《云笈七签》Vol. 41

Yin Changsheng told Jing, “The Most High sent me to Chicheng. Because you hold in your heart the intention to seek the Dao, you are able to see me.” Jing immediately dismounted, bowed to him, and offered his greetings. Before he had a chance to explain his circumstances, Yin Changsheng had already begun to fade into the distance. Jing then asked, “Judging by your bearing and your steps, you must be no ordinary person, but a practitioner of the Dao, must you not?” The man replied, “I am the immortal Yin Changsheng. The Most High sent me to Chicheng. Because you hold in your heart the intention to seek the Dao, you are able to see me.”

Yin Changsheng said, “Ten years from now, warfare will break out here, and blood will flow everywhere.” His prediction pointed to the Su Jun Rebellion, which took place exactly ten years later. Knowing that Jing had long admired the immortal way, Yin Changsheng said, “Since we have met, I should pass on to you the method of becoming an immortal.” He considered departing the world through “corpse liberation” after becoming an immortal to be the highest method. Corpse liberation is a Daoist term for a practitioner who uses a substitute corpse to feign death while their true body departs. The higher form of corpse liberation uses a knife; the lower, bamboo or wood. In either method, one dips a brush in divine elixir and writes the “Great High, Great Profound Yinsheng Talisman” on both sides of the blade. Before long, the written characters disappear, and others see the practitioner dead in bed. The true body has already escaped and does not return home; the family takes the knife for the practitioner’s corpse. The method using bamboo or wood is carried out in the same way. Yin Changsheng then passed this method on to Jing.

Yin Changsheng also discussed with Jing the length of the Jin dynasty’s fortune. He used one to represent ten, and expanded ten to represent a hundred, thereby hinting at Emperor Yuan, the founding emperor of the Eastern Jin. In public, he claimed to have arrived at this through calendrical calculations, without saying Yin Changsheng had disclosed it. Yin Changsheng had instructed him to do so.

Volume 107 · Biographies Section · Biography 5

A Brief Biography of Master Tao—Written by Xie Yue of Wuxing in the Tenth Year of Yongming

(The following passage repeats material from earlier: He used one to represent ten, and expanded ten to represent a hundred, thereby hinting at Emperor Yuan. In public, he claimed this came from calendrical calculations and did not say that Yin Changsheng had told him, because Yin Changsheng had instructed him to do so.)

The Master’s name was Hongjing, and he was from Danyang. Even as a child, he showed an unusual character. Bright and widely read, he had studied the Five Classics, the works of the various masters, and the histories in depth. He excelled at calligraphy and had mastered the brush styles of writers from ancient and recent times. He did not wish to marry or enter official service. Because his family’s means were not yet sufficient, he briefly took a low-ranking post as a reader to the Prince of Yidu. In his twenties, he gradually began taking medicines and other substances as part of Daoist health and cultivation practices, and followed Daoist teachings. The talismanic writings and wondrous methods he received had been passed down by Perfected Ones, a title of respect for those who had attained the Dao. As his cultivation advanced, he withdrew from worldly affairs and lived in seclusion on Maoshan. He had a clear, handsome appearance, bright and lively eyes, a slender build, a long neck, and unusually prominent ears; he was plainly different from others.

The Record of the Origins of the Master of Huayang Hermitage was written by his grandnephew Yi, courtesy name Muyu. In the tenth year of Yongming, the year jimao, after Xie Yue returned from Wuxing, he heard that the Master had left the world and entered the mountains. Deeply saddened, he also held the Master in great reverence. While traveling, Xie Yue wrote this biography of him. Although it could not provide a full and detailed account, it outlined the main events, much as Wang Xizhi had written the Biography of Master Xu. Yi was the grandnephew of the Master of the Hermitage. The Master’s name was Hongjing, his courtesy name Tongming, and he was from Danyang. His home stood east of the southern ridge of Baiyang Lane. At the beginning of the Song, a land and household reorganization reassigned Tongxia Village in the western district of Moling County to this area. The Master’s family still lives there to this day.

The Tao family’s ancestral home was Pingyang in Jizhou, and they were descendants of Emperor Yao of the Tao-Tang lineage. Emperor Yao had once governed the realm from Pingyang in Jizhou, and so the Tao family settled there.

After the Han dynasty was founded, Tao She served as Right Sima to Emperor Gaozu of Han. His son, Tao Qing, rose to become chancellor. The Tao family’s thirteenth-generation ancestor, Tao Chao, crossed the Yangtze in the final years of the Eastern Han and settled in Danyang.

The seventh-generation ancestor, Tao Jun, was the younger brother of Tao Huang, the Inspector of Jiaozhou. He served the state of Wu as General Who Pacifies the South and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jurong, with a fief supporting two thousand households. He surrendered to the Jin dynasty alongside Sun Hao and was later appointed Gentleman of Discussion, Regular Attendant of the Palace, and Minister.

The sixth-generation ancestor, Tao Mo, was Tao Jun’s third son. During the Yongjia era, he served as Sima to Sima Yue, Prince of Donghai, commanding garrison troops and accompanying Sima Yue on a campaign to Xuchang. After their defeat, he crossed the Yangtze and went south, where he became a staff officer to the General-in-Chief Wang Dun. When Wang Dun was promoted to chancellor, Tao Mo became Director of Military Counselors, an official responsible for deliberations in the military headquarters. Later, he accompanied Wang Dun south. Fearing that he might be implicated in disaster, he submitted a petition asking to be removed from the clan register. He was barred from office for many years. In his later years, he was appointed staff officer to the chariot-and-cavalry chancellor, but did not take up the post. He died in the fourth year of the Shengping era and was first buried separately on a ridge of Baishi Mountain, north of Jianhu Lake.

The great-grandfather, Tao Pi, was perceptive and exceptionally capable, but was dismissed over a matter involving his writing. Unwilling to enter public service, he declined appointments from both the province and the commandery. Later, the court appointed him by official document to serve as a junior administrative officer in Nan’an, but he still did not take up the post. He died in the third year of the Yuanxing era.

The great-great-grandfather, Tao Xinggong, was versatile but poor at managing property. He once served as a commandery administrative aide, was recommended as a Filial and Incorruptible candidate, and was then appointed magistrate of Guangjin County. He died in the second year of the Yixi era.

The grandfather, Tao Long, stood seven feet five inches tall and had a striking appearance and great physical strength. He was skilled at riding and archery, enjoyed reading, wrote well, and understood the properties of medicines. He made helping others his priority. He served as a staff officer to the General-in-Chief Who Pacifies the South and earned merit while accompanying Emperor Xiaowu of Song in suppressing a rebellion. He was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jin’an. Later, when appointed to a junior administrative post, he firmly declined. Yan Jun, relying on the emperor’s favor, demanded his residence to enlarge a Buddhist temple. Tao Long refused and resigned from office. He was later falsely accused, stripped of his title, and exiled to Guangzhou. He was subsequently pardoned and appointed magistrate of Youping County in Nanhai, while also overseeing Xinhui Commandery. He died there in the fifth year of the Daming era.

His father was Zhenbao, whose courtesy name was Guozhong. He was summoned to serve as an attendant by Liu Xiuren, Prince of Jian’an and Grand Marshal. He later became an Investigating Censor of the Southern Office and then took up the post of magistrate of Xiaochang County in Jiangxia. He was also skilled at horseback riding and archery, and excelled in cursive and clerical script. His family was poor, and he made a living by copying scriptures, earning forty coins for each sheet. In calligraphy, he followed the styles of Yang Xin and Xiao Sihua. Zhenbao was well versed in medicine and occult techniques, widely read in the writings of the various masters and in histories, fond of literature, and possessed an elegant bearing.

He had a wide circle of friends and associates, including Xiao Sihua, Wang Zhao, and Liu Bing, and was often held in high regard by the powerful. In the winter of the fourth year of Yuanhui, he was ordered to travel on an embassy to Futing and cultivate friendly relations with neighboring states. He received great praise for his mission. After returning to the capital in the first year of Shengping, he wrote several thousand words of travel notes and poetry, along with other works. Liu Bing once asked to see these writings, but they were later lost amid the upheaval at Stone City. No copies survived, and so they were never passed down to later generations. In the third year of Jianyuan, he died in the county, and his remains were returned for burial in the family’s ancestral tomb.

His mother was Lady Hao of Donghai, named Zhizhan. She was a devout Buddhist, and auspicious signs appeared when she died. Earlier, Zhenbao had taken his family to follow the Xiao clan to Yingzhou. In the second year of Xiaojian, the Xiao clan died. In September of that same year, his mother discovered that she was pregnant. She then dreamed that a small green dragon suddenly flew out of her body and rose straight eastward into the sky; she gazed after it, but could not see its tail. When she awoke, she quietly told a bhikkhuni (a Buddhist nun) about the dream, saying, “…”

You will certainly give birth to a boy, and he will become an extraordinary person. But I fear you will have no descendants.” The nun asked him why he said this, and he replied by describing what had happened in his dream. She then asked, “Are you going to become a monk?” He answered, “If that is indeed what happens, it is also what my heart desires.”

He was twenty-five years old at the time. That winter, he returned to the capital with Xiao’s troops and stayed in the staff offices in front of the archery hall at the Eastern Government Office. At midnight on the night of the thirtieth day of the fourth month, on the jiaxu day of the bing-shen year, the third year of the Xiaojian era (456 CE), this master was born. That year had an intercalary third month; the following day was the new moon, the first day of the lunar month, and also the summer solstice. His mother bathed and got up soon afterward, without suffering any lingering discomfort.

From the age of four or five, the gentleman enjoyed reading. By the age of six, he could already write out passages in a neat, well-formed hand. At nine and ten, he read works such as the Book of Rites, the Book of Documents, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals, and paid close attention to writing.

At eleven, he became the tutor responsible for teaching the classics to Hao, son of Wang Zhao, Chief Secretary to the Minister over the Masses. At thirteen, his father died. He packed his belongings and accompanied Liu Bing, Minister of Personnel, to Huainan Commandery. At fifteen, he returned to the capital and stayed for a time at the home of his relative and friend Xu Zhou. Later, he acquired a residence of his own and never again returned to his former home.

After his capping ceremony, the rite marking a man’s adulthood, at seventeen, he often accompanied Liu Bing to Danyang Commandery. He was provided with meals in Liu Bing’s household and rode horses from the stable when coming and going. Liu Bing’s second son, Yu, was renowned from a young age and at the time served as Director of the Office of the Minister over the Masses. Yu loved books and records, and he and the gentleman often searched them out and studied them together, day and night. They always ate together and traveled in the same carriage. Yu, Jiang Xue, Chu Xuan, and others were known as Emperor Shun’s “Four Friends,” celebrated for their exceptional talent and learning. Yu wrote “Eulogy on the Virtue of the Song” and “Seven Admonitions in Linked Verses,” which were hailed at the time as masterpieces. After Yu’s death, his writings were scattered and lost. The gentleman wanted to gather and compile them, but in the end did not succeed.

In the winter of the first year of Shengming, when the gentleman was twenty-two, he accompanied Liu Bing into Shitou Fortress and took part in Yuan Can’s plans. Together with Han Ben and Mi Dan, he oversaw documents and proclamations. When the plot was exposed and the fortress fell, the gentleman managed to escape. Yu and his elder brother, Di Gai, shaved their heads and became monks in an attempt to evade capture, but they were seized and died in the prison at Jiankang. No one else dared to visit them. The gentleman personally prepared their bodies for burial and laid them to rest, then went to the old tomb at Chaxing to attend to the burial arrangements. Afterward, he withdrew from the world and sought out mountain forests in which to live in seclusion.

During the transition from the Song to the Qi, the political situation was turbulent and people were anxious. The Master had already attached himself to the Liu imperial clan, yet he remained troubled and watchful. His father therefore asked Ji Sengzhen to secure him a post serving Emperor Gao at Xinting. The Master entered the tent and waited to receive his orders.

In the first month of the following year, after Shen Youzhi’s rebellion was put down, the Master accompanied Emperor Gao back to the Eastern Residence. The Duke then assigned him to attend the reading lessons of his fifth son, Jie, and sixth son, Gao, while also helping with documents and everyday affairs. The Master was then twenty-three. He was later appointed Gentleman Attendant to the Prince of Baling.

The next year, the Master followed the Emperor’s founding ancestor as he ascended the throne. After returning to court, he lived within the palace and was appointed Gentleman Attendant to the Grand Commandant and Prince of Yuzhang. The Master said, “At the change of dynasties, I too made a small contribution. Surely I could have received a rank or two?” He therefore declined the appointment.

A year later, the Master accompanied Prince Ancheng out of the capital to garrison Stone City. The following summer, he went to Yingzhou to receive the coffin of Lord Xiaochang, whose death he was mourning. He returned to the capital in winter and buried him there.

After Emperor Shizu took the throne, he summoned the Master, with the title General Who Inspires Martial Might, to serve as tutor to the Prince of Yidu. In the Qi dynasty, tutors also handled the secretarial affairs of the household.

For the post of drafting official documents, a man of literary talent had to be chosen. The Master excelled in every task, whether handling documents for auspicious and inauspicious rites, preparing ceremonial texts for the court and its households, or composing memorials, letters, petitions, and official communications. The letters and institutional documents of several princes also followed the formats he had taught them. Many of the court’s reader-attendants held him in awe; some were jealous and spoke against him. The Master let them do as they pleased and paid no attention.

At the age of twenty-eight, after completing his period of mourning, the Master was summoned to serve as General of the Palace Guard of the Left. The appointment surprised people at the time. He himself was astonished and could not understand the reason, so he told Yu Daomin about the obstacles in his official career and how long he had gone without promotion. Yu Daomin explained the matter directly to Emperor Wu. The emperor said, “This was an office personally appointed by the late emperor. Did you not know? Why would you still decline it?” Yu Daomin relayed the emperor’s words to the Master. The Master sighed, “Five years have passed since I refused to serve as Attendant to the Prince of Yuzhang, and now I have ended up in this post. A horse at a relay station can never match a fine steed.” He still wanted to refuse firmly.

Yu Daomin urged him earnestly: “Since the Taiyuan era, this post has always been held by men of distinguished families and talent. Pei Songzhi served in it and later became a Gentleman of the Outer Court. Now the only consideration is ability. How does this office do you any wrong? I fear that if you act this way, you will ruin my work.” Yu Daomin had just been appointed to oversee the affairs of the princes’ households, so the Master could not refuse and had to accept the appointment.

When the Master was twenty-nine, Qingxi Palace had just been completed, and Emperor Wu held a banquet there. The Master submitted an ode in praise of the palace, and Fu Manrong also presented a literary composition. The emperor therefore ordered Liu Xi, a Secretariat Chamberlain, to convey his praise, and then commanded that a musical performance with bells and stone chimes be held at the former palace in Yu. The emperor intended to have the Master’s ode engraved on a stone tablet, but Wang Jian objected, and the plan was abandoned. Five men had presented compositions, and the emperor judged the Master’s work the best. He was about to promote him when his mother died, so he left office to observe mourning. Before long, he was appointed General Who Inspires the Martial, and the emperor specially bestowed food, drink, and a stipend on him, allowing him to accompany the Prince of Yidu to the capital.

Later, when the emperor planned to visit Wujin Palace, the Master composed another ode. By the time it was finished, the emperor had canceled the trip, so there was no opportunity to present it. The ode’s style was fresh and exceptional, far surpassing the old conventions. Three years later, the Master returned to the capital and was only then appointed Court Gentleman for Attendance, a sinecure whose duties were to serve at court and attend assemblies. Even after receiving the appointment, he remained unhappy. He wrote to his elder cousin: “When I first entered office, I planned that by around forty I would certainly become a Gentleman of the Secretariat, then be sent out to serve in a reputable county east of the Zhe River, where I could enjoy the mountains and waters for a while before resigning and retiring. I once thought this goal was close at hand. I never imagined that I would already be thirty-six this year and only hold the post of Court Gentleman for Attendance. My prospects are clear enough! I would do better to leave early, rather than endure humiliation in vain.”

After the flood in the fifth month of the second year, he resigned from office and went into seclusion far away. In the past, he had thought his ambitions were within easy reach. Now I am already thirty-six, and have only managed to attain a post that required me to serve at court and attend audiences on set occasions. It is clear enough what prospects this body of mine has for the future. Better to leave early, rather than continue to toil and suffer humiliation.

In the fifth month of the second year, he submitted a memorial asking to be released from his duties, hoping to make his home in the mountains and forests. From then on, his life of secluded retreat and pursuit of lofty aims truly began. That year was the eleventh year of the Yongming era, the Ren Shen year (493 CE).

When the Master first withdrew from public life, he did not intend to bid farewell at the Secretariat. After leaving, he took off his court robes and hung them at Shenhu Gate, put on a deer-hide headcloth of the kind worn by recluses, and went straight out through the Eastern Pavilion. He had first instructed those around him: “Do not let anyone know.” He then went to take leave of Wang Yan. Wang Yan said, “The emperor is strict by nature and governs affairs with great severity. He does not allow people to act in extraordinary or unconventional ways. If this offends the emperor and brings punishment, I fear it will hinder your aspirations. How can you do this?”

The Master remained silent in thought for a long time, then replied, “I am simply following my own aspirations; I am not seeking fame. If I still had to worry about such things, how could that be called fitting?” So he did not go to the Secretariat, but submitted a memorial directly, setting out his intentions. The emperor issued an order granting him ten bolts of silk and twenty sticks of wax candles, and also ordered that he be supplied each month with the finest Poria cocos, a commonly used medicinal herb.

He supplied him with five jin (the original does not specify what this refers to) and two dou of white honey to take as nourishment for health. After bidding farewell to the gentleman, he made ready his boat and sailed eastward. All the guests went to Zhenlu Pavilion to see him off. Raising their cups and waving, they said, “Nothing like this has happened in Jiangdong for a long time. Today, at last, we have seen it with our own eyes!” The gentleman then settled at Mount Juqu in Jurong County.

The gentleman said, “This mountain is the Donggong Palace of Jintan. It extends for 150 li in every direction and is known as the Heaven of Huayang. In the mountain is the Office of the Three Mao Lords of Destiny, the immortal residence governed by the Three Mao Perfected Lords; that is why it is called Mount Mao.” He called himself “Recluse of Huayang,” just as Shian called himself “Xuanyan” and Zhichuan called himself “Baopu.” In all his letters to people in the world, he used this title in place of his given name.

The gentleman was skilled at examining ancient texts and explaining the Seven Classics. He could grasp and clarify their central meaning, but disliked advancing new interpretations of his own, unlike earlier Confucian scholars. He set most of his views down in writing and rarely discussed them face to face. He was especially well versed in the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), Yin-Yang, fengjiao and weather divination based on wind direction and atmospheric conditions, Taiyi Dunjia, the art of calculating times and directions, as well as astrology, calendrical methods, and computation. He was also familiar with geography, regional products, medical prescriptions, and the proportions used in preparing incense and medicines. He had carefully studied the kinds of insects, birds, plants, and trees as well.

He was skilled in clerical script. His calligraphy did not follow conventional forms but had a style of its own, with strokes both powerful and graceful. He was also accomplished at playing the qin, playing weiqi, riding, and archery. The gentleman often said that his mind was always like a bright mirror: when confronted with all manner of things, it did not become attached or obstructed. He rarely felt sorrow, was not jealous or competitive, and regarded grief and joy with equanimity; his anger and delight were both measured. If his words or actions occasionally revealed emotion, he said, it was only to make things apparent and alert others. Inwardly, he felt neither pleasure nor anger.

In the years jiazi, yichou, and bingyin, the gentleman went to the Xing Shi Pavilion…

During the three years of Jiazi, Yichou, and Bingyin, the Master went to consult Sun Youyue of Dongyang, head of the Xing Shi Hall, about Daoist Fulu (talismans and registers), charts and texts, scriptures, and methods of cultivation. Although the teachings passed down through his lineage were all reliable originals, the books had been copied many times, and the Master remained dissatisfied with some of them. He therefore searched widely in different places, hoping to correct their errors.

In the year Wuchen, the Master visited Mount Mao for the first time and obtained the original handwritten works of Yang Xi and Xu Mi, early figures in the Shangqing Daoist tradition. He was delighted. In the year Gengwu, he again requested leave to travel east through the regions of Zhejiang and Yue, searching far and wide for signs of the uncanny. He went to Mount Dahong in Kuaiji to visit the lay practitioner Lou Huiming; to Mount Taiping in Yuyao to visit the lay practitioner Du Jingchan; to Mount Qi in Shining to visit the ritual master Zhong Yishan; and to Mount Tiantai in Tianfeng to visit the monk Biao. He also called on Daoist acquaintances he had known for a long time in various places. In all, he obtained more than ten scrolls of writings left by perfected beings. He returned only after spending more than two hundred days traveling among mountains and waters.

Later, he also traveled throughout Mount Chang in Dongyang, Mount Tianmu in Wuxing, and the famous mountains of Yucun, Linhai, and Angu. He was agile and climbed mountain slopes without difficulty. He cared for those living in cold and lonely places, rescued people in danger, and treated the sick, never slackening from morning to night. He also quietly performed many good deeds and acts of kindness, which no one knew about. Even when he borrowed other people’s books, he would correct their errors as he read. During his lifetime, he wrote many works, but they have not been preserved. Here we carefully list the titles of the books he wrote and the works in which he recorded matters of the world and the Daoist teachings:

Xueyuan, in ten juan (fascicles).

The Xueyuan comprises ten sections and one hundred scrolls. The Master often said, “Books of all kinds are mixed together in great disorder. When you want to look up a particular subject, you cannot leaf through every book.” So he excerpted and compiled useful material from past and present, arranging it by category under one hundred and fifty headings and naming the work Xueyuan. In scope it can be compared to the Huanglan, while its coverage is ten times as detailed. Recently the Master told me, “I no longer have time to continue compiling this book. You can carry it on and bring it to completion. Once it is finished, those who study and write will no longer have to search elsewhere to find what they need.”

The Classic of Filial Piety and the Collected Commentaries on the Analects form one section of twelve scrolls, both annotated according to the author’s own interpretation. The Preface to the Three Rituals, in one scroll, was also annotated by the author. The Commentary on the Book of Documents and the Preface to the Mao Odes make up one scroll. The Zuo Commentary has already been annotated by Liu Shi and He Daoyang. The Brief Examples of the Changes is the same as the Preface to the Changes, and needs no further annotation.

The Collected Inner and Outer Commentaries on Laozi, in four scrolls, was annotated according to the author’s own interpretation. The Notes on the Three Kingdoms, in one scroll; the Commentary on the Master Who Embraces Simplicity, in twenty scrolls; and the Missing Characters in the Shiyu, in two scrolls, draw on Lu Wen’s text and the author’s own understanding to supply characters missing from the Shiyu. The Continuation of the Shishuo on Prince Kang of Linchuan, in two scrolls; the Brief Commentaries on the Books of Taigong, Sunzi, and Wuzi, in two scrolls; and the Record of Prefectures and Commanderies, Past and Present, in three scrolls, are accompanied by a map of the Western Regions.

The Chronology of Emperors and Kings, in five scrolls, begins with the Three Sovereigns and is based on the bamboo texts from the tomb at Jizhong. The author consulted fifty books and compared their differing records of calendrical systems before compiling it. The Collected Records of the True Forms, in three scrolls, and the Records of the Jade Casket, in three scrolls, describe famous mountains and blessed lands. The New and Old Methods of the Seven Luminaries, in two scrolls; the Essentials of Divination, in one scroll, which includes thirteen methods of divination; the Essentials of Divination by Wind, Rain, Flood, Drought, Famine, and Epidemic, in one scroll, which includes ten methods of prognostication; the Miscellaneous Records on Calculation and the Arts, in one scroll; and the Calendar for Determining the Auspiciousness or Inauspiciousness of a Hundred Affairs, in one scroll.

Seven fascicles of Annotations to the Classic of Materia Medica; one fascicle of The Elbow’s Guide, containing thirteen methods; one fascicle of Essentials for Divining Wind, Rain, Flood, Drought, Famine, and Epidemic, containing ten divination methods; one fascicle of Miscellaneous Notes on the Arts of Calculation; and one fascicle of Calendar for Determining Good and Ill Fortune in a Hundred Matters.

There was also another seven-fascicle Annotations to the Classic of Materia Medica, a three-fascicle One Hundred and One Prescriptions from Behind the Elbow, which supplements Ge Hong’s collection of formulas, and a five-fascicle Prescriptions for Effective Use of Medicines. These were all books compiled by people and circulated in the world at that time. He also wrote prefaces to Records of Physiognomy and A Record of Strange Occurrences, among other works, all of which were included in his collected writings.

Hidden Instructions for Ascending to Truehood comprises three sets, or twenty-four fascicles. It explains the essential mysteries and secret transmissions of the path to cultivating the highest truth. It was not circulated among the public. Declarations of the Perfected comprises one set of seven fascicles and records the handwritten traces of revelations imparted by the Perfected to Yang and Xu during the Xingning era of the Jin dynasty. The layman Gu had already compiled this work, but it contained many omissions and errors. It was therefore reexamined, arranged, and annotated; this book, too, was not circulated beyond a limited circle.

Dream Records, in one fascicle, was personally written by the Master to record his dreams and their portentous correspondences. He did not show it to others. Methods and Procedures for Compounding Elixirs comprises one fascicle and describes various methods and steps for refining elixirs. Collected Essentials on Golden Elixir Medicines comprises one fascicle. Thirty-Six Methods of Water for Digesting Mica and Other Mineral Medicines comprises one fascicle and explains how to take mica and other mineral medicines and digest them using thirty-six kinds of water. Methods for Taking Medicines from Plants and Trees comprises one fascicle; Secret Prescriptions for Abstaining from Grain, one fascicle; Hidden Essentials of Efficacious Prescriptions, one fascicle; Essential Methods for Eliminating the Three Corpses, one fascicle—the “Three Corpses” are spirits said in Daoism to dwell in the human body, record a person’s misdeeds, and hinder cultivation; Methods for Absorbing Qi and Practicing Daoyin, one fascicle, which describes health-preserving methods of absorbing Qi and practicing Daoyin; and Methods for Ward­ing Off Calamities and Afflictions in the Human World, one fascicle, which describes ways people can avoid disasters and misfortune.

All nine works above are compiled Daoist books. The Master’s writings were mostly extensive, and the characters were written very small; copying them in larger script would often multiply their length several times over. The books also contain many illustrations and miscellaneous notes, many of which have still not been fully understood or seen.

He also built an armillary sphere about three feet high, with the Earth at its center and the celestial bodies revolving around it while the Earth remained still. Its mechanical movement displayed the positions of the twenty-eight lunar mansions—the star groups distributed across the sky—the courses of the Seven Luminaries (the Sun, Moon, and five planets), the stars at the meridian at dusk and dawn, and the times when stars appeared and disappeared. Everything depicted in the instrument’s motion corresponded to the actual movements of the heavens. Some said that such an instrument was essential for cultivating the Dao; its use, they argued, was not limited to the official historians who observed the heavens.

He also hoped to use flowing water to build a self-operating water clock, one that would cycle through the twelve double-hours without anyone needing to keep watch. But water from mountain streams readily developed moss and grime, and its flow was unstable, so the clock was never completed.

The master was slender, standing seven chi and two cun tall, with a waist only two chi and six cun around. His skin was thin, his sinews and bones prominent, and his complexion pale with a bluish cast. His head and face were rather long, his brows and eyes sparse, and his nose small and straight. His forehead was high, and his ears were long. Inside his left ear was a black mole the size of a bean. From each ear canal grew more than ten coarse hairs, extending outward two or three cun. His chin was square, his temples bare and receding, and both his beard and hair were sparse. On his right shoulder was a purple birthmark about the size of two copper coins. On the inner side of his right thigh were dozens of tiny black moles, many arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper. They rose in square bumps, like the pointed feet of iron spears. An unusual light often shone in his eyes; each eye had a different quality, but he never spoke of it.

People said that from childhood he had been upright and refined in bearing, and that after the age of fifteen he became even more handsome. Whenever he went out, passersby often praised and admired him. Even when traveling in winter, he always carried a fan to shield himself. At the age of twenty-nine, while in Stone City, he suddenly fell ill and lost consciousness. He took no medicine and neither ate nor drank. After seven days, he suddenly awoke, and his illness had passed. He said that he had seen many things. From then on, his appearance became gaunt and haggard, and his voice grew slow and measured in its rise and fall. He has never returned to his former state.

His voice had originally been clear and steady, in keeping with his build. He spoke casually and naturally, without putting on airs. His steps and movements were light and nimble, and his expression was gentle and bright, never severe. People of all ages enjoyed being near him, yet he naturally inspired awe and trust. His disciples gathered around him in attendance, respectful and solemn, as though they were in the imperial court.

From childhood he kept his distance from others. By the time he was a few years old, he no longer shared cups or chopsticks with anyone at meals. As an adult, when traveling or lodging away from home, he always managed to make suitable arrangements with ease. He was not inclined to joke or laugh, and never engaged in worldly banter. He was vigorous and full of energy; he felt no fear walking or lodging alone at night, and in all his life he never had a nightmare. After entering the mountains to cultivate the Dao, he never parted from his headscarf and coarse-cloth Daoist robe.

Tao Hongjing was the seventh-generation descendant of Tao Jun, governor of Jingzhou in the state of Wu. His personal name was Hongjing, his courtesy name Tongming, and he was from Moling in Danyang. While he was still in his mother’s womb, she dreamed that the essence of the sun entered her, and that two celestial beings descended, each holding an incense burner. When she awoke, she told those around her, “The child I am carrying is surely no ordinary person. I fear he will leave no descendants.” From birth, Tao Hongjing seemed different from others. He was clever and perceptive as a child, and as he grew older his learning became broad and profound. After reading the Traditions of Divine Immortals, he resolved to ride clouds and dragons, cultivate immortality, and seek the Dao (the Way).

At the age of seventeen, Tao Hongjing was known, along with Jiang Xue, Chu Xuan, and Liu Yu, as one of the “Four Friends of the Shengming era of the Song.” While serving as an official under the Qi dynasty, he successively tutored several princes and nobles and managed their secretarial documents. His memorials and official writings were praised for their refined literary style and became models for others to follow. When Qingxi Palace was completed, he presented an encomium. The emperor issued an edict praising it and planned to have it carved on a stone stele, but Wang Jian objected, and the plan was dropped.

In his twenties, Tao Hongjing began cultivating the Dao. He later went to Xing Shi Guan to study scriptures and Daoist methods with Master Sun, diligently practicing the essential teachings of the Daoist tradition until he nearly attained insight into what is subtle and hidden. He was later reassigned to the post of Attendant for Court Audiences and immediately submitted a memorial requesting leave from office. The emperor issued an edict to console and encourage him, praised him highly, and granted him generous gifts. The high ministers and nobles held a grand farewell for him at Zhenglu Pavilion, with elaborate canopies and ceremonial attendants. They said that nothing like it had been seen since the Qi dynasty began.

Afterward, Tao Hongjing entered Mount Mao and obtained the authentic scriptures of the Yang Xi and Xu Mi lineage—the Shangqing Daoist texts. He climbed among the mountain cliffs, built a dwelling, and practiced in quiet seclusion. He called himself “Recluse of Huayang” and used that name in his letters. He was especially fond of the sound of wind in the pines and planted pines throughout his courtyard. Whenever he heard the wind blowing through them, he was delighted.

Emperor Ming once tried to summon him to Mount Jiang, but Tao Hongjing refused earnestly and was allowed to remain on Mount Mao. The emperor nevertheless often ordered gifts to be sent to him, so many that he could scarcely receive them all. Tao Hongjing therefore built a three-story pavilion: he lived on the top floor, his disciples occupied the middle floor, and he received visitors on the ground floor. He allowed only one young attendant to carry messages.

Tao Hongjing kept his reputation in check, lived in seclusion, and cultivated the Dao, practicing inwardly in secret. With deep sincerity, he sought the realm of the Dao, as though communicating from afar with immortals amid the rosy clouds. It could be said that he reached communion through spiritual resonance. He stood seven feet eight inches tall. His nature was open and accommodating, modest and cautious. His mind was like a clear mirror, responding readily to whatever came before it. He was seldom troubled by sorrow, felt no jealousy or competitiveness, restrained joy and anger, and held grief and pleasure in check.

He was seven feet eight inches tall. His nature was open and accommodating, and he was modest and cautious in his conduct. His mind was as clear as a bright mirror, allowing him to respond promptly to whatever arose. He rarely felt sorrow, did not envy others or compete for superiority, and could temper his joy and anger, keeping both grief and happiness subdued. On occasion, he let his emotions show in speech or action to make a point clear and remind the world. He greatly admired Zhang Liang’s character. He acted freely and without constraint, with an ease and quiet emptiness that often made him seem to have risen beyond the world.

Most of the principles he studied and understood came from his own inward realization; they were not things others could attain through learning alone. He was especially skilled at identifying and correcting errors, and was well versed in geography, calendrics, and arithmetic. His writing contained no empty words: once written, it could be put into practice. He constructed an armillary sphere, an instrument that modeled the movements of the celestial bodies, and when it turned, its motion matched theirs. He compiled the Zhengao and the Yinjue, and wrote commentaries on the Laozi and other works, producing more than two hundred volumes in all.

In the second year of the Yongyuan era, he withdrew from public life and secluded himself in the mountains. When Emperor Wu of Liang replaced the previous dynasty, the state’s name had not yet been settled. He cited various prophetic texts, which foretold fortune and misfortune and hinted at Heaven’s mandate, saying that “Liang” was precisely the sign of Heaven’s favor. He also personally selected the dates for the suburban sacrifices and the Feng and Shan rites, and the results proved unmistakably auspicious. The emperor sent an envoy into the mountains to convey his thanks. The two had known each other since the emperor’s youth; from then on, whenever something came up, great or small, the emperor always informed him first. After obtaining formulas for cultivation, he believed he could refine a divine elixir, but was troubled by a lack of ingredients, so the emperor supplied everything he needed.

He also wrote to the emperor in his own hand. The Master painted two oxen: one grazed freely among water and grass, while the other wore a golden halter, with someone leading it by a rope and driving it with a staff. The emperor laughed and said, “This man wants nothing. He would rather live like a turtle dragging its tail through the mud. How could anyone persuade him to come here?” Whenever the state faced an important matter, he was able to submit a memorial about it in advance. For this reason, people of the time called him the “Prime Minister in the Mountains.”

In the early years of the Datong era, he presented two swords, one of which was named “Goodness.”

“Sheng,” also called “Complete Sheng,” is a precious treasure. Emperor Wu of Liang’s Jinlouzi records: among recluses, people revered Tao Zhenbai; among scholar-officials, they revered Zhou Hongzheng. Zhou Hongzheng had deep and extensive learning in matters of principle and may be called a renowned scholar of his age.

The Master often composed poems saying, “Wang Yan gave free rein to his nature, while He Yan merely sat and talked idly. They spoke nothing of affairs of state in the Chaoyang Hall; in the end, the palace became the khan’s royal court.” At the time, people vied to discuss abstruse principles but did not study military preparedness. After the Rebellion of Hou Jing broke out, events unfolded just as the poem had foretold. In the second year of Datong, the Master passed away at the age of eighty-five. His complexion remained unchanged, his body could still bend and stretch freely, and a fragrance lingered in his room for several days. The emperor issued an edict posthumously conferring on him the title of Grand Master of the Palace Guard and the posthumous name “Master Zhenbai,” and sent a palace attendant to oversee the funeral arrangements. The Biographies of Those Who Attained the Dao says that he was appointed “Immortal Inspector of Penglai.” He had several dozen disciples, of whom only Wang Yuanzhi and Lu Yichong were regarded as the most outstanding.

Scroll 108 · Biographies Section · Biography 6

Biographies of the Immortals

Chisongzi

Chisongzi was the rain master—the deity in charge of rainfall—in the age of Shennong. He consumed water-jade, a kind of jade or mineral used in cultivation, and passed it on to Shennong. He could also enter a fire and burn himself. Later, he went to Mount Kunlun, where he often stayed in the stone chamber of the Queen Mother of the West, rising and descending with the wind and rain. The Flame Emperor’s daughter followed him, attained the Dao, and became an immortal; she departed with him. In the age of Gaoxin, he again served as rain master. According to legend, the rain master spoken of today is Chisongzi.

Ning Fengzi

Ning Fengzi lived in the age of the Yellow Emperor. Tradition says that his family had served for generations as the imperial potter, an official in charge of pottery-making. Someone encountered him, tended his fire for him, and was able to produce smoke in five colors. After a long time, that person taught Ning Fengzi the method. Ning Fengzi then kept tending the fire and cast himself into it, rising and falling with the smoke. When people examined the ashes, they still found his bones among them. They buried them together at Mount Ningbei, and so he came to be called Ning Fengzi.

Ma Shihuang

Ma Shihuang was a horse doctor in the time of the Yellow Emperor. He could judge a horse’s life, death, and illness from its appearance and breathing, and horses he treated soon recovered. Later, a dragon descended, lowered its ears toward him, and opened its mouth. Shihuang said, “This dragon is ill. It knows I can treat it.” He needled the area beneath its lips and the inside of its mouth, then gave it a licorice decoction to drink. The dragon recovered. After that, whenever it fell ill, it came out of the marsh where it lived to seek Shihuang’s care. One day, the dragon carried Shihuang away on its back.

Chijiang Ziyu

Chijiang Ziyu lived in the time of the Yellow Emperor. He ate no grains, living only on the flowers of various plants and trees. By the time of Emperor Yao, he worked as a carpenter and could rise and descend with the wind and rain. At times he sold arrow cords in the market, so he was also known as “Father of the Arrow Cord.”

Woquan

Woquan was an old man who gathered medicinal herbs on Huai Mountain. The text says he liked to eat pine nuts, had hair several inches long growing over his body, and had square-shaped eyes. He could fly and keep pace with a galloping horse. He offered pine nuts to Emperor Yao, but Yao had no time to take them. The pine tree referred to here is the Jian pine. According to legend, those who ate its nuts at the time lived for two or three hundred years.

Rongcheng Gong

Rongcheng Gong claimed to have been the Yellow Emperor’s teacher and said he had once met King Mu of Zhou. He excelled in methods of nourishing and guiding the body. Guiding practices were ways of maintaining health through such means as regulating posture and breath. He drew Jing and Qi from the “Mysterious Female,” a Daoist name for the source from which all things are generated. The key to his practice was keeping the “Valley Spirit”—the Daoist source that is empty and still yet capable of generating life—from perishing, while protecting life and nurturing Jing and Qi. It was said that these practices could turn white hair black and regrow lost teeth. His methods were similar to those described by Laozi; some accounts also say that he was Laozi’s teacher.

Fang Hui

Fang Hui was a hermit in the time of Emperor Yao. Yao invited him to serve as a lüshi, an official responsible for local affairs. Fang Hui refined and took powdered mica, and also treated the illnesses of ordinary people. Later, he lived in seclusion on Wuzuo Mountain. Near the end of the reign of Xia Qi, while serving as a gongshi, he was seized and locked in a house by people seeking to obtain his Daoist arts. Fang Hui used a spell to transform himself and escape, then sealed the door with his own seal. People said that if anyone obtained a lump of Fang Hui’s clay and sealed it onto a door, that door could never be opened again.

Juanzi

Juanzi was a man of the state of Qi, skilled in the arts of nourishing life through ingestion, absorbing the essence of medicinal substances. It is said that he did not appear in Qi until he had reached the age of three hundred. He wrote the forty-eight chapters of The Classic of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Later, while fishing at Heze, he found a talisman in the belly of a carp and withdrew to live in seclusion on Mount Dang. He could summon wind and rain, and also learned the Method of the Immortal Pellet from Boyang. When Liu An, king of Huainan, was young, he obtained Juanzi’s writings but could not grasp their essential meaning. The three chapters of The Heart of the Zither, by contrast, are clearly organized.

Xiaofu was a man of Jizhou. In his youth, he spent decades mending shoes in a market in the Western Zhou, yet no one recognized his extraordinary nature. Later, people noticed that his appearance did not age. Some came to study his arts, but none succeeded. Only Liangmu learned his method of making fire. As Xiaofu prepared to ascend Mount Sanliang, he bade farewell to Liangmu, kindled dozens of fires one after another, and then ascended to heaven. Most people in the Xiyi region worshipped him.

Shimen was Xiaofu’s disciple and could also command fire. People came to study his arts, but none received them; only Liangmu learned the method of making fire. As Shimen prepared to ascend Mount Sanliang, he bade farewell to Liangmu, kindled dozens of fires, and then ascended to heaven. Most people in the Xiyi region worshipped him.

Shimen was Xiaofu’s disciple. He could also command fire and fed on peach and plum blossoms. He once served as the dragon master, an official in charge of dragons, under Kong Jia of the Xia dynasty. When Kong Jia could not get him to comply with his wishes, he had him killed and buried in the wilderness. Later, a storm arose and carried Shimen away. When it passed, all the trees on the mountain had been burned. Kong Jia then offered sacrifices to Shimen and prayed, but died on the road as he returned.

Wuguang lived during the Xia dynasty. His ears were seven inches long. He enjoyed playing the zither and usually ate the leaves of rushes and the roots of chives. When Tang of Shang set out to punish Jie of Xia, he once consulted Wuguang. Wuguang said, “This is not something I should do.” Tang asked, “Then who could do it?” Wuguang said, “I don’t know.” Tang then asked, “What about Yi Yin?” Wuguang said, “He has strength and endurance, and can bear humiliation. As for whether he is suitable, I don’t know.”

After Tang defeated Jie of Xia, he offered the realm to Wuguang, saying, “The principle handed down from ancient times is this: the wise devise plans, the strong accomplish great undertakings, and the benevolent govern the realm. Why will you not accept it? Please assist me.” Wuguang declined, saying, “Deposing a ruler is contrary to righteousness, and killing people is contrary to benevolence. For another to bear the calamity while I enjoy the benefits would be dishonorable. I have heard that stipends gained unjustly should not be accepted, and that one should not hold office in a lawless age. How much less should I be honored in this way? I truly cannot bear it.” He then tied a stone to himself, sank into the Liao River, and disappeared.

More than four hundred years later, Wuguang appeared again during the reign of Wu Ding. Wu Ding wanted to appoint him as minister, but he refused. Wu Ding sent a carriage to fetch him, yet treated him coercively instead of inviting him with proper courtesy. Wuguang therefore threw himself into a river. Later, he drifted to a mountain and traveled through Mount Shangfu.

◎ Qiusheng

No one knows where Qiusheng came from. During the time of Tang of Shang, he served as Director of Wood. More than thirty years later, his appearance had grown younger. Everyone knew he had lived a long time, so they all honored him as their teacher. Qiusheng said that he often ate pine resin. He built a stone chamber himself on the northern mountain at Shixiang. During the reign of King Wu of Zhou, the king came to his stone chamber to pay his respects.

◎ Qiongshu

Qiongshu was an enfeoffed scribe during the Zhou dynasty. He could circulate Qi and refine his body—that is, regulate his breath and train his physical form. He also boiled and consumed stone marrow, a substance known as stalactite. He lived for several hundred years, often coming and going in the Taishi Mountains, and had a stone chamber built on the northern mountain. King Wu of Zhou once came in person to his stone chamber to pay his respects.

◎ Qiongshu

Qiongshu was an enfeoffed scribe during the Zhou dynasty. He could regulate his breath and train his physical form, and he boiled and consumed stone marrow—that is, he took stalactite as a food. He lived for several hundred years, often coming and going in the Taishi Mountains. He once lay on a stone bed on the mountain, using a stone pillow as his pillow.

◎ Madan

Ma Dan was a native of Di in the state of Jin. During the reign of Marquis Wen, he served as a senior minister. Later, when Duke Xian destroyed Di, he appointed Ma Dan as director of the royal encampment. After Duke Xian conquered Di and killed Crown Prince Gong, Ma Dan left and went to the state of Zhao. When Xuanzi held power in Jin, Ma Dan rode in a cushioned carriage into the capital and met with the senior ministers. Duke Ling wanted to employ him, but pressed him to serve in a manner that violated ritual propriety. Suddenly, a violent wind lifted the roof, and Ma Dan entered the whirlwind and vanished. The people of the north revered him and built a shrine to offer him sacrifices.

◎ Lu Tong

Lu Tong was the legendary madman Jieyu of Chu. He was devoted to the cultivation of life, eating the fruits of the tuolu tree and turnip seeds. He traveled among famous mountains and was once seen on Mount Emei in Shu. People saw him in generation after generation, and it was said that he lived for several hundred years.

◎ Ge You

Ge You was a member of the Qiang people. During the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, he took pleasure in carving wooden sheep and selling them. One day, he rode a wooden sheep into Shu. The nobles and wealthy people of Shu followed him up Mount Sui. The mountain lies southwest of Mount Emei and rises to an immense height. Those who followed Ge You up the mountain never returned; it was said that they had all attained the Dao and become immortals. Hence a local saying: “If you can obtain a peach from Mount Sui, then even if you cannot become an immortal, you will at least be a power in the land.” Dozens of shrines stand at the foot of the mountain.

◎ Qin Gao

Qin Gao was a native of Zhao, skilled at playing the zither. He once served as an attendant or retainer to King Kang of Song. He practiced the arts of Juan and Peng, legendary methods of cultivating life and becoming an immortal, and traveled around Jizhou and Zhuo Commandery for more than two hundred years. Later, he bade farewell to everyone, saying that he would enter the Zhuo River to fetch a dragon’s son, and agreed with his disciples on the date of his return. On the appointed day, the disciples purified themselves, prepared an offering by the river, and waited. Sure enough, Qin Gao arrived riding a red carp and sat in the shrine, watched by more than ten thousand people. He stayed for a month, then entered the water and departed. (Another book gives “Dang River” instead of “Zhuo River.”)

Mr. Kou was a man of the state of Song who made his living by fishing. He lived beside the Sui River for more than a hundred years. When he caught fish, he sometimes released them, sometimes sold them, and sometimes ate them himself. He often wore a Kou headband and liked to grow lychees, eating their flowers and fruit. Duke Jing of Song asked him for the art of nourishing life, but he refused to speak, so Duke Jing had him killed. Decades later, Mr. Kou appeared again at the city gate of Song, sitting and playing the zither. After several dozen days, he left. Every household in Song grew lychees and ate their flowers and fruit. When Duke Jing asked him for the art of nourishing life, he refused to speak, so the duke had him killed. Decades later, he sat again at the city gate of Song, playing the zither, and left after several dozen days. From then on, the people of Song worshipped him in every household.

Anqi Sheng was from Fuxiang in Langye and sold medicine by the Eastern Sea. People of the time all called him “the Old Man of a Thousand Years.” When the First Emperor of Qin made an eastern tour, he invited Anqi Sheng to meet him. They spoke together for three days and three nights, and the emperor bestowed on him tens of millions of coins and jade discs. When Anqi Sheng left Fuxiang Pavilion, he left all the gifts behind, taking only a letter and leaving a pair of red jade shoes in return. The letter said, “A thousand years from now, come and find me beneath Mount Penglai.” The First Emperor then sent Xu Shi, Lu Sheng, and several hundred others across the sea to search for him. Before they reached Mount Penglai, they encountered a storm and had to turn back. At Fuxiang Pavilion and along the seashore, the First Emperor built dozens of shrines to worship Anqi Sheng.

Gui Fu was from Xianglin. His complexion was sometimes black, sometimes white, sometimes yellow, and sometimes red. The people of the Southern Sea who saw him all respected and attended to him. He regularly took preparations made from cassia and mallow, mixed with turtle brains. To make a thousand pills required ten jin of cassia. Many generations of people had seen him. Even today, cassia pills are still passed down in southern Jingzhou.

Xiaqiu Zhong was from Ning. He sold medicine there for more than a hundred years, and people all believed he had lived an exceptionally long life. Later, an earthquake struck, and houses collapsed. Xiaqiu Zhong’s home and those of several dozen neighboring households stood near the water, and all were destroyed. After Xiaqiu Zhong died, someone threw his body into the water, then took his medicine away to sell. Wearing a fur coat, Xiaqiu Zhong followed him and demanded the medicine back. The man who had discarded him was frightened and kowtowed, begging for forgiveness. Xiaqiu Zhong said, “I don’t hate you. I only wanted people to know that I am still here! I am about to leave.” Later, he became a courier for the Hu King of Fuyu and returned to Ning. People in the north called him a “banished immortal”—an immortal exiled to the human world.

◎ The Wine Seller

The Wine Seller brewed wine at a shop in the market of Liang. His wine was always fragrant and mellow, and he sold ten thousand coins’ worth each day. Later, someone made a mistake and was driven away by the owner. After that, the shop’s wine often turned sour and spoiled, and the business fell into poverty. Many merchants in the Liang market married their daughters to him and welcomed him into their homes. At times he left, and at times he returned. More than a hundred years later, he came to Liang as an assistant county magistrate. He urged the people to grow more taro and vegetables, saying that a great famine would come in three years. As he predicted, a famine later struck, but the people of Liang did not starve to death because of his advice. Five years later, he removed his official seal and sash and departed. No one knew what became of him.

◎ Ren Guang

Ren Guang was from Shangcai and was skilled in taking elixirs. He sold elixirs around the capital. After eighty-nine years, someone recognized him as the same Ren Guang from long ago; his speech and manner were just as they had been. Several decades later, local elders recognized him. Zhao Jianzi invited him to return with him, and Ren Guang often stayed on Baiti Mountain. Three generations later, no one knew where Ren Guang was, but people in Jin continued to take the elixirs he had refined.

◎ The Old Man Who Blessed Chickens

Zhujigong was a native of Luoyang who lived below the northern slope of Shixiang Mountain. He raised chickens for more than a hundred years. Every chicken had a name, and there were more than a thousand in all. At night, the chickens roosted in the trees; by day, he let them out to forage. Whenever he called them by name, each chicken recognized its own name and came to him. Zhujigong sold chickens and eggs, earning more than ten million coins. He then took the money to the region of Wu and built fishponds. Later, he climbed Wu Mountain, where hundreds of birds, including white cranes and peacocks, often alighted beside him.

Zhu Zhong was a native of Kuaiji who often sold pearls in the marketplace. During the reign of Empress Lü, the Han court issued an edict seeking a pearl three inches in diameter. After reading it, Zhu Zhong laughed and said, “This is just what you need!” He then took a three-inch pearl to the palace gate and submitted it to the court. The pearl was of exceptional quality, and the court rewarded him with five hundred jin of gold. Princess Luyuan then privately offered him seven hundred jin of gold for a pearl. Zhu Zhong presented her with a four-inch pearl, delivered it to the palace gate, and left. The court issued an edict summoning him to take up an appointment in Kuaiji, but no one knew where he had gone. During the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, he appeared again, presented several dozen three-inch pearls, and immediately departed. No one ever learned where he went.

Xiuyang Gong was a native of the state of Wei. He lived in a stone chamber on Mount Huayin, where a stone couch hung suspended in the air. He often lay on it, wearing the stone down until it was hollowed through, yet he barely moved. At times, he gathered and ate huangjing, a herb commonly consumed by Daoists. Later, through his Daoist arts, he came before Emperor Jing of Han. The emperor treated him with respect and gave him lodging in the royal residence. Several years passed, but the emperor still had not learned the Daoist arts from him, so he issued an edict asking what day Xiuyang Gong would leave. Before the words were out, Xiuyang Gong, lying on his bed, turned into a white stone sheep. Inscribed on its flank were the words: “Xiuyang Gong respectfully takes his leave of the Son of Heaven.” The stone sheep was later placed on Tongling Terrace, but before long it disappeared as well, and no one knew where it had gone.

Jiqiu Jun was a Daoist at the foot of Mount Tai. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, he was rewarded for his Daoist arts: his white hair turned black, and his fallen teeth grew back. Later, he left the imperial court. When Emperor Wu made an eastern tour of Mount Tai, Jiqiu Jun appeared wearing a Zhangfu, an ancient ceremonial hat, and a yellow robe, with a qin in his arms…

That man came forward to meet the Emperor Wu and bowed before him, saying, “Your Majesty must not go up there, or you will certainly injure your toe.” After they had walked several li, the Emperor’s left toe was indeed broken. The Emperor kept the matter strictly secret. He performed a sacrifice and then returned. Later, he built a shrine for the man and assigned a hundred households to make offerings there for generations.

◎ Cui Wenzi

Cui Wenzi was from Mount Tai. His family had long been devoted to the teachings of Huang-Lao, which honored the thought of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. He lived at the foot of Qianshan. Later, he made Huang-Lao pills and built a shrine to Shifu. He sold medicine in the city and claimed to have lived for three hundred years.

After an epidemic broke out, tens of thousands of people died. The local officials came to ask him for help. Carrying a red banner and a pouch of yellow medicinal powder, Cui Wenzi traveled throughout the countryside. Those who took the powder recovered at once, and he cured tens of thousands. Later, he went to Shu to sell yellow medicine. People therefore treasured Cui Wenzi’s red pills and yellow powder, believing their effects to be almost miraculous.

◎ Chixuzi

Chixuzi was from Feng. People there had seen him for generations. It was said that he had once served under Duke Mu of Qin as an official in charge of fisheries. He repeatedly foretold disasters, floods, or droughts in Feng, and all ten of his predictions came true.

The person named Xiang in the source text went to seek him out, paid him respect as a master, and studied under him. Even in old age, Chixuzi enjoyed eating pine nuts, asparagus root, and stone resin, a mineral medicine. After his teeth fell out, new ones grew in, and his white hair turned black again. He nourished himself on the Qi of clouds and rosy mists and stopped eating grains. Later, he went to live at the foot of Mount Wu for more than ten years, after which no one knew where he had gone.

◎ Duzi

Duzǐ was a native of Ye. In his youth, he often gathered pine nuts and poria on Black Mountain and ate them regularly for a long time. Over several centuries, he would at times look young and vigorous, at times old; sometimes handsome, sometimes ugly. Only then did people realize he was an immortal. He often went to the home of a man from Yangdu to buy wine. The man’s daughter had eyebrows that met and long, slender ears. People thought her appearance unusual and said she was a heavenly being. Once, Duzǐ passed by leading a yellow ox. The young woman took a liking to the ox, and she and Duzǐ grew close. She followed him out to gather peaches and plums, returning only after a night away. The peaches and plums she brought back filled her pouch and were exceptionally sweet. People in the town secretly followed them. As they were leaving, everyone grabbed the ox’s ears to try to catch up, but they could not. The next day, Duzǐ appeared in the marketplace again. He did not leave until several decades later. Afterward, someone saw him at the foot of Mount Pan, still selling peaches and plums in winter.

Qilongming

Qilongming was from Hunning. When he was twenty, he found more than ten young dragons in a pond. They looked like geckos, so he raised and fed them, building a thatched hut to watch over them. As the dragons gradually grew, they departed one after another. More than fifty years later, a flood destroyed his hut, and he left as well. One day, he rode a dragon to Hunning and told the local people, “I am the grandson of Feng Bochāng. If the people here do not move at least five hundred li away, a great disaster will surely befall them.” Some did not believe him and thought he was spreading an evil prophecy. In the eighth month, the flood did indeed come, and tens of thousands died.

Zhuzhu

Zhuzhu’s origins were unknown. He and a Daoist ascended Mount Dang and said there was cinnabar there, enough to mine tens of thousands of jin. When the official in charge of Mount Dang learned of this, he went up the mountain and sealed off the deposit. But the cinnabar poured forth like flames, and only then did the authorities allow Zhuzhu to mine it. Zhuzhu had the county magistrate Zhang Junming take the cinnabar for three years, refining it into divine cinnabar that rose and swirled like snow. After taking it for five years, Zhang Junming could fly, and he departed with Zhuzhu.

Old Man Deerhide

Shantu was a native of Longxi. In his youth, he enjoyed riding horses, but once he was trampled and broke his leg. A Daoist living in the mountains taught him to take a powder made from realgar, Chinese angelica, notopterygium, pubescent angelica, and sophora root. A year later, he no longer craved food, his illness had healed, and his body felt light. He caught up with the Daoist and asked him the reason. The Daoist said he was an envoy of the Five Sacred Peaks, carrying out the commands of their gods and gathering herbs in famous mountains. “If you can follow me,” he said, “you will live forever and never die.” Shantu followed him for more than sixty years. One day, he returned home to observe mourning for his mother. A thousand years later, he left again, and no one ever learned where he went.

Gu Chun

Gu Chun was a native of Liyang. During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, he served as a gentleman-in-attendance and died of an epidemic. Yet his body did not grow cold. After his family had prepared the funeral and put on mourning clothes, they still did not dare to nail shut his coffin. Three years later, Gu Chun appeared wearing his cap and sitting atop the county gate. The townspeople were astonished. His family went to bring him home, but he refused. When they opened the coffin, it held only his clothes; his body was gone. He remained atop the county gate for three nights, then left for Chang’an and settled on Heng Gate. When people recognized him and hurried to greet him, he left again and went to Mount Taibai. They built a shrine for him on the mountain, and at times he would stay there.

Yin Sheng

Yin Sheng was a beggar beneath the Weiqiao Bridge in Chang’an and often begged in the marketplace. The people there despised him and splashed him with filthy water, but in the blink of an eye he would appear there again, his clothes still clean. When an official learned of this, he tried to seize Yin Sheng and lock him in restraints, but Yin Sheng continued begging in the marketplace. The official then tried to kill him, and only then did Yin Sheng leave. The home of the family who had splashed him was soon destroyed of its own accord, and more than ten members of the family who killed him died. Thus, a song circulated in Chang’an: “When you meet a beggar, give him good wine, lest your house be destroyed.”

Zizhu

Zizhu spoke with a Chu accent and a soft, delicate voice, and no one knew where he came from. He went to see the Prince of Jiangdu and said, “Mr. Ning hired me as a retainer, but for three hundred years I have never managed to set out.” The prince took him for a madman and asked where Mr. Ning was. Zizhu said that Mr. Ning was on Longmei Mountain. The prince sent officials to escort him to the mountain’s summit, where they indeed found Mr. Ning. Hair covered his entire body, and his ears were broad, …

He played a zither with his hair hanging loose. When the local lord saw him, he bowed his head to the ground. An official arrived to deliver the king’s order. The master said, “This lord is the ninth-generation descendant of my neighbor. For your family’s sake, I will give you a warning: three women in your household will suddenly die. Do not interfere in my affairs!” As soon as he had finished speaking, a great wind rose. The official carried out the order and went down the mountain. By the time he returned to the palace, the three women had already killed one another. The king then sent people to build a shrine and sacrifice an ox, a sheep, and a pig to honor the master.

◎ Tao Angong

Tao Angong was a metalworker in Lu’an. One day, while repeatedly checking the fire in his furnace, he suddenly saw the flames spread and surge upward. They turned purple and shot straight into the sky. Angong crouched beside the furnace and prayed to the fire. Before long, a vermilion bird—a red divine creature—settled on the furnace and said, “Angong, Angong, the fire in which you smelt iron has reached the heavens. On the seventh day of the seventh month, a red dragon will come to receive you.” When the appointed day arrived, the red dragon came just as foretold, and heavy rain fell from the sky. Angong mounted the dragon and rose toward the heavens in the southeast. Tens of thousands of people from the city came out to see him off, and Angong said farewell to them one by one.

◎ Chifu

Chifu was from Bayong and once served as the registrar of the Biji Shrine, an official responsible for records and documents. He knew how to make elixirs with mercury and how to prepare saltpeter. After taking elixirs for thirty years, his appearance became youthful again, like that of a child, and his hair and body hair turned red. Several decades later, he climbed Mount Hua to gather Yuyuliang, a mineral used in Daoist alchemy, and carried it to sell around Cangwu and the Dian River. People who passed down the story through the generations said they had seen him, and that the words “Chifu” were inscribed on his palm.

◎ Hu Zixian

Hu Zixian was a fortune-teller who lived near the city gate in Hanzhong and reached the age of more than one hundred. Before setting out, he summoned an old woman who ran a wine shop and said to her, “Quickly pack your things. I’m going with you to meet the King of Zhongling.” That night, an immortal arrived, leading two dogs made of thatch. Hu Zixian gave one of them to the old woman from the wine shop. She climbed on, only to discover that it was actually a dragon. Hu Zixian and the old woman climbed Mount Huayin together. After that, people often heard a voice calling from the mountain: “Zixian, the old woman from the wine shop is here too!”

Mr. Beiju’s origins are unknown, but his speech sounded like that of people from the Yan and Dai regions. He often carried tools for polishing mirrors as he wandered through the streets and lanes of Wu. He charged only one coin to polish a mirror, and always asked the owner, “Is anyone in your household ill?” If someone was sick, he would take out a purple pill and give it to them. Everyone who took it recovered. This went on for several decades.

Later, a great epidemic broke out. He went from house to house giving out medicine, saving thousands upon thousands of people without accepting a single coin. Only then did the people of Wu realize that he was a perfected one—a Daoist who had attained the Way and was unlike ordinary people. Later, he climbed the sheer cliffs of Mount Wu and hung medicine there for people to take. As he was leaving, he said to those below the mountain, “I am returning to Mount Penglai to send down divine water for you.” Before long, white water appeared on the cliff and flowed from between the rocks. After people drank it, many of their illnesses were cured. The local people built more than ten shrines in his honor.

◎ Ruan Qiu

Ruan Qiu was a Daoist on Mount Sui. He wore a hide garment, let his hair hang loose, had ears seven inches long, and no teeth in his mouth. He could walk four hundred li in a day. He had been growing wengcong and xie, two kinds of vegetables, in the mountains for more than a hundred years, and no one knew where he came from.

Sometimes he went down the mountain to sell medicine. Zhu Huang, a man from Guangyang, suffered from dujia, a kind of abdominal mass or swelling described in ancient accounts. Ruan Qiu gave him a medicine made from seven ingredients. After Zhu Huang took it, he recovered. Later, Ruan Qiu and Zhu Huang went together into the Fuyang Mountains. Only then did Zhu Huang recount Ruan Qiu’s story, and people learned that he was a divine being—a Daoist with extraordinary powers. Ruan Qiu foretold disasters such as earthquakes, collapsing mountains, and roads being cut off. The people joined in honoring him and established a shrine for him.

◎ Lingyang Ziming

Lingyang Ziming was from Zhi Township and loved fishing. Once, while fishing in the Xuan Stream, he caught a white dragon’s offspring. Frightened, Ziming removed the hook, bowed to it, and let it go. Later, he caught another white fish. Inside its belly…

Lingyang Ziming was from Zhi Township and enjoyed fishing. While fishing in Xuan Creek, he caught a white dragon. Frightened, he removed the hook, bowed to the dragon, and let it go. Later, he caught a white fish with a letter inside its belly. The letter taught him methods of ingestion and cultivation. Ziming then climbed Mount Huang, gathered five-stone resin, a mineral medicine used in alchemical cultivation and ingestion, boiled it in water, and took it. Three years later, the white dragon came to receive him. He left the human world and lived on Mount Lingyang for more than a hundred years. The mountain stood over a thousand zhang above the ground. Ziming once called loudly to people below, telling them to climb halfway up the mountain. He said that Zi’an, who lived by the creek, would come to ask whether Ziming’s fishing rod and cart were still there. More than twenty years later, Zi’an died. People buried him in the mountain, and later a yellow crane perched in a tree beside his grave, calling out, “Zi’an.”

◎ Pingzi

Pingzi called himself a man of Shu. He enjoyed hunting with dogs and knew how to recognize different kinds of dogs. One day, his dog ran into a mountain cave, and Pingzi followed it inside. They traveled for more than ten days, covering hundreds of li, and eventually emerged at the summit of a mountain. There stood terraces, halls, palaces, and official residences, surrounded by dense green pines and guarded by ranks of immortal attendants and officials. Pingzi saw his former wife presiding over the washing of fish. She gave him a talismanic letter to take back and deliver to Lord Qiao, the magistrate of Chengdu. When Lord Qiao opened the envelope, it contained fish eggs. He put them in a pond, and after a year they had all turned into dragons. Pingzi then returned the talismanic letter to the mountain.

Later, Pingzi’s dog’s coat became a deeper red, and long wing feathers grew on its body. It often accompanied Pingzi on his travels, and after more than a hundred years it eventually remained on the mountain. At times it came down to protect Pingzi’s clan. The people of Shu built a shrine for it at the mouth of the cave, where they often heard drums, music, and calling voices. People from dozens of li to the southwest all worshipped it together.

◎ Muyü

Mu Yu was from Heping Township in the southern part of Julu Commandery. His mother was poor and earned a living by helping women give birth. Once, she went to visit a woman who was in labor. As soon as the child was born, he opened his eyes, looked at his mother, and burst out laughing. The woman was terrified. That night, she dreamed of a man wearing a tall crown and a red headcloth, standing beside the child. He said, “This is Lord Siming, the deity who governs human life and destiny. He will repay your kindness by allowing your son Mu Yu to attain the Dao and become an immortal.” The woman secretly believed this and remembered it.

Later, the woman gave birth to a son and named him Mu Yu. When the child she had once visited turned fifteen, a carriage and horses came one night to escort him away. As they passed Mu Yu’s home, he called out, “Mu Yu, come drive my carriage.” Mu Yu left with him.

More than twenty years later, every morning a stork would carry a fish two chi long and leave it at Mu Yu’s mother’s door. She kept the matter secret and told no one, taking only the fish to sell. It was not until thirty years later that she revealed what had happened. She lived to the age of one hundred.

◎ Xuansu

Xuansu was said to have been from Hejian. He took Ba Ying, a kind of medicinal substance, and sold medicine in the city. Each dose of seven pills cost one coin, and he was skilled at treating all kinds of illness.

The Prince of Hejian suffered from an accumulation in his abdomen. He bought Xuansu’s medicine and took it, whereupon more than ten snakes were expelled from his body. The prince asked what principle lay behind the medicine. Xuansu replied, “Your Highness’s illness is an accumulated calamity handed down from six generations; it was not brought upon you by your own actions. You once spared a mother deer and a qilin, and your benevolence moved Heaven. That is why you encountered me.” An elderly household attendant in the prince’s residence said that his own father’s generation had already seen Xuansu, and that Xuansu cast no shadow. The prince had Xuansu stand in the sunlight to check, and indeed he cast no shadow. The prince wanted to marry his daughter to him, but Xuansu left during the night. Later, someone saw him beneath Mount Changshan.

Volume 109 · Biographies Section · Biography 7

○ Biographies of Immortals

◎ Guangchengzi

Guangchengzi was an immortal of high antiquity who lived in a stone chamber on Mount Kongtong. Hearing of him, the Yellow Emperor went to visit and asked for the essentials of cultivating the utmost Dao. Guangchengzi said, “You govern the world, yet rain falls before the clouds have gathered, and leaves drop before the trees have turned yellow. How, then, can you speak of the utmost Dao?”

The Yellow Emperor withdrew and spent three months in quiet solitude. Then he went to see Guangchengzi again. He approached on his knees, bowed once more, and asked about the way of nourishing life. Guangchengzi replied, “The subtle realm of the utmost Dao is deep and beyond grasp. Do not look outward or listen outward; simply guard your spirit and remain still, and your body will naturally become upright. You must be quiet and clear. Do not overwork your body or disturb your vital energy; only then can you live long. Carefully guard what is within and rein in your pursuit of what is outside. Knowing too much can bring harm. I hold fast to the One—that is, I keep my mind and spirit focused and maintain the root—and dwell in peace. Thus, after twelve hundred years, I have not grown old. Those who attain my Dao may rise to become rulers; those who lose my Dao will eventually turn to dust. You will leave the common world and enter a realm without end, roaming through boundless heaven and earth. You will shine together with the sun and moon and endure as long as heaven and earth. All others will die; I alone will endure!”

Ruoshi

Ruoshi was an immortal of high antiquity whose name was unknown to everyone. During the Qin dynasty, the man from Yan, Lu Ao, was traveling in the North Sea. He passed through Taiyin, a dark and distant place, entered Xuank Que, a mysterious and secluded pass, and came to Mount Menggu, where he encountered Ruoshi. Ruoshi had deep-set eyes and a prominent nose, shoulders hunched like a kite’s, and a long, slender neck. His upper body was broad and his lower body lean. Looking delighted, he was dancing into the wind. When he saw Lu Ao, he hid beneath a stone stele. Lu Ao caught up and looked: Ruoshi had curled himself up like a tortoise withdrawing into its shell and was eating crabs and shellfish. Lu Ao then said to him, “I alone, Lu Ao, have turned away from the crowd and left my companions behind, straining my eyes to survey the four quarters of heaven and earth…”

Lu Ao said, “Since childhood, I have loved traveling far and wide, and I have never changed as I grew older. I have journeyed in every direction, and this is the one distant place I have yet to visit. Now that I have met you here, perhaps we might become friends.”

Ruoshi, the legendary immortal, gave a faint smile and said, “Alas, you are a man of the Central Land, and should not have traveled so far to come here. The place you speak of is merely where the sun and moon shine and the stars move. Compared with the Nameless Land, it is only a remote corner. I once traveled south to the wilderness of Wangliang, rested in the north in the Land of Deep Silence, went west to a place of darkness and profound distance, and crossed eastward through a vast, boundless realm of light. There, nothing could be seen below or above; nothing could be seen to either side, and no sound could be heard. Beyond that realm lay waters stretching without limit. In a single stride one could cover tens of thousands of li, yet I still could not explore their furthest reaches. You have only just arrived here, and already claim to have seen all that lies far away. Is that not a sign of shallow understanding? Stay here. I am to meet Hanman, another legendary immortal, at Jiugai, a place of utmost height and distance, and cannot remain long.”

With that, Ruoshi raised his arms and straightened his body, then entered the clouds. Lu Ao looked up, but could no longer see him. He could only stop, feeling dazed and bereft. Lu Ao said, “Compared with you, sir, I am like a swan beside a tiny insect on the ground. I walk all day without leaving a space just a few inches across, yet imagine that I have traveled far. How pitiful!”

◎ Shen Wentai

Shen Wentai was from Mount Jiuyi. He obtained the Red Spring Divine Elixir, the Earth-Removing Talisman, and methods for restoring youth and prolonging life. These proved effective when taken. He wished to travel to Mount Kunlun, so he stayed in the land of Anxi for more than two thousand years. Later, he passed these methods on to Li Wenyuan and told him, “Unless you remove the Earth-Removing Talisman, taking medicines and practicing the Dao will bring no benefit.” Li Wenyuan accepted these secret methods and later became an immortal as well. The present methods of decocting elixirs with bamboo-root juice, refining yellow and white substances, and removing the Three Corpses—the spirits believed in Daoism to dwell in the human body and hinder cultivation—all derive from these two men.

Huang Chuping was from Danxi. At the age of fifteen, his family sent him out to tend sheep. A Daoist, seeing that he was kind and cautious, took him to a stone chamber on Mount Jinhua to practice the Way. From then on, for more than forty years, he gave no thought to his family.

His elder brother, Huang Chuqi, went out to look for him, but searched for years without finding any trace. Later, in a marketplace, he met a Daoist skilled in the Classic of Changes and asked him to divine his younger brother’s whereabouts. The Daoist said, “I once met a man named Huang Chuping in the mountains of Jinhua. Could he have been your younger brother?” Startled and delighted, Huang Chuqi immediately followed the Daoist to find him, and the brothers were indeed reunited. After speaking with a mixture of sorrow and joy, the elder brother asked Huang Chuping, “Where are the sheep you were tending?” Huang Chuping replied, “They are on the eastern slope.” Huang Chuqi went to look, but saw nothing—only heaps of white stones. “There are no sheep on the eastern slope,” he said. Huang Chuping answered, “The sheep are right here; it is only that you cannot see them.”

The brothers went to look together. Huang Chuping called out, “Sheep, rise!” The white stones rose one after another and turned into tens of thousands of sheep. His elder brother said, “My younger brother alone has attained the Way of the immortals. Can this method also be learned?” Huang Chuping replied, “It can. Anyone who loves the Dao can learn it.”

Huang Chuqi then left his wife and children behind and stayed to practice with his younger brother, taking medicines such as pine, cypress, and poria. After ten thousand days of cultivation, he could die sitting or standing without his body decaying. At noon, he cast no shadow, and his appearance remained that of a child. Later, the brothers returned together to their hometown. Finding that most of their relatives had died, they left again. Before departing, they passed their methods of cultivation on to Nanbo Feng, who changed his surname to Chisongzi. Huang Chuqi adopted the courtesy name Luban, and Huang Chuping adopted the courtesy name Songzi. It is said that dozens of people later became immortals by taking these medicines.

— Shen Jian

Shen Jian was from Danyang. His family had served as officials for generations, but he alone preferred cultivating the Dao and had no wish to enter government service. He studied Daoyin exercises, dietary practices, and other methods for cultivating health, as well as arts said to restore youth and delay aging. He was also skilled at treating illness: even people with the gravest conditions recovered after meeting him. As a result, several thousand households honored him.

Whenever he traveled far, he would leave three to five servants, a donkey, and several dozen sheep in someone else’s care. He gave each servant and animal a pill and told the host, “Just provide them with a place to stay; there is no need to prepare food.” Then he took his leave. The host found this very strange. Shen had left more than ten servants and animals, yet had not paid a single coin—what was the host to do? After Shen Jian departed, the host prepared food for the servants. At the smell of it, they vomited and would not even look at it. When the host offered grass to the donkey and sheep, they too shied away and refused to eat, even trying to charge at people. The host was astonished.

After more than a hundred days, the servants’ bodies had become smooth and lustrous, quite unlike before, and the donkey and sheep had grown strong and fat. Three years later, Shen Jian returned and gave each of the servants and animals another pill. They then resumed eating and drinking. After this, Shen Jian gave up grain and stopped eating altogether. He could rise into the air and fly, sometimes going away and sometimes returning. He lived this way for more than three hundred years, then vanished without anyone knowing where he had gone.

◎ Hua Ziqi

Hua Ziqi was from Huainan. He became a disciple of Master Jiao Li and learned a Lingbao formula for living in seclusion in the mountains. The formula had three other names: The Flying Tortoise Register of the Yi and Luo, The Correct Mechanism of Bai Yu, and Balanced Joining. After taking it, he grew younger day by day and could walk five hundred li in a day. He could lift a thousand jin. He shed his skin ten times each year, and eventually attained the Dao, became an immortal, and departed.

◎ Wei Boyang

Wei Boyang was a native of the Wu region. Though born into a prominent and wealthy family, he was naturally drawn to Daoist arts and had no wish to serve as an official. He lived quietly at home, cultivating body and mind. People at the time knew nothing of his background and assumed he was simply managing his household and caring for his health.

Later, he went into the mountains to refine a divine elixir, taking three disciples with him. He knew that two of them were not sincere enough. When the elixir was ready, he warned them: “Although the Golden Elixir has been refined, it must first be tested. Give it to the white dog to eat. If the dog ascends, people may take it; if the dog dies, it must not be taken.” Wei Boyang had brought a white dog with him into the mountains.

The elixir had not yet been refined long enough, and its properties had not been fully harmonized, so some of it was poisonous. Anyone who took this elixir would die temporarily. Only an elixir capable of making the white dog ascend could be taken by people. Wei Boyang therefore fed the poisonous elixir to the dog, and it died at once.

He then asked his disciples: “Perhaps the elixir has not succeeded. Now that it is ready, we fed it to the white dog and it died. Perhaps this is not the will of the divine beings. If we take it, I fear we will die just as the dog did. What should we do?” The disciples asked, “Will you take it, Master?” Wei Boyang replied: “I have turned away from the life of the world and left my family to enter the mountains and cultivate the Dao. If I cannot attain the Dao and become an immortal, I would be ashamed to return. Whether I live or die, I will take it.”

Wei Boyang immediately swallowed the elixir, and the moment it entered his mouth, he died. The disciples looked at one another and said: “The purpose of refining the elixir was to seek long life, yet taking it has brought death. What are we to do?” One disciple said: “Our master is no ordinary person. Could there be some other purpose in his dying after taking the elixir?” He too swallowed the elixir and died as soon as it entered his mouth.

The other two disciples said: “We refined the elixir to seek long life, but taking it has brought death. What use is it to us now? If we do not take it, at least we can still live in this world for several decades.” So they did not take the elixir. They left the mountains together, intending to find coffins and funeral goods for Wei Boyang and the disciple.

After they had gone, Wei Boyang rose to his feet and left with the disciple surnamed Yu, who had taken the elixir, and the white dog. He met a woodcutter entering the mountains and wrote a letter for him to carry to the people of his hometown, sending greetings to the two disciples. Only after seeing the letter did the disciples deeply regret what they had done.

Boyiang wrote the two-volume Can Tong Qi Wu Xiang Lei (Token for Joining the Three, “Five Categories”). On the surface, the book appears to explain the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), but in fact it uses the images of the hexagrams and their lines to describe the principles of refining elixirs. Confucian scholars unfamiliar with the affairs of immortals often interpret it through the principles of Yin-Yang, and so depart from its deeper meaning.

After everyone had left, Boyiang rose and departed with the disciple surnamed Yu, who had taken the elixir, and the white dog. On the way, they met a woodcutter heading into the mountains. Boyiang wrote a letter and asked him to deliver it to the people of his home village, bidding farewell to his two other disciples. Only after reading the letter did the two disciples begin to feel deep regret.

Shen Xi was from Wu Commandery and had once studied the Dao in Shu. He was skilled at averting disasters, curing illness, and helping the people, but knew nothing of cultivating through the ingestion of medicines. His virtuous deeds moved Heaven, and the celestial spirits remembered him. One day, Shen Xi and his wife, Lady Jia, rode together in a carriage to visit their daughter-in-law, Zhuo Kong. On their way home, they encountered a carriage drawn by a white deer, another drawn by a green dragon, and a third drawn by a white tiger.

Shen Xi traveled at the head of several dozen mounted attendants. They were all dressed in red, carrying long spears and wearing precious swords. Their splendid procession filled the road. Someone asked Shen Xi, “Are you the Daoist Shen Xi?” Startled and puzzled, Shen Xi did not know who they were. He replied, “I am. Why do you ask?”

The mounted attendants said, “Shen Xi has served the people well and has never forgotten to cultivate the Dao. Since birth, he has committed no wrongdoing. But his allotted years are few, and his time in the world is nearly over. Huang and Lao—the Yellow Emperor and Laozi, revered by Daoists—have already ordered immortal officials to come and receive him. The Gentleman-in-Waiting Bu Yan rides a white deer carriage; Lord Du Shijun Sima Sheng rides a blue dragon carriage; and the welcoming envoy Xu Fu rides a white tiger carriage.”

Soon, three immortals appeared, dressed in feathered robes and carrying tally tablets. They bestowed on Shen Xi a white jade tablet, a blue-green jade marker, and a document written in cinnabar-colored characters. Shen Xi could not understand the writing. Then he was carried up into the heavens. The farmers and laborers along the road saw what happened, but did not know what to make of it. A short while later, a dense fog spread over the area. When it cleared, Shen Xi had vanished; only his carriage and ox remained in the field, eating the grain. Someone recognized them as Shen Xi’s carriage and ox and told his family what had happened.

Several hundred of Shen Xi’s disciples feared that evil spirits had carried him into the mountain valleys. They searched separately across an area a hundred li in every direction, but found no trace of him. More than four hundred years later, Shen Xi returned to his native place and sought out Shen Huai, a descendant many generations removed. Shen Huai was delighted and said, “I heard from our elders that an ancestor in our family became an immortal. Now the immortal has truly returned.”

Shen Xi stayed for several dozen days and told them what he had seen when he first ascended. He had not seen the Celestial Emperor, but had seen Lord Lao seated facing east. Those at Lord Lao’s side told Shen Xi not to bow or offer thanks, but simply to sit quietly. The palace halls rose in tiers, as though wreathed in clouds, and shimmered in five colors, including blue-green and yellow—an appearance difficult to describe in words. Hundreds of attendants were present, mostly women, with few men. In the courtyard grew trees like pearls and jade, while various sacred mushrooms flourished. Dragons, tigers, and auspicious beasts played among them. All around, he heard a clear, ringing sound like bronze striking iron, its source impossible to determine. Talismanic writings were posted on all four walls.

Lord Lao stood one zhang tall, with loose hair and patterned robes. His whole body radiated light, and his appearance changed several times within moments. Jade Maidens brought a golden tray and a jade cup, filled them with medicine, and gave them to Shen Xi, saying, “This is a divine elixir. Whoever takes it will never die.” Shen Xi and his wife each received a dao gui, a small measure used for dispensing medicine. After they took the medicine, Lord Lao gave Shen Xi two dates, each as large as an egg, and a piece of dried meat five cun long.

Lord Lao sent Shen Xi back to the human world, saying, “Return and heal the people’s illnesses. If you wish to come again to the upper realm, write this talisman and hang it from the top of a pole. I will send someone to receive you.” Lord Lao then gave Shen Xi a talisman and a formula for immortality. Shen Xi suddenly seemed to fall asleep, and in the blink of an eye he was back on the ground. Many people today have obtained this talisman.

Li Ru was still living in the human world, treating the people’s illnesses. “If you wish to ascend to the upper realm,” he said, “hang this talisman from the top of a pole, and I will come to receive you.” Then Li Ru gave Xi a talisman and an immortal’s prescription. Xi suddenly seemed to fall asleep; in the blink of an eye, he was already back on the ground. Many people have now obtained this talisman.

Li Babai was from Shu, and no one knew his given name. People had seen him across generations. At the time, they estimated that he had lived for eight hundred years, so they called him “Li Babai” (“Li of Eight Hundred Years”). Sometimes he lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests; at other times he stayed in towns and markets. He knew that Tang Gongfang aspired to cultivate immortality but had not met a true master, so he wished to instruct him. First, he went to test Tang Gongfang, pretending to be his hired worker. Tang Gongfang did not know he was an immortal and gave Li Babai whatever tasks he pleased. Li Babai was assigned more work than the other workers, but Tang Gongfang liked him very much. Later, Li Babai…

He deliberately pretended to be gravely ill and frail, as though he were near death. Gongfang summoned a doctor to prescribe medicine, spending hundreds of thousands of coins without regret. His worry showed plainly on his face.

Later, Babai pretended that terrible sores had broken out. They covered his whole body, festering and foul-smelling, so that no one could go near him. Gongfang wept and said, “You have worked hard for my family for many years. Now you are gravely ill, and I would gladly spend anything to see you recover. But you are in such a state—what can I do?”

Babai said, “My sores can be healed, but someone must lick them with their tongue.” Gongfang sent three maids to lick them. Babai said, “The maids’ licking will not heal me. I would gladly spend anything to see you recover, but you are in such a state—what can I do?” Gongfang said, “My sores can be healed, but someone must lick them with their tongue.” He sent the three maids to lick them. Babai then said, “The maids’ licking cannot make me well. If you were to lick them yourself, I should recover.”

Gongfang immediately licked them himself. Babai said, “Your licking cannot make me well either. If your wife were to lick them, my illness would improve.” Gongfang then had his wife lick them. Babai said, “My sores have improved, but I still need thirty hu of fine wine in which to bathe before I can recover completely.” Gongfang at once prepared thirty hu of wine. Babai bathed in it, and his sores healed. His skin became smooth and fine as congealed fat, with no scars left on his body.

At this point, Babai told Gongfang, “I am an immortal. Because your intentions are sincere, I came to test you. You are indeed worthy of receiving the Dao arts. Now I will truly transmit to you the secret that enables people to transcend the world and enter the Dao of immortals.” He had Gongfang, his wife, and the three maids who had licked his sores bathe in the wine left over from his bath. They all became young, and their faces grew more beautiful and radiant. Babai gave Gongfang a scroll of the Dan Jing (a classic on refining elixirs) and sent him to Mount Yuntai to make an elixir. When it was ready, Gongfang took it, became an immortal, and departed.

◎ Li E

Li A was a native of Shu. People had known him for generations, yet they had never seen him grow old; he always looked as he had before. He often begged for food in Chengdu and shared whatever he received with the poor. He left at night and returned in the morning, and no one in the city knew where he lived.

A man named Gu Qiang suspected that Li A was no ordinary person, so he often followed and served him. Once, Gu Qiang tried to follow Li A to his dwelling and found himself going all the way into the mountains of Qingcheng. Later, Gu Qiang wanted to follow Li A into the mountains again, but worried that they might encounter tigers or wolves. Without Li A’s knowledge, he brought along his father’s large sword. When Li A discovered this, he said angrily, “If you’re coming with me, why are you afraid of tigers and wolves?” He picked up Gu Qiang’s sword and struck a rock with it. The blade broke at once. Gu Qiang grew anxious, worrying that his father would punish him for breaking the sword.

Early the next morning, Li A appeared again. He asked Gu Qiang, “Are you worried about the sword?” Gu Qiang replied, “I am. I’m afraid my father will blame me.” Li A picked up the broken sword and tapped it against the ground several times. It returned to its original condition, and he handed it back to Gu Qiang.

As Gu Qiang followed Li A back to Chengdu, they came upon a carriage speeding toward them. Li A put his foot beneath a wheel and let it roll over him. The bones in his foot were crushed, and he fell to the ground, dead. Gu Qiang stood watch beside him. After a while, Li A got up, pressed his foot with his hand, and it returned to normal.

When Gu Qiang was eighteen, Li A looked about fifty. Even when Gu Qiang was over eighty, Li A still looked as he had before. Later, Li A told people, “Kunlun has summoned me; I am leaving.” After that, he never returned.

◎ Wang Yuan

Wang Yuan, courtesy name Fangping, was from Donghai. He was recommended as a filial and incorrupt official and appointed a Gentleman of the Palace, later rising through the ranks to become an Academician of the Central Palace. He had a thorough command of the Five Classics and was also well versed in astronomy, prophetic charts and writings that foretold good and ill fortune, and the essential meanings of the River Chart and Luo Writing. He could foresee when the realm would flourish or decline and predict good and ill fortune throughout the Nine Provinces.

Emperor Huan of Han heard of his reputation and summoned him repeatedly, but Wang Yuan refused to enter government service. The emperor then ordered officials in the commanderies and kingdoms to compel him to travel to the capital. Wang Yuan lowered his head and said nothing, refusing to accept the imperial decree. He then wrote more than four hundred characters on a palace gate, recording events that were about to occur. The emperor disliked the writing and ordered it scraped away. As soon as the visible characters had been removed, they appeared again beneath the surface, and the ink had even seeped deep into the wood.

Wang Yuan left no descendants, but people in his home region passed down accounts of his deeds for generations. Chen Dan, a former Grand Commandant from the same commandery, built a Daoist chamber for Wang Yuan and worshipped him morning and evening, seeking his blessing and hoping to learn the Daoist arts from him. Wang Yuan lived in Chen Dan’s household for more than thirty years. During that time the Chen family suffered no illness or bereavement; their servants were safe, their livestock multiplied, their harvests and silkworm yields increased greatly, and Chen Dan continued to advance in his official career.

Later, Wang Yuan said to Chen Dan, “My allotted time has come. I can stay no longer. Tomorrow at noon I must leave.” At the appointed hour, Wang Yuan died. Chen Dan understood that he had “transformed and departed,” as Daoist accounts describe the passing of a cultivator who undergoes transformation. He did not dare lay Wang Yuan’s body on the ground, but wept and lamented: “Master, you have left me. Who can I rely on from now on?” He prepared a coffin and other funeral necessities, burned incense, and dressed Wang Yuan neatly on the bed. After three days and nights, Wang Yuan suddenly vanished. His sash remained tied, as though a snake had shed its old skin.

More than a hundred days after Wang Yuan’s departure, Chen Dan also died. Some said Chen Dan had received Wang Yuan’s Daoist arts and had therefore transformed and departed as well. Others said Wang Yuan had known that Chen Dan would soon die, and so had left ahead of him. Wang Yuan later traveled east into Mount Kuocang, passed through the lands of Wu, and stayed at the home of Cai Jing by the Xumen Gate.

Cai Jing was originally an ordinary commoner, but his bone structure showed that he had the potential to become an immortal. Wang Fangping, a legendary immortal, knew this and came to his home. “Your destiny is set: you can transcend the mortal world,” he told him. “So I have come to take you away to serve as an official in an immortal’s residence. But you did not practice the Dao when you were young. Your original Qi is now insufficient, and your body is too heavy for you to ascend to the heavens. You can become an immortal only through ‘corpse liberation.’” In Daoism, corpse liberation is a way of becoming immortal in which the body leaves behind traces of its transformation while the person departs. Wang Fangping stayed briefly, then left as if passing through a dog hole, and also taught Cai Jing the essentials of cultivation.

Later, Cai Jing suddenly felt his whole body grow hot, as if it were burning, and longed to be drenched with water. His family kept pouring water over him, but his body seemed to be scorched by a fierce fire. Within three days, it had been consumed completely. Then he went into a room, covered himself with a quilt, and suddenly disappeared. When his family examined the quilt, they found only a complete layer of skin, with the head, feet, and other parts intact, like the shell left behind by a cicada.

More than ten years after leaving home, Cai Jing suddenly returned. He had been old when he left, but now he looked young and vigorous again, and his hair had turned completely black. He told his family, “On the seventh day of the seventh month, Lord Wang will come to visit. That day, you can prepare several hundred hu of wine for his attendants to drink.” Then he departed.

When the day arrived, the Cai family borrowed many wine jars, filled them with several hundred hu of wine, and arranged them in the courtyard. Wang Fangping did indeed come. Before he reached the Cai home, people heard the sounds of bronze drums and flutes, along with the noise of people and horses on the move. The neighbors were astonished and had no idea what was happening. When Wang Fangping arrived at the Cai home, the whole family saw him.

The sound of carriage wheels and horses echoed nearby, startling everyone, though no one knew what was happening. When they hurried over, everyone in Cai Jing’s family saw Wang Fangping.

Wang Fangping wore a distant-travel crown and red robes. A tiger-head-shaped pouch and five-colored ribbons hung from his waist, along with a sword. His hair was slightly yellow, with thinning temples, and he was of medium height. He rode beneath a carriage canopy adorned with feathers, drawn by five dragons of different colors. His attendants marched in ranks before and behind him, banners leading the way. They were so imposing that he seemed to be traveling like a great general. He had twelve companies, five hundred soldiers in all, whose mouths were sealed with wax. The musicians rode on qilin, descending from the sky and gathering in midair rather than traveling along the roads. After Wang Fangping arrived, his retinue vanished, leaving only him in view.

Wang Fangping sat for a while, then summoned Cai Jing’s father and elder brother. Next, he sent someone to convey his greetings to Magu, a female immortal in Daoist legend, though no one knew what kind of spirit she was. Wang Fangping sent this message: “Wang Fangping respectfully sends his greetings. It has been a long time since I came to the human world. Now that I am here, I would like to invite Magu to come for a brief visit. Would that be possible?”

After a while, the messenger returned. Everyone heard Magu’s voice, but could not see the person who had carried the message. Magu replied: “Magu bows twice. It has been more than five hundred years since we last met. Among the immortals, there is an order of rank, and I cannot express the depth of my respect for you. I have long missed you. When I heard you were there, I should have come in person; however, I was previously ordered to inspect Penglai, and am about to set out for a short time. When I return, I will come to pay my respects in person. I hope you will not leave at once.”

Two hours later, Magu arrived. The sound of horses and carriages announced her coming as well. Her retinue was about half the size of Wang Fangping’s. When Magu arrived, everyone in Cai Jing’s family saw her too. She was a beautiful woman, appearing to be about eighteen. Her hair was coiled in a topknot, while the rest fell loose to her waist. Her clothes were patterned, but not made of brocade; they shone with a radiance that could not be described by any name known in the human world. She entered and paid her respects to Wang Fangping, who rose to welcome her. Once they were seated, each set out a banquet.

The food was served on gold plates and in jade cups. Most of the dishes were made from various fresh flowers, whose fragrance drifted throughout the house and beyond. Someone tore off a piece of dried meat and ate it. It tasted like meat smoked over cypress wood; they said it was dried qilin meat.

Magu said that since she had begun serving him, she had seen the Eastern Sea turn into mulberry fields three times with her own eyes. She had just arrived at Penglai and found that the sea was nearly half as shallow as before. Could the sea be turning into land once again? Wang Fangping, an immortal in Daoist legend, laughed and said, “The sages all say that dust will rise over the sea again.”

Magu wanted to meet Cai Jing’s mother and wife. At the time, Cai Jing’s younger brother’s wife had given birth only a few dozen days earlier. Magu saw her from afar and knew at once. “Ah, don’t come over just yet,” she said. She asked for a little rice and casually scattered it. Everyone watched the grains fall to the ground and saw that they had all turned into pearls. Wang Fangping laughed and said, “Magu is deliberately playing the sort of trick young people enjoy. I’m old, and I no longer care to perform such magic.”

Wang Fangping said to Cai Jing’s family, “I’d like to treat you to some wine. It comes from the Celestial Kitchen, where the immortals prepare their food. Its flavor is rich and potent, and it is unsuitable for mortals to drink; it might damage your stomach and intestines. I’ll dilute it with water. Please don’t take offense.” He mixed one dou of water with one sheng of wine, stirred it well, and offered it to Cai Jing’s family. Each person drank about one sheng and fell into a drunken stupor. A long while later, the wine was finished. Wang Fangping said to those beside him, “There isn’t enough. Go and fetch some more.” He gave a string of coins to an old woman from Yuhang and sent someone to ask her to sell them wine. After a while, the messenger returned with an oilskin flask containing about five dou of wine.

The messenger also relayed the old woman’s reply: “Kong di ye.” That is, “Perhaps it is di”—a name for the wine, or a related term. The meaning of the expression here is unclear.

A sack of oil and roughly five dous of wine. The messenger relayed what the Old Woman of Yuhang had said: “I fear that wine from the human world may not suit a divine being’s taste.”

Magu’s fingernails were unlike a human’s; they looked more like bird’s claws. Cai Jing thought to himself that they would come in handy for scratching his back when it itched. Wang Fangping already knew what Cai Jing was thinking, and ordered his attendants to drag him out and flog him. “Magu is a divine being,” he said. “How can you think of using her claws to scratch your back?” Cai Jing could see the whip striking his back, but not the person wielding it. Wang Fangping told him, “My whip is not something you can take lightly.”

Next door to Cai Jing lived a man surnamed Chen, whose given name is unknown. He had once served as a county commandant. Hearing that divine beings had come to Cai Jing’s home, he went there, knocked his head in salute, and asked to meet them. Wang Fangping summoned him and spoke with him. The man then asked to stay and serve the divine beings, on the same terms as Cai Jing. Wang Fangping said, “First, stand up and face the sun.” He examined the man from behind and said, “Alas, your intentions are not upright, and you are unlike Cai Jing. I cannot teach you the Way of the immortals. I will grant you only the role of managing affairs in the human world.”

As he was leaving, Wang Fangping put a talisman and a transmission credential of the Fulu kind into a small box and handed it to Commandant Chen. “These cannot free you from the mundane world or make you an immortal, but they can prolong your life. Your allotted lifespan is one hundred years. They can ward off calamities and cure illness. If a sick person has not reached the end of their allotted years and has committed no wrong, take the talisman to their home and they will recover. If evil spirits are causing trouble by demanding sacrificial offerings of blood and food, have the patient wear this talisman, then instruct the local shrine officials—the divine officers serving the Earth God—to seize and escort the spirits away. You will know how severe the spirits’ punishment should be; judge each case as it comes.”

Commandant Chen used the talisman to treat illnesses, and it proved effective. Several hundred households honored him. He lived to the age of one hundred and ten. After his death, his descendants continued using the talisman, but it no longer worked.

After Wang Fangping departed, the several hundred hu of wine the Jing family had prepared in the courtyard all disappeared, though no one had been seen drinking it. Jing’s parents asked him privately, “Where does Lord Wang usually live?” Jing replied, “He is often based on Kunlun and travels between Mount Luofu and Mount Kuocang. Each of these three mountains has palace buildings of the same scale. Lord Wang frequently attends to the affairs of the Heavenly Bureau, traveling between heaven and earth dozens of times in a single day. Matters concerning life and death across the Five Sacred Mountains of the human world must first be reported to him.

“When Lord Wang goes out, he sometimes leaves the full retinue of officials behind and rides only a yellow qilin, accompanied by a dozen or so people. One can often see the mountains and forests far below, hundreds of zhang beneath them. Wherever Lord Wang arrives, the mountain and sea spirits there come out to welcome and pay their respects; sometimes people also come to present matters to him.”

Several decades later, Jing once again returned home briefly to visit. Wang Fangping left Chen Wei a letter written in regular script: its characters were broad and large, yet not constrained by neatness. Until then, people had not known that Wang Fangping’s personal name was “Yuan”; they learned it only from this letter. The Chen Wei family continued to preserve, generation after generation, Lord Wang’s own letter and the small box containing talismans and credential slips.

◎ She Zheng

She Zheng, courtesy name Xuanzhen, was from Badong. He spoke of events from the time of Qin Shi Huang with such clarity and detail that he seemed to have witnessed them himself.

She Zheng, whose courtesy name was Xuanzhen, was from Badong. He spoke of events from the time of the First Emperor of Qin with such clarity that he seemed to have witnessed them himself. At the end of the Han dynasty, he led several dozen disciples into the region of Wu.

She Zheng often kept his eyes closed, even while walking. His disciples followed him for decades, yet none had ever seen him open them. One disciple pleaded with him repeatedly, and at last She Zheng opened his eyes. As he did, a sound like thunder rang out, and light flashed from his eyes like lightning, illuminating the entire room. The disciples were overcome and fell face down on the ground; only after a long while did they rise. She Zheng then closed his eyes again.

After She Zheng attained the Dao, no one saw him take anything or practice any method. His teachings to his disciples were said to include the circulation of Qi (breath regulation and directing vital energy), bedroom arts (techniques related to sexual cultivation), and taking small pills made from stone essence. Li Babai called She Zheng “the four-hundred-year-old child.”

Sun Bo was a native of Hedong. He had exceptional talent and was skilled at writing. He composed more than a hundred poems and could recite hundreds of thousands of characters from the scriptures. Only in his later years did he begin to study the Dao. He practiced the magical arts of the school of Mozi, and could make plants and metal or stone glow with fire, lighting the land for dozens of miles. He could also turn his body into fire and breathe flames from his mouth. When he pointed at trees and grass, they would scorch and wither; with another gesture, they would return to their original state. He could even make every soldier in an army turn into a ball of fire.

Someone in the army had hidden a runaway slave, but after searching for several days, no one could find him. Sun Bo said to the slave’s owner, “I’ll burn down the barracks for you, and the slave is sure to come running out. Just keep a close watch and catch him.” With that, he tossed a red pill into the camp. In an instant, flames shot skyward, and the slave indeed ran out and was caught. Sun Bo then tossed a blue pill into the fire, and it went out at once. The buildings and objects that had been scorched all returned to their original state.

When Sun Bo conjured fire, no one else could put it out, even by pouring water on it. It would die down only when he himself made it stop. He could pass through deep water without getting wet, and could keep the hundreds of people accompanying him dry as well. He could also lay mats on the water and sit with his companions, drinking wine, eating, and playing music. He would have them dance on the water, feasting all day without sinking or getting wet.

Sick people went to Sun Bo for treatment. He seemed to need to do nothing at all: he would simply point at the patient and say, “You are cured,” and the illness would disappear. He could also enter mountain cliffs and huge boulders on the ground. At first, his back and both ears could still be seen protruding from the stone; after a while, he would disappear completely inside it. He could swallow dozens of swords and knives, and pass through walls as though they had openings. He could turn a mirror into a sword, or bend a sword into a mirror, and it would remain that way for a long time. Only when Sun Bo touched it with his finger would it return to its original form.

Later, Sun Bo entered Linlü Mountain and refined a divine elixir. In the end, he became an immortal and departed.

Yu Zi’s surname was Zhang and his given name was Zhen. He came from Nanjun. In his youth, he studied a wide range of classics. When King You of Zhou summoned him to serve at court, he declined. Yu Zi lamented, “As people live in this world, the day of their birth grows ever more distant, while the day of their death draws ever nearer. They crave wealth and status, yet do not know how to preserve life. When their allotted years are spent and their breath comes to an end, what use is it for the body, soon to turn to dust, to have died as a prince or lord, with gold and jade piled high around it? Only by cultivating immortality and transcending the world can one escape the limits of a life span.”

Yu Zi then became the disciple of Sang Zi and learned various esoteric arts. Later, he founded his own school and wrote more than a hundred Daoist books. His methods of cultivation centered on “wukui.” He mastered the principles of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), worked out their hidden subtleties, and used them to preserve life, treat illness, and avert calamity.

It is said that he could summon whirlwinds strong enough to tear off roofs and snap trees, and bring on thunder, rain, clouds, and mist. He could transform grass and leaves, tiles and stones into cattle, sheep, and other livestock, or into tigers and dragons; in an instant, they would appear in ranks and formations. He could also produce hundreds or thousands of copies of himself. He could cross rivers and seas on foot, then hold water in his mouth and spray it out; each drop would turn into a pearl or piece of jade and would never turn back into water.

At times, he would hold his breath, and his body would become impossible to lift or push. It could neither bend nor straighten. He might remain this way for several dozen days, or even a hundred, before moving again. When he traveled with his disciples, each would roll a small ball of mud to make a horse, and Yu Zi would tell them to close their eyes. After a short while, the mud balls would become large horses. Riding them, they could travel a thousand li in a day. Yu Zi could also exhale five-colored breath, which rose hundreds of feet into the air. When birds flew past, he would point at them, and they would fall to the ground. Standing beside deep water, he would cast Fulu (talismans and registers) into it and summon fish and turtles, which would swim up onto the bank. He once enabled his disciples to see things a thousand li away simply by looking up, though this ability could not be maintained for long.

When Yu Zi performed the art of “wukui,” he filled a vessel with water and placed it between two stars of the Kui constellation. He blew and breathed upon the water, and a red light appeared on its surface, rising one or two zhang into the air. He used this water to treat various illnesses: those with internal ailments drank it, while those with ailments on the surface of the body bathed in it, and they recovered at once. Later, Yu Zi entered Mount Kongtong to prepare elixirs and eventually ascended to immortality in broad daylight.

“Wukui” refers to an esoteric art mentioned in the text. Kui usually denotes a constellation or a spirit associated with one. The original does not explain the specific procedures of this art in detail.

Tianmenzi

Tianmenzi’s surname was Wang and his given name was Gang. He was especially skilled in methods for nourishing life and replenishing vitality. His scripture says that Yang Qi stirs to life during the Yin hour (three to five in the morning), belonging to the pure essence of Wood; Yin Qi stirs to life during the Shen hour (three to five in the afternoon), belonging to the pure essence of Metal. When Wood encounters Metal, it is often harmed, so Yin Qi can weaken Yang Qi. Women apply powder and rouge by taking the whiteness of Metal as their model.

For this reason, realized adepts and Daoist practitioners carefully observe these subtle mysteries and cautiously attend to the waxing and waning of Yin and Yang. The text uses the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—the Four Symbols—to represent the positions and sequence in which Yin and Yang are brought into harmony, and says that following this method is a path to longevity and immortality. It also says that a woman may sometimes feel urgent desire while restraining herself outwardly and not taking the initiative to invite a man. This shows that Metal is unwilling to submit to Wood. A man, by contrast, is strong-willed and impatient, and acts carelessly; but when socializing at a banquet, if he speaks gently and uses modest words, this shows Wood showing deference to Metal.

Tianmenzi practiced this method and was said to have lived to the age of two hundred and eighty while retaining the appearance of a young woman. Later, he took “pearl-woven essence,” attained the Dao, became an immortal, and entered Xuanzhou, a legendary realm of immortals.

Nanjizi

Nanjizi’s surname was Liu and his given name was Rong. He was said to be able to hold powder in his mouth and turn it into eggs, spitting out dozens at a time. Once boiled, they tasted no different from ordinary eggs. A little powder, about the size of a fingertip, remained in each yolk. If placed in a cup while an incantation was recited, it could turn into a tortoise. After boiling, it could be eaten, complete with its internal organs, while the cup became a tortoise shell. Once the tortoise meat was removed, the shell turned back into a cup.

He could also recite an incantation over water and turn it into delicious wine that made those who drank it drunk. With a gesture of his hand, he could conjure a great tree. Someone once broke off a slender branch and stuck it between the walls of a room; for several days it remained like a real branch, then gradually withered. After taking Cloud-Frost Elixir, Nanjizi was said to have attained the Dao and become an immortal.

Huang Luzi

Huang Luzi’s surname was Ge, and his given name was Yue. He was highly skilled at treating illness. Even when a patient was a thousand li away, he could heal them by performing a ritual after receiving their name; he did not need to see them in person. He excelled at techniques of restraint—using talismans, incantations, or ritual arts to hold a being in check. He could immobilize tigers, wolves, and all kinds of insects, prevent birds from flying away, and make water flow backward for a li. He lived to the age of 280. He was strong enough to lift objects weighing a thousand jun, and he walked fast enough to keep pace with a galloping horse. A five-colored Qi (vital energy) often rose more than a zhang above his head. During severe droughts, he could go to a deep pool, summon a dragon, and urge it to ascend to Heaven and bring rain. He did this many times. One day, he bade farewell to his friends and family, mounted a dragon, and departed. He never returned.

Zhang Daoling

Zhang Daoling, whose courtesy name was Fu, was from Feng County in Pei State during the Han dynasty. In his youth, he was a learned Confucian scholar, well versed in the Five Classics. Later, he came to believe that Confucian learning offered no help in prolonging life, so he turned instead to cultivating the Way of long life. He had more than a thousand disciples. He passed on the essential instructions concerning the Qi of the Nine Cauldrons only to Wang Chang. Later, he also accepted Zhao Sheng as a disciple. Zhao Sheng underwent seven trials and passed them all.

For the first trial, when Zhao Sheng arrived, the master’s household refused to let him enter and insulted him. He endured the wind and frost outside the gate for more than forty days without leaving.

For the second trial, Zhang Daoling sent Zhao Sheng to guard the rice paddies and drive away wild animals. At dusk, he sent a woman to him, who pretended she was about to travel far and asked to lodge for the night. She shared Zhao Sheng’s bed. The next day, she said her feet hurt and she could not leave, so she stayed for several days. She repeatedly tried to entice Zhao Sheng with her beauty and words, but he never succumbed.

For the third trial, as Zhao Sheng walked along the road, he suddenly saw more than forty gold cakes scattered on the ground. He walked straight past them without taking any or even looking at them closely.

For the fourth trial, Zhao Sheng went into the mountains to cut firewood. Three tigers pounced on him together and seized his clothes, but did not harm him. Zhao Sheng was not at all afraid; his expression remained calm as he said to the tigers, “I am a person who cultivates the Dao. Since I was young, I have never done anything improper. That is why I have traveled a thousand li to serve my master and seek the Way of long life. You…”

“Why would this be? Surely the mountain spirit sent you to test me. You needn’t do this.” The tiger then went away.

For the fifth trial, Ling sent Zhao Sheng to the market to buy more than ten bolts of cloth. They had already agreed on the price, but the seller falsely claimed that he had not received the money. Zhao Sheng did not argue. He took off his own clothes and sold them to someone else, then bought the cloth and brought it back. He never mentioned what had happened.

For the sixth trial, Ling sent Zhao Sheng to guard grain in another field. A beggar came by, scarcely clothed, his face covered in dust and grime, his body marked with festering sores oozing pus. He smelled foul and looked repulsive. Zhao Sheng felt deep compassion for him. He took off his own clothes for the man to wear, gave him his own food, and also gave him some rice.

For the seventh trial, Ling led his disciples to a sheer cliff on Yuntai Mountain. A peach tree grew below the cliff face. Its trunk was as thick as an arm, and it stood one or two zhang below the top of the cliff, with an unfathomably deep ravine beneath it. The tree was laden with peaches. Ling said to his disciples, “Whoever can pick these peaches will receive the essential teachings of the Dao from me.”

More than three hundred disciples leaned over the edge to look. They trembled with fear and sweated profusely, and dared not stay long. They backed away and admitted they could not do it. Only Zhao Sheng said, “With the protection of the spirits, what danger could there be? The Sage Master is here; in the end, he would not let me fall into the ravine and die. Since my master has given me this instruction, there must be a way to pick the peaches.” With that, he leapt from the top of the cliff and landed squarely on the peach tree, without missing his footing. He gathered many peaches in his arms, but the cliff face was sheer, with nothing to climb, and he could not get back to the top.

So he tossed the peaches up one by one, throwing up two hundred in all. Ling handed the peaches out to the disciples, one to each person. Two were left over: he ate one and kept the other for Zhao Sheng. Then Ling came to the edge of the cliff and reached down to pull Zhao Sheng up. The others saw that Ling’s arm had not grown longer, yet in an instant he drew Zhao Sheng back to the top as easily as if picking up something one or two chi above the ground. Ling then gave Zhao Sheng the peach he had saved for him.

After Zhao Sheng had eaten it, Ling said, “With his steadfast heart, Zhao Sheng leapt onto the peach tree without missing his footing. Now I, too, would like to try leaping down and see whether I can land on the tree.” Everyone urged him not to take the risk. Only Zhao Sheng and Wang Chang said nothing. Ling then leapt down, but did not land on the peach tree, and the others could no longer see where he was. All around them stretched an endless sky; below lay a bottomless abyss, with no path to take. Everyone was overcome with alarm.

Only Zhao Sheng and Wang Chang remained silent. After a long while, they said to each other, “Our master is like a father to us. How could we stay here in peace while he has leapt into the deep ravine?” So the two of them leapt down together as well, and landed right in front of Ling. They saw him sitting on a curved-legged jade couch, with a dou canopy—a tent set up around the couch—outside it. Ling smiled and said, “I knew you two would come.” They stayed in the ravine, where Ling taught them the essential teachings of the Dao.

Luan Ba was a native of Shu Commandery. He delighted in Daoist arts and paid little attention to worldly affairs. When the commandery governor came to visit him, the two became acquainted, and the governor appointed him as his chief clerk, treating him with the respect owed to a teacher and friend.

The governor once asked Luan Ba, “I hear that the chief clerk has extraordinary arts. Could you show me one?” Luan Ba replied, “Certainly.” He remained seated where he was, then withdrew into the wall. His figure gradually faded like clouds and mist, and before long he had vanished. A tiger’s roar sounded outside the wall. A tiger ran back to the chief clerk’s residence; it turned out to be Luan Ba transformed.

Later, Luan Ba entered the court and served as a Secretariat Clerk. At the court banquet on the first day of the New Year, he arrived late, looking somewhat drunk. When wine was brought before him, he did not drink. Instead, he sprayed it toward the southwest. The official in charge reported that Luan Ba had behaved with grave disrespect. The emperor summoned him and asked for an explanation. Luan Ba kowtowed and said, “In my home region, people believe that I can treat ghosts and protect the living. They built a temple to me while I am still alive. Early this morning, the elders of my village all entered my temple, and I could not leave at once, so I appeared somewhat drunk. Just now, I also saw that a great fire had broken out in my home region. I sprayed wine, turning it into rain and putting out the fire.”

The emperor pardoned him and sent a post rider to Chengdu with a letter of inquiry. The reply confirmed that a great fire had indeed broken out on New Year’s Day. Rain had fallen from the northeast and extinguished it, and the rain had carried the smell of wine.

Liu An, King of Huainan, was the grandson of Emperor Gaozu of Han. He was fond of Confucian learning and the arts of the Dao, and wrote twenty-one chapters of the Inner Book. He also authored the three volumes of Hongbao Wanbi, which discuss the Way of transformation.

Eight Lords—immortals in legend—came to visit him. The gatekeeper took it upon himself to make things difficult for them, saying, “The King of Huainan seeks, at the highest level, the Way of prolonging life, delaying its end, and even attaining immortality. At the middle level, he seeks a great Confucian scholar, widely learned and versed in principle. At the lowest level, he seeks a valiant and mighty warrior, able to lift a cauldron, wrestle a tiger, and roam without fear. But you gentlemen are all old. You have no way to delay aging, nor the strength of Meng Ben or Xia Yu. You are neither the learned Confucian scholars he seeks at the middle level nor the valiant warriors he seeks at the lowest. You cannot expound ancient works such as the Three Mounds, Five Canons, Eight Cords, and Nine Hills, nor probe the obscure and understand distant principles, investigate things to their limits, and fully comprehend human nature. You meet none of these three requirements, so I dare not announce your arrival.”

The Eight Lords laughed and said, “We have heard that the King of Huainan honors the worthy and delights in scholars, treating those of humble status with respect and never tiring of it. Anyone with a particular skill comes to seek his patronage. The ancients valued all kinds of learning and even welcomed men skilled in training crowing roosters and barking dogs. Only those who truly wish to buy a horse have a chance of acquiring a steed like a qilin; only by honoring Guo Wei can one attract worthy people from across the realm. Though we are ignorant and do not meet your requirements, we have come from far away simply hoping to meet the King of Huainan. Even if we cannot be of help, we will cause no harm. Why bar us from the gate and dismiss us before we have even been seen? If the King of Huainan sees young people and assumes they possess the Dao, but sees white-haired elders and assumes they are mediocre, he can hardly be said to know how to find jade in stone or pearls in the depths. You object to our age; be careful, then, and say a little less.”

As soon as they had finished speaking, the Eight Lords transformed into fifteen young men, their hair tied up, their temples dark, and their faces rosy as peach blossoms. The gatekeeper was greatly alarmed and hurried to report to the King of Huainan. When the King heard, he had no time to put on his shoes. He rushed out barefoot to greet them, invited them up to the Terrace for Seeking Immortals, hung brocade curtains, set out an ivory couch, burned “Hundred-Blended Incense,” made from many fragrant ingredients, and prepared tables of gold and jade. He put on the shoes of a disciple himself, turned north, clasped his hands in salute, and said:

“I, Liu An, am of ordinary ability. Since my youth, I have loved the study of Dao and De, yet worldly affairs have bound me, and I have become immersed in worldly ways, unable to cast off attachment to the world and withdraw to the mountains and forests. Still, day and night I yearn for the Dao and its arts, hoping for the arrival of the divine. I wish to cleanse myself of defilement, but my sincerity is shallow and my aspirations cannot unfold. I am far removed from the Great Dao, as far apart as clouds and mud. I never expected to be so fortunate as to receive such favor, with the Lord of the Dao deigning to descend. This is my good fortune…”

My life and nature should have received a higher calling. I am both delighted and afraid, filled with unease and unsure what to do. I only ask that the Dao Lord—a respectful title for one who has attained the Dao—take pity on me and instruct me, so that, like a young caterpillar borne aloft by wings, I may leave the ground and fly.

The Eight Lords then took on the appearance of old men and said to Liu An, King of Huainan: “Though my knowledge is limited, I have learned something of the Daoist arts. Knowing that Your Majesty is fond of these arts, I have come to follow you. What would you like to learn? Among us, some can sit quietly and summon wind and rain, raise clouds and mist in an instant, draw rivers on the ground, or scoop up earth and turn it into mountains. Some can make high mountains collapse and deep chasms fill in, command tigers and leopards, summon dragons and snakes, and put spirits and ghosts to work. Some can change their form and appearance, vanish or appear while seated, conceal troops, and turn day into night. Some can walk through the air, raise mist over the sea, pass in and out without obstruction, and travel a thousand miles in a single breath. Some can enter fire without being burned and water without getting wet; blades cannot wound them, arrows cannot strike them, they feel no bitter cold in winter, and they do not sweat in summer. Some can transform things in countless ways, making birds and beasts, plants and trees take shape or move at will in an instant; they can also move all things, mountains, and palaces. Some can ward off calamity and disaster, dispel every kind of harm, extend life, and live forever with their senses still keen. Others can refine clay into gold and smelt lead into silver, use water to refine the Eight Minerals employed in alchemy, make glass beads fly, and ride dragons and clouds as they roam through the Highest Clarity, the highest heaven in Daoism. Which of these arts would Your Majesty like to learn?”

Thereupon, the King of Huainan paid homage to the Eight Lords from morning until night and personally offered them wine and fruit. He first asked them to demonstrate transformations such as summoning wind and rain and raising clouds and mist; all proved effective. He then received the Elixir Scripture and alchemical methods such as the Thirty-Six Mercury Preparations.