《云笈七签》Vol. 44

Time passed quickly, and his body gradually grew frail. He hurried about in the morning and rested at dusk, spending the whole day in toil. What benefit could worldly honors and an official career bring him? The sages of old often resigned from office and devoted themselves to seeking the Dao (the Way), and many thereby transcended the world. Now that he had fulfilled his marital duties, he should no longer be entangled in worldly affairs. Was this any worse than what Xu Yuanyou, an ancient seeker of the Dao, had done? So he feigned illness, resigned from office, and entered the mountains to cultivate the Dao.

You arrived in Guangling, in the area of present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu. In the city marketplace, he met a Daoist selling medicine. A large crowd had gathered around him, and people said his medicines often worked wonders. Among the crowd, You noticed Shang and thought him an unusual person. The Daoist then packed up his stall and took Shang to a tavern, where they drank together. He spoke of events from the Qin and Han dynasties onward as though he had witnessed them himself. Shang was deeply astonished and honored him as his master. The Daoist also spoke of the arts of the immortals, saying that they were beyond anyone’s reach.

At dusk, Shang returned to his lodging. After the Daoist came downstairs, he suddenly vanished, leaving Shang even more amazed. The next day, Shang returned to the marketplace to look for him and found him still selling medicine. The Daoist was even more pleased to see Shang. He again took him to the tavern, where they talked freely over drinks. When they parted, the Daoist gave Shang a small medicine pouch and, smiling, recited: “I came to Yangzhou with nothing to do; together we climbed to the tavern. I give you this medicine pouch as a farewell gift—what more could there be to seek after a thousand years?” Shang committed these lines to memory.

At dusk, the Daoist took his leave. The merchant later went looking for him, but never saw him again. When he opened the cloth pouch, he found a gourd wrapped in layer upon layer of cloth. Inside the gourd were nine pills, each about the size of a hemp seed. He swallowed them according to the instructions the Daoist had taught him. At once, his mind felt clear and refreshed, his hunger vanished, and his body felt light and buoyant. He crossed the river and went sightseeing at Mount Mao. After a long while, he traveled on to Zhanggong Cave in Yixing. In spring, he grew fond of Yanhua Stream, whose waters seemed like a painted scene, and took up residence at the home of Hu Fu-Zhu, living in seclusion in the mountains. Local woodcutters once saw him, and he introduced himself as “I am Liu, the physician.” Later, no one knew where he had gone. Perhaps he had become an earthly immortal, dwelling in the mountains and forests of the human world.

Liu Ti, whose courtesy name was pronounced like “Jian,” was nicknamed Yige; his elder brother was called Liu Zhan. His family was poor, but he loved Daoist arts. A Daoist often passed by his home. Seeing that Liu Ti was unusual, he asked, “Do you know the Dao?” Liu Ti replied, “I do.” The Daoist judged that worldly desires still weighed heavily on him and that his affinity for cultivation had not yet matured, so it would be unwise to force him to study. He asked whether Liu Ti would be willing to take him as his master. Liu Ti answered, “How could I possibly be unwilling?” He then became the Daoist’s disciple and followed him into Mount Luofu.

Liu Ti and Liu Zhan both studied the classics. Liu Ti lived in the mountains to cultivate the Dao, leaving his hair unbound and wearing plain cloth clothes as he served the Daoist and studied literature. Liu Zhan, by contrast, aspired to fame and wealth. Liu Ti told his elder brother, “If I fail the examinations, I can live freely in seclusion among the mountains and wilds. If I pass, I will only be burdened with worldly affairs.” Liu Ti never earned a degree. He was cautious about wealth and status, and once said that in forty years the outcome would become clear. Someone remarked, “The path of the immortals is distant and hard to find; even Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han pursued it with great effort. But entering government is close at hand, and men like Ma Zhou and Zhang Jiazhen can always come along again.” After this, Liu Ti devoted himself even more fully to cultivating the Dao, and eventually lived in seclusion on Mount Luofu.

