng Yin. Ge Hong became Zheng Yin’s student, withdrew from the world to study, and eventually mastered these methods.

In the early years of the Xianhe era, Wang Dao, the Minister over the Masses, summoned Ge Hong to serve as a Registrar for the province. Later, he also selected him as Palace Attendant Cavalier and assigned him to oversee literary affairs. Ge Hong firmly declined these appointments and did not take up the posts. In his later years, he wished to prepare elixirs. Hearing that Jiaozhi produced cinnabar, he requested appointment as magistrate of Goulu County. The emperor considered his rank and standing too high for the post and refused. Ge Hong said, “I am not seeking office for its honors; I only want to go there because it has cinnabar.” The emperor then granted his request. When Ge Hong reached Guangzhou, Governor Deng Yue persuaded him to stay and would not let him continue onward. Ge Hong therefore remained on Mount Luofu to prepare elixirs. He spent many years on the mountain, living quietly and cultivating himself while continuing to write.

In his preface, Ge Hong wrote: “I was never one to strive for advancement or seek a name for myself. Instead, I have always loved the quiet work of cultivating the Dao through Wuwei (non-action). If I had strong wings, I could soar straight into the sky; if I could stride freely, I could race the wind and the sun. Yet I would rather fold my powerful wings and mingle with ordinary birds, hide my swift steps, and keep company with lame donkeys. Is it because Heaven and Earth gave me only the short wings of an ordinary creature, or because the workings of creation gave me the slowest of feet? Knowing my limits, I would not foolishly imagine myself a fly capable of rising to the highest sky, nor urge a lame turtle to race a flying hare. So I no longer look for wealth and glory, but am content with a life of hardship in a remote place. A splendid house may have fine food, but a hut of thatch has its own comforts.”

The Confucian scholars of the world knew only how to revere the Duke of Zhou and Confucius. They did not believe in the books of the immortals; worse, they mocked them loudly and disparaged the true principles. For this reason, Ge Hong wrote the Inner and Outer Chapters of the Baopuzi, comprising 116 chapters. With modesty, he said that his works were not yet worthy of being hidden in a famous mountain, though he hoped they might be kept in a golden coffer for people of insight. The book took its title from his literary name. Ge Hong was widely learned, with few in the Jiangnan region who could match him. His writings were as extensive as those of Ban Gu and Sima Qian, and he was also skilled at examining subtle and mysterious matters, explaining principles with meticulous precision.

One day, Ge Hong was sitting when midday came. Suddenly, he seemed to fall asleep and died at the age of eighty-one. After his death, his face looked lifelike and his body remained supple. When he was placed in the coffin, he was very light, as if it held only an empty garment. According to legend, he had “become an immortal through corpse liberation”—a Daoist belief that the spirit departs, leaving the physical body behind.

The Authority of the Dao

Wang Xizhi, whose courtesy name was Yishao, was the nephew of Wang Dao, Minister over the Masses. He excelled at clerical script, and his calligraphy was acclaimed as the finest of all time. Those who praised it said that the flow of his brush was graceful as drifting clouds and vigorous as a startled dragon. He once judged his own work this way: “My calligraphy can hold its own against Zhong You’s; as for cursive script, I fear I still fall short of Zhang Zhi.”

Wang Xizhi was highly valued by his elder cousins Wang Dun and Wang Dao. When he first entered government service, he served as a Secretariat Gentleman; later, he became General of the Right Army and Administrator of Kuaiji. He favored practices for nourishing his nature through ingesting medicines and other substances in pursuit of longevity, and did not wish to remain in the capital. As soon as he crossed the Zhejiang River, he began thinking that he would spend the rest of his life there. Kuaiji’s mountains and waters were beautiful, and many distinguished men lived there. Xie An, before entering office, had also resided in the area.

Wang Xizhi once gathered with like-minded friends for a banquet at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin and wrote the preface himself. Someone compared it with Pan Yue’s “Preface to the Poems from the Golden Valley,” and Wang Xizhi was delighted when he heard of the comparison.

By nature, he loved geese. A Daoist in Shanyin kept a flock of fine geese. Wang Xizhi went to see them, liked them greatly, and wanted to buy them. The Daoist said, “If you copy the Dao De Jing for me, I’ll give you the whole flock.” Wang Xizhi gladly agreed. When he had finished writing, he packed up the geese and took them home. That was more or less how candid and free-spirited he was.

Later, Wang Xizhi feigned illness to resign his post as administrator of the commandery. He wrote a declaration and swore before his parents’ tombs that he would never again enter government service. After leaving office, he traveled among the mountains and waters with distinguished men from the Kuaiji region and practiced ingesting medicines and gathering herbs with Xu Xianmai. He died at the age of fifty-nine.

Xu Mai, whose courtesy name was Shuxuan and whose other name was Ying, was from Jurong in Danyang. From childhood he was fond of Daoist arts and secretly sought out profound truths. He once consulted Guo Pu about his fortunes and received the hexagram Great Strength changing to Great Possession, with the top line moving. Guo Pu said, “Your fortune is greatly auspicious, and Heaven’s will favors you. You should study the way of ascending to immortality.”

Xu Mai first became a disciple of Bao Shuo, learning the Central Method and the Inner Writings of the Three Sovereigns. Later he left home, saying that Mount Xuanliu in Yuhang, near Maoshan in Yanling, was the western gate of Dongting. Its waterways connected with the Five Sacred Mountains, and it was a place where Chen Anshi and Mao Jiwei had once traveled. He therefore established a place for quiet cultivation on Mount Xuanliu and traveled among the grottoes of Maoling. On the first and fifteenth days of each month, and on other such occasions, he returned home to visit his parents. After they died, he sent his wife, Lady Sun, back to her family, let his hair hang loose, cast off worldly entanglements, and adopted “Xuan” as his name.

During his travels, Xu Mai associated with Wang Xizhi and his sons. Wang Ziyou—Wang Huizhi, Wang Xizhi’s son—treated him with the respect due a teacher. Xu Mai once wrote to Wang Xizhi that south of Shanyin, around Lin’an, there were many halls of gold and chambers of jade, immortals, and numinous fungi and herbs. Zuo Yuanfang and other Han-dynasty adepts who had attained the Dao were all there.

In the autumn of Yonghe’s fourth year, Xu Mai lived in seclusion on the western mountain of Lin’an, then entered Chishan in Linhai. There he made friends with Wang Shilong, Zhao Daoxuan, Fu Taichu, and others. He later became Wang Shilong’s disciple, studying Daoist methods for release from worldly burdens and the method of reversing the course, and taking such substances for cultivation as jade liquid and the essence of morning dew. Within two or three years, his complexion had become radiant and his appearance had grown youthful again; his cultivation of the Dao had advanced greatly. Thereafter, Mao Siming, Jie Dinglu Jun, recommended him for presentation to the celestial realm, arranged for his name to be transferred to the Eastern Register, and granted him the status of an earthbound immortal.

At that time, Zhou Fang, the appointed official of the Left Bureau of the Three Offices’ Prohibitions, and Yan Baihu, the envoy responsible for investigating offenses, came to Chishan intending to take Xu Mai away and charge him with crimes. They produced registers of offenses written on cinnabar slips, each holding a copy, and challenged Xu Mai: “Those who wish to study the Dao, seek long life, and have their names entered among the perfected must accumulate merit across generations, avoid calamity and wrongdoing, cultivate hidden virtue, and cherish benevolence. Only then may they seek immortality and be entered in the registers of the grotto-heavens. Yet your father personally killed Xie Gong and took part in a rebellion, offending the sun, moon, and stars. He also once said he would cut off Li Ji’s head in place of Cai Fu’s; he pursued Pan, Cai, and others; dismembered Cao Biao and others; sank Tang Yun’s body in the water; burned Xu Ang’s remains; strangled Huan Zheng; and hacked Zhen Shi to death with a sword. He inflicted cruel punishments and was responsible for the wrongful deaths of forty-three people. Their grievances reached the Heavenly Emperor; his sins and calamities piled up like a mountain, and he had no good deeds to his credit. You yourself originally belonged to the Bo family’s Daoist tradition and accepted offerings from the people. The sins of your former lives are also recorded in the registers of the Three Offices. Yet now you have luckily escaped prosecution and attached yourself to the true Qi. Father and son each worshipped under different teachers, but were at odds with one another and did not serve together as libationers—the Daoist officeholders responsible for ritual and religious affairs. Your guilt is grave, and punishment in the underworld still lies ahead. With sins accumulated to this degree, how could you become an immortal? Do you imagine you can deceive the officials of the Most High and have your name engraved in the register of the deathless? If you have no answer, the responsible officers will surely arrest you.”

Xu Mai managed a loud, strained shout, shook his sleeves, smoothed his hair, and then steadied his breath before rebuking them: “The Great Dao favors neither kin nor stranger; it assists those who are good. Heaven and Earth have no private interests; they show compassion according to virtue. Thus even when spring water runs red with blood, this does not prevent a sage from following Heaven’s mandate. Nor do the land of the Three Miao being stained red and the plants of Zhuolu turning crimson prevent a great sage from manifesting transformations and ascending to the upper realm.

“My ancestor seven generations back, Xu Zi’e, accumulated benevolence and even secretly extended kindness to birds and beasts. In years of famine and hardship, the people were starving and then struck by plague; only one in ten survived. Xu Zi’e gave away all his wealth to help them, personally preparing medicines and caring for the sick. When others held funerals, he grieved as if he had lost his own kin; when others suffered calamity or illness, he worried as though he himself were sick. He cared for those whose lives hung by a thread and who stood at the edge of ruin as though they were his own family. Four hundred and eight people crossed the years of disaster and saved their lives through his help. Benevolence does not end; its blessings will in time be passed down to later generations. His merit was therefore recorded with the Lord on High, and his virtue inscribed in the numinous pavilion of Heaven, bringing grace upon my family and blessings to our descendants. This is why my family has prospered for generations and our younger members are born with a love of the Way of immortality. Five are destined to transcend the world, and three have attained immortality, their names entered in the Most High’s register of immortals and the bamboo slips of the Azure Palace. How could mere officials like you interfere in such matters?”

When he finished speaking, Zhou Fang and the others suddenly burst out laughing. At that moment, Lord Siming immediately dispatched Li Zun, a middle-ranking officer, carrying a fire bell to rebuke and subdue them. Zhou Fang and Yan Baihu fled. Before Li Zun arrived, Xu Mai himself had been so frightened that his breath grew short and his whole body trembled. He was able to give this reply only with the help of his teacher, Wang Shilong; he had nearly failed. Afterward, Xu Mai’s name was entered in the Eastern Palace register of immortals, and he became an immortal of middling rank.

In the third year of Liang Qianhua, in the seventh month, he was titled Guīyī.