Zhan Ping relied on success in the civil service examinations to enter government, where he held a series of prominent, prestigious posts. He later rose to the highest ministerial office and earned a reputation for balancing affairs of state and assisting the ruler. Before long, he was banished to the south. On the way, he reached Chaotai in Guangzhou and moored his boat by the river. Suddenly, a young man with a mane-like horn on his head came hurrying through the downpour. He wore plain clothes, yet neither his garments nor his shoes were wet. He asked to see Zhan, and those around him were astonished. The young man only said, “Yi-ge has arrived.” The attendants reported this to Zhan.

Zhan asked what the young man looked like. After hearing their description, he was deeply astonished and invited him to meet. The young man seemed no more than twenty, while Zhan’s hair had turned completely white and he had grown frail and haggard, a disgraced official in exile. When they met, joy and sorrow mingled. Ti replaced him with words of comfort: “You and I became sworn brothers, so of course we feel one another’s pain as members of the same family. Forty years have passed since we spoke those words.” Zhan was moved all the more and asked Ti, “Can I still return to the Dao?”

Ti said, “My elder brother has enjoyed favor and honor, serving in a position that requires him to balance Yin-Yang and assist in governing the state. His thoughts and actions have been bound up in political affairs; how could that not drain him? If not for me, your younger brother, who could help you? Besides, I have already risen to become a Celestial Immortal. How could I still save you? I have come this time only to take my leave, not to rescue you.”

The two then traveled together by boat, talking about how they had parted in years gone by. After spending a night together, Ti vanished. Even now, people in Mount Luofu often say they have seen him. Zhan continued south and eventually died in the place of his exile.

—Luo Wanxiang

Luo Wanxiang’s place of origin is unknown. He was gifted in literature, well versed in astronomy, and had a deep understanding of the principles of the Book of Changes. His integrity and conduct set him apart, yet he traveled throughout the world always as an ordinary commoner.

He once lived on Mount Wangwu. After a long time, he traveled to Mount Luofu and exclaimed, “This is Zhuming Grotto-Heaven, a blessed dwelling of the Daoists. Ge Zhichuan [Ge Hong, a Daoist of the Eastern Jin] once lived here and practiced alchemy. Though Deng Yue [a local figure said to have been connected with Ge Hong] is no longer here to persuade me to stay, I shall settle here for a while.” Fond of the scenery at Shilou, he built a thatched hut at the foot of the mountain and made it his home.

He often ate yellow essence, an herb commonly used in Daoist health practices, and spent decades cultivating himself through breath regulation and Qi practice. At times he traveled to Zengcheng Spring Mountain and gathered herbs around Bushui; at other times he went into the cities of the Fu and Guang regions, selling medicine and drinking wine, with no fixed abode. Sometimes he ate enough for more than ten people at a single meal; at other times he ate nothing at all. No one knew how many years he lived this way. His expression was bright and his body light and nimble. He could walk three or four hundred li in a day, and even a galloping horse could not catch him when he walked at an easy pace. Later, he returned to his thatched hut at Shilou and never ventured out again, living in seclusion in the mountains.

Sima Chengzhen

Sima Chengzhen, courtesy name Ziwei, was widely learned and skilled in writing. He studied seal script closely and developed a distinctive style known as “Golden Scissors Script.” He lived as a recluse on Yuxiao Peak on Mount Tiantai, called himself Master White Cloud, and knew the methods of taking medicinal substances to preserve health. Wu Zetian summoned him by imperial decree several times, but he never left the mountains.

Emperor Ruizong of Tang greatly esteemed Daoism and repeatedly showed Sima Chengzhen respect and courtesy. Only then did Sima agree to enter the court. Ruizong asked him about Yin-Yang arts and numerical arts. Sima replied, “The Scripture of the Lord Lao says: ‘Reduce, and reduce again, until you reach Wuwei (non-action). Even the things perceived by the mind’s eye and reached by knowledge should continually be diminished. If one cannot fully stop wandering thoughts, why probe into various heterodox teachings and increase cleverness and calculation?”

Ruizong asked, “Practicing Wuwei to cultivate oneself can make one seem serene and lofty. How should Wuwei be applied to govern the state?” Sima replied, “The state is like the human body. The Zhuangzi says that the spirit of the mind wanders at ease in tranquility, while the breath gathers in stillness. Follow what is natural, and one can be free of self-interest; then the world will be well governed. The Classic of Changes says that the virtue of the sage accords with Heaven and Earth. From this we can understand that Heaven speaks not, yet is trustworthy; it does not act deliberately, yet brings all things to completion. The principle of Wuwei is the key to governing the state.”

Ruizong greatly admired and valued him, and wanted him to remain at court in an exalted position. Sima firmly declined and took his leave to return to the mountains. Ruizong then gave him a precious zither and an embroidered cape, and sent him on his way. Many high-ranking officials composed poems to see him off. The Minister of Attendants Xu Yanbo selected more than thirty of the finest poems and wrote a preface for the collection, naming it Records of the White Cloud. The book later circulated widely.

At the time, Lu Cangyong had once lived as a recluse on Mount Zhongnan in his early years, but later entered government service and rose to high office. Seeing that Sima Chengzhen was about to return to Mount Tiantai, he pointed to Mount Zhongnan and said, “There are many fine places here. Why insist on going to Mount Tiantai?” Sima answered calmly, “As I see it, this place is merely a shortcut to an official career.” Lu Cangyong heard this and looked ashamed.

When Emperor Ming of the Tang dynasty (Emperor Xuanzong) ruled the realm, he was deeply interested in Daoist arts. He summoned Chengzhen to the capital, had him live in an inner palace hall, and treated him with respect. He asked Chengzhen how to prolong life and transcend the mundane world. Chengzhen spoke obliquely, saying things that were difficult to understand. Emperor Ming kept the teachings secret and passed them on discreetly, so that no one else knew of them.

Emperor Ming governed the country for forty-five years. Although An Lushan raised an army and seized the capital, forcing the emperor to flee by carriage to Shu, he later returned as Retired Emperor and lived another seven years before dying. This was certainly determined by Heaven’s mandate; yet might Daoist arts not also have helped him prolong his life?

Earlier, after returning from his Fengshan sacrifice at Mount Tai, Emperor Ming asked Chengzhen, “Which spirits govern each of the Five Sacred Peaks?” Chengzhen replied, “The Five Sacred Peaks are towering mountains that guard the realm. They can bring forth thunder and rain, shelter immortals in seclusion, and are mountains on which the state depends. Since ancient times, spirits of the mountains and forests have dwelt there, along with immortal officials who preside over them.” The emperor then issued an edict to build temples for the immortal officials on the summit of each of the Five Sacred Peaks. This practice began with Chengzhen.

The female immortal Xie Ziran from Shu crossed the sea, hoping to seek a master at Penglai. The wind drove her boat onto a mountain, where she met a Daoist. He told her, “Sima Chengzhen of Mount Tiantai lives at Dantai, within Chicheng. He is a true and worthy master. Penglai lies across 300,000 li of weak water; no boat can sail there. Only by ascending to immortality can one reach it.”

Xie Ziran then returned and asked Sima Chengzhen to teach her the Daoist arts. Later, she ascended to immortality in broad daylight. Sima Chengzhen lived in the mountains, devoting himself to cultivating the Dao. Even after he was over a hundred, he had the youthful face and light, vigorous step of someone around thirty. More than seventy disciples studied under him.

One day, he told his disciples, “From Jade Firmament Peak, looking east, I often see true spirits descending upon Penglai. Now the Lord of the Blue Lad of the Eastern Sea and the Lord of the Eastern Florescence have summoned me to go to them. I must leave the human world.” Soon afterward, his breathing stopped, and he transformed into an immortal, like a cicada shedding its shell. His disciples buried only his clothes and headgear.

Lüqiu Fangyuan, whose courtesy name was Dafang, was from Susong in Shuzhou. Bright and articulate from childhood, he had mastered the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents by the age of sixteen. At Mount Lu, he studied the Book of Changes under Chen Yuanwu. At twenty-nine, he sought instruction from Zuo Yuanze of Xianglin on refining the Great Elixir, the immortal elixir of Daoism. Zuo Yuanze considered him exceptionally gifted. Later, he took Liu Chujing of Hidden Truth Cliff on Mount Xiandu as his teacher, learning the arts of cultivating the true and attaining immortality. At thirty-four, at Yuxiao Palace on Mount Tiantai, he received from Ye Zangzhi the transmission of Fulu—Daoist precepts, talismans, and registers. Ye Zangzhi passed on to him the complete secret teachings of the True Writings.

Alongside his practice of guarding the One and guiding Qi—concentrating the spirit and regulating the breath—Fangyuan especially enjoyed reading the writings of the various philosophical schools and works of history. He often needed to read a book only once to commit it to memory. He would say, “Ge Zhichuan (Ge Hong) and Tao Zhenbai (Tao Hongjing) are both my teachers and friends.” He compiled the Taiping Jing into thirty chapters, gathering its essential teachings into a complete account. His reputation consequently spread even farther throughout the Jianghuai region.

Emperor Zhaozong of Tang summoned him to court many times. From his reading of the celestial signs, he concluded that the Qin region would soon lie desolate and that the fortunes of the Tang dynasty were bound to change. He therefore followed the example of Yuan Gong and Qili Ji, two of the Four Elders of Mount Shang, and remained in the mountains rather than taking office.

He ultimately did not answer the summons. The emperor then issued an edict praising him, bestowed official robes and the title “Master of Wondrous Being, Mister Mysterious Unity,” and charged him with spreading the teachings of the Mysterious Gate. He expounded the sages’ teachings and enlightened the ignorant. Accounts of his dealings with divine immortals spread widely throughout the regions of Wu and Chu. Many people therefore came to study under him, as they had under the Perfected of Orthodox Unity in Shu.

Zhao Sheng and Wang Chang also joined his circle. He had more than two hundred disciples. Xia Yinyan of Kuaiji, Dai Yinyu of Qiao, Zheng Yinyao of Xingyang, Lu Yinzhou of Wu Commandery, Sheng Yinlin of Guangling, and Zhang Yinzhi of Wudu all learned the essentials of the Way and penetrated its mysteries. Cheng Zixiao of Guangping answered a summons to the Qin palace, while Nie Shidao of Xin’an spread the teachings in Wu. Hu Qian’guang of Anding, Kong Zonglu of Lu, and eight others all received the subtle methods of “contemplating the Real and refining the spirit.” The others who sought the traces of the sages and lived in seclusion in famous mountains are too numerous to record one by one.

On the fourteenth day of the second month in the second year of Tianfu, he bathed, burned incense, and sat upright in stillness. At noon, he passed away. His expression was calm and joyful, his body relaxed and at ease, and a strong, unusual fragrance lingered around him for three days without dispersing. His disciples buried him according to customary rites. But when they carried him to the coffin, they found only empty clothes: his body had undergone “corpse liberation,” the Daoist transformation in which a practitioner sheds the physical form and ascends. Later, monastics and laypeople saw him several times on Mount Xiandu and Mount Lu. He said, “I have left Great Purity Cave and returned to seclusion at the Heavenly Pillar Source on □ Mountain.”

◎Nie Shidao

Nie Shidao, courtesy name Tongwei, was from Xin…

◎Nie Shidao

Nie Shidao, whose courtesy name was Tongwei, was from She County in Xin’an. He was naturally intelligent and sincere, upright and honest, and modest and careful in his words and actions. He was known for his filial devotion to his parents and deeply respected by the people of his community. In his youth, he studied under the Daoist priest Fangwai, a cousin of Dehui. In the second year after Dehui left his post as a court official to become the local governor of Xin’an, Fangwai accompanied him to Jingnan and served as his secretary. Fangwai had left his wife and children early in life to enter the Dao, where he studied methods for regulating the breath and cultivating the true Dao. He traveled among the famous mountains of the Five Sacred Peaks before eventually arriving in Xin’an.

On a mountain east of the prefectural city, Dehui chose a scenic spot and built a residence for Fangwai, calling it the “Mountain House for Inquiring into Governance.” Shida served Fangwai as his teacher and studied diligently for more than ten years, learning the essentials of transmitting Fulu (talismans and registers, the credentials and ritual documents conferred in Daoist practice) and cultivating the true (refining body and mind in pursuit of the Dao and spiritual realization).

Later, Shida traveled to the mountains of Xuxi. He said that he had read an esoteric Daoist text describing a method of cultivation that involved consuming pine resin. So he and his fellow Daoist practitioners climbed Baizhang Mountain to gather it. The mountain was named “Hundred Zhang” for its towering, winding cliffs. From its summit, the land stretched out in every direction, more than a thousand ren high. One night, Shida and his companions slept beneath a pine tree on the cliff top. The moon shone brightly in a clear sky when, suddenly, they heard celestial music drifting from afar over purple clouds in the southeast, then slowly moving toward Shijin Mountain.

Shijin Mountain stood as high as Baizhang Mountain. Though the two mountains were thirty li apart, from their summits they seemed close at hand. When the celestial music reached Shijin Mountain, it paused briefly. Then came three soft drumbeats, and the music began again. The sounds of metal and stone instruments, sheng and xiao pipes, and strings and bamboo instruments echoed across the mountain, with the drums keeping time. The listeners could not make out the melody; they could only tell that the sound was lofty and clear, quite unlike the music of the human world. It continued from the third watch of the night until the first crowing of the rooster. Later, when they asked the people below the mountain, they learned that everyone there had heard it that night as well.

One of his companions exclaimed, “We came to gather a numinous medicine, and suddenly we hear celestial music. Could this not be a response to our cultivation? Perhaps it is also an auspicious sign that you have attained the Dao.”

Later, he traveled to Mount Heng in the south and paid his respects at the two altars, the Jade Clarity Altar and the Bright Heaven Altar. He then stayed at the Monastery for Summoning Immortals and entered the Source of the Numinous Cavern. It was spring, and he heard that the place where Perfected Cai had once lived in seclusion was not far away. Its flowers and trees were extraordinary, and woodcutters sometimes caught sight of Perfected Cai moving among them. Delighted by the news, Shidao abstained from grain for seven days as a form of cultivation, then set out alone into the mountains at dawn.

He went farther and farther into the mountains, inhaling the fragrance of unusual flowers, until before he knew it, evening had come. Suddenly he reached the bank of a great stream and saw a woodcutter sitting on the sandy shore. Shidao hurried to approach him, hoisting a bundle of firewood onto his back as he prepared to cross the stream. The woodcutter glanced back at Shidao, stopped, and leaned against his load. “What brings you here alone?” he asked.

Shidao replied, “I am devoted to learning the Dao and seeking immortals. I heard that Perfected Cai lives in seclusion in these mountains, and I hope to pay him a visit.” The woodcutter said, “Lord Cai lives very deep in the mountains. Ordinary people cannot reach him.” Shidao answered, “I have climbed vines and scaled cliffs to get this far. Since there is a mountain path, why fear the distance?”

The woodcutter said again, “It is nearly dark. First go to the eastern side of this mountain, where you can find a household to stay the night.” Shidao wanted to follow him away, but the woodcutter suddenly walked into the water. The stream was shallow beneath his feet, yet when Shidao stepped in, he found the water deep and the current swift, and dared not cross.

The woodcutter told him, “You will have to wait until fifty years from now before you can cross this stream.” Shidao watched the woodcutter walk across the water until he disappeared from view, then turned and left.

He walked east for more than ten li and saw three thatched huts in the distance, enclosed by a fence, with chickens and dogs nearby. When he drew closer, he saw a man with a pale, greenish complexion, dressed like a farmer and about thirty years old, living alone. Seeing Shidao arrive, the man was greatly surprised and asked why he was walking alone in the deep mountains. Then he asked, “Your family and relatives have all gone out. What have you come here for?” The host also asked where Shidao was headed. Shidao replied, “I have come in search of the Immortal Cai.”

The host asked, “Did you meet a woodcutter on the way?” Shidao said, “I did.” The host said, “That was the Daoist Cai who passed through here just now.” Hearing this, Shidao bowed and prayed: “I am so foolish and ordinary that, though I met an immortal sage, I failed to recognize him. This too must be fate.”

It was late, and the mountain forest was deep and dark, leaving Shidao nowhere to stay for the night. The host asked where he had come from, so Shidao explained in detail how he had set out from Xin’an to seek the immortal. The host then invited him inside and pointed to a bed beside the stove. “Food has run short in the mountains,” he said. “I went out to look for some and have not yet returned.” Shidao replied, “I have been without food for a long time. I no longer give eating any thought.”

Beside the stove, he saw a soup cauldron—a vessel for boiling water—and several yellow porcelain boxes. The host said, “Everything in these boxes is edible. Help yourself to whatever you like.” Shidao opened one box and found tea inside. The host poured hot water over it, and Shidao drank. Its flavor seemed quite unlike ordinary tea. Wanting another cup, he tried to open the box again, but could not. None of the other boxes would open either. He thought to himself that this did not seem like an ordinary farmhouse, but did not dare say so.

The host went to sleep in another room and had still not risen when the sun was already high. With no lamp or firelight, Shidao heard the host speak in his sleep: “This place is remote and desolate. If you suddenly fall ill, I will have no way to care for you. There are many households in the village ahead; you can go there.”

Shidao set out in that direction. He walked for several li but saw no houses, only steep cliffs all around. He had no choice but to turn back, but by then he had lost his way to the place where he had stayed. After walking more than thirty li, he met an old man.

Shidao walked several miles along the mountain path without seeing a single household. Steep cliffs surrounded him on every side, so he had no choice but to turn back. By then, however, he could no longer recognize the place where he had lodged the night before. After walking more than thirty miles, he met an old man. Delighted, he invited him to sit on a stone and asked why he had come into the mountains, then recounted all that had happened to him.

The old man said, “Lord Cai and his son both live in seclusion on this mountain. The place where you lodged last night was where his son lives.” He added, “Your Dao Qi is strong, but your immortal bones have not yet been formed. You went hungry and thirsty after entering the mountain—how could you make your way back?” He then broke off a stalk of grass and gave it to Shidao. It looked like a ginger shoot and was more than a foot long. Chewing it, Shidao found it sweet and pleasant. The old man also told him to drink from a spring. After Shidao had finished drinking and looked up, the old man had vanished.

Shidao could not stop lamenting. After eating the grass, he felt lighter and stronger than before, even more so than when he had set out. He tried to follow the mountain path back to find the place where he had lodged the previous night, but brambles and vines had covered the road, making it impossible to proceed. He had no choice but to return to Zhaoxian Abbey.

When the Daoist priests suddenly saw Shidao return, they were astonished. “Although this abbey stands on a numinous mountain, many insects and beasts live nearby, and people rarely venture out alone. How could you have been gone for more than a month? We were terribly worried.” Shidao replied, “I only set out yesterday. By my reckoning, I spent just one night away.” He gave them a detailed account of meeting the woodcutter, lodging in the mountains, and later meeting the old man.

The Daoist priests sighed. “Though we live in this abbey and devote ourselves to studying the Dao, we have only heard tell of the Perfected Cai and have never had the chance to meet him. You seem to have had an immortal affinity from the start and have already met Lord Cai and his son. As for that old man, we have heard that the Perfected Peng once lived in seclusion on this mountain. Could he have been Lord Peng? As soon as you entered the mountains, you encountered three immortals in succession. Only a day and a night passed for you in the human world, while more than a month went by outside. This must have been the fate you accumulated through long practice.” Shidao was deeply astonished.

Shidao practiced at Zhaoxian Abbey for more than a year. Later, because his parents were old and he missed his family, he returned to Wenzheng Mountain. Whenever he went into the mountains, he gathered firewood and picked medicinal herbs. Sometimes he encountered tigers and leopards. When they saw Shidao, they lowered their ears, wagged their tails, and crouched on the ground. He stroked them with his hand and called to them, and they would rise and follow him. Sometimes he loaded the firewood and herbs onto their backs, and they carried them home for him before leaving.

Long ago, when Guo Wentai lived at Dadong Grotto, a crouching tiger had also accompanied him. Fierce beasts often roamed the nearby mountains, yet they did not harm people. It was said that this was due to the transforming influence of Shidao’s De (Virtue/Power). His parents sometimes asked what he had gained from traveling and studying away from home, and he would tell them all about his experiences. After listening, they were delighted and said, “You care for me with filial devotion, and you enrich me with the Daoist teachings. To be your mother is a blessing. This must have come from the good fortune and blessings we accumulated in a former life.”

Later, Shidao set out traveling again, intending to visit Mount Jiuyi in the Southern Marchmounts. He had long heard that Immortal Mei and Attendant Xiao both lived in seclusion on Mount Yusi, and that people often saw them at the time. Immortal Mei was Mei Fu, a commandant of Nanchang County during the Han dynasty. Attendant Xiao was Xiao Ziyun, courtesy name Jingqiao, a prince of the Liang dynasty. He had served as governor of Dongyang and, to escape the Rebellion of Hou Jing, had taken his entire family into the mountains. Both men attained the Dao here.

Shidao stayed for a time at Qingxu Abbey on Mount Yusi. Admiring Mei Fu and Xiao Ziyun, he visited Yumu Ravine three times, hoping to meet one of them…

Determined to press on, Shidao continued farther into the mountains. Deep among them, he suddenly met a man dressed in plain cloth and wearing a black gauze cap, who appeared to be about fifty. Shidao bowed and asked who he was. At first the man called himself “the Wanderer” and asked where Shidao was going. Shidao replied that he hoped to find Mei and Xiao.

The Wanderer said, “I have heard that you diligently cultivate the Dao and have visited many famous mountains. Such resolve is truly rare. You wish to meet the two immortals, Mei and Xiao; I can take you to them. The karmic ties from your past life are pure, and your name has already been entered in the jade register of the immortal realm. Though you cannot yet ascend to immortality, in time you will transcend the world.”

The Wanderer continued, “My name is Xie Xiutong. I was afraid you would not recognize me, so I have introduced myself. I once lived on Mount Heng in the South, where I dwelt in seclusion with Peng and Cai. Three hundred years have passed since then. I know you often visit Donglingyuan. I have just been appointed by Lord Donghua to oversee the affairs of the earthbound immortals in the forests of Mount Yusi, and also to govern the local shrine and its lands within the grounds of Qingxu Abbey. You and I have long been bound by a Daoist affinity, which is why we have met here. Mei and Xiao were summoned by the King of Little-Being Heaven at noon today. They are unlikely to return soon, so you cannot wait for them.”

Shidao bowed deeply and said, “I am merely a mortal in a human body, yet presume to seek the Great Dao, concentrating my spirit without pause, day and night. But I have not yet grasped the essentials of cultivation. I am like someone adrift at sea, with no idea where the shore lies. To meet a Daoist lord today is a stroke of fortune that comes only once in a hundred lifetimes.”

Xie Xiutong said, “Your sincerity is moving, and I truly feel for you. You still have unfinished duties in the human world. I will first guide you out of the mountain, then take you to my dwelling.”

They walked together for several miles and suddenly came upon two thatched huts, exceptionally neat and tidy. Inside were a bed, a mat, and a small pot boiling over a fire, as though a scholar lived there. Yet no one else was anywhere along the mountain path. Xie Xiutong invited Shidao inside and told him to sit on a wooden rabbit, while he sat on a white stone deer couch. Before long, a young boy with his hair in twin topknots brought Shidao a bowl of soup. After a few sips, Shidao felt his mind grow clear and refreshed.

Xie Xiutong pointed to a shelf and told Shidao to take down a scroll for himself. “This is the Book of Plain Writing. Study it diligently, and you will understand its true meaning.”

Shidao wanted to ask if he could stay and become Xie Xiutong’s disciple, but before he could speak, Xie already understood his thoughts. “You have elderly family members at home. Though your older brother can care for them, if you wish to continue south, you cannot yet speak of staying. I have a disciple named Zizhi on Mount Jiuyi. If you go to see him, give him my message and show him the Book of Plain Writing; he will understand its central teaching. If you cannot find him, cast the book into the cave above Maoru Creek, then write on the rock wall the message I have entrusted to you. Zizhi will pass on to you the essential methods of cultivation.”

With that, Xie Xiutong sent Shidao on his way. In the blink of an eye, Shidao had reached Yumu Hollow, and Xie Xiutong had vanished. When Shidao entered Qingxu Abbey, the Daoists there exclaimed in surprise, “You were gone for seven days! Where did you go?” Shidao told them everything that had happened. Two of the Daoists were delighted to hear the story and asked to accompany him to Yumu Hollow. When they reached the place, the rocks and plants were still clearly as before, but the thatched hut had disappeared. They gazed around in dismay for the whole day before finally returning.

After receiving the Sushu, Shidao was able to read its characters, but its teachings concerned the secret essentials and true instructions by which the Queen Mother of Mount Guishan governed and transformed the immortals. It was said that other immortals who practiced this book could ascend to Heaven, while ordinary people who received its teachings might gain the chance to enter a celestial grotto. Some difficult passages could not be fully investigated or understood. Later, Shidao went to Xiangzhen Abbey on Mount Jiuyi in the Southern Marchmounts. He stayed for more than a month, asking about the whereabouts of Zizhi. People said that an unnamed hermit lived beside a stream, and that some had seen him. Shidao searched the mountains many times but did not find him. Following the method described by Tongxiu, he wrote a letter and inscribed it on a stone wall. After that, he often dreamed of a divine being who called himself Zizhi and taught him how to dispel the doubts and confusions in his heart. Shidao then understood everything clearly.

More than a year later, Shidao returned to live at Wenzheng. He stayed there for over twenty years. Whenever he burned incense and practiced cultivation, he looked up at and paid homage to portraits of the two Cai immortals, Peng, Xie, and the other perfected beings. He also compiled different teachings himself using bamboo slips and silk, and transmitted them to Daoist priests and lay followers.

Later, Taizu of Wu established his power across the Jianghuai region. Having heard of Shidao’s reputation and deeds, he hoped to draw on his moral cultivation to protect the soldiers and people. He therefore sent messengers repeatedly to summon Shidao to the palace and provide for him, and built Xuanyuan Palace in Guangling as his residence. Whenever Shidao ascended the ritual altar to pray for blessings and avert calamities, he petitioned for grace and protection. His prayers were fulfilled in times of both flood and drought, bringing a response from Heaven and Earth, while the clouds and mist displayed auspicious signs.

Later, Wu Taizu (the ruler of Wu) established his dominance in the Jianghuai region. Hearing of Shidao’s reputation and deeds, he hoped Shidao’s virtue would protect the army and the people. He repeatedly sent envoys to summon him to court, and eventually built Xuanyuan Palace in Guangling (around present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu) for him to reside in. Whenever Shidao ascended the altar to pray for blessings and invoke grace, his prayers were answered in times of flood and drought alike. Heaven and earth seemed to respond, and the clouds and mists took on auspicious forms. The people followed Daoist teachings, and the region was peaceful and harmonious, with customs so simple and honest that it seemed everyone deserved a reward. Though the age was different, Shidao was indeed a worthy minister beside the Great Emperor. The Wu emperor therefore honored him with the titles “Master of Free and Easy Wandering” and “Master Who Inquires into Governance,” affirming his standing as a leading teacher of the state.

His disciples Zou De-kuang, Wang Chu-ne, Yang Kuang-yi, Wang Yong-zhen, Cheng Shou-pu, Zeng Jing-xiao, Wang Ke-ru, Cui Chan-ran, Du Chong-zhen, Deng Qi-xia, Wu Zhi-gu, and others grasped the subtle principles and taught the Shangqing methods, spreading them throughout the prefectures and districts. They upheld the Daoist tradition and promoted its teachings, and the court granted them purple robes to honor the Daoist community. Scholars from Qin, Wu, Jing, Qi, Yan, Liang, Min, and Shu traveled great distances and served Shidao diligently for many years. Shidao often said to them, “I have no Daoist arts to speak of. Why have you come from so far away?”

The disciples replied, “In former times, Zhang Jun lived in Shu, and people from across the realm went to study under him. He taught each person the essentials of the Dao according to their level of practice. His disciples personally took on menial tasks and served him for a long time without leaving; only afterward did they attain immortality. We are all descendants of earlier generations. We are growing old, and our lives are nearing their end. We wish to escape a brief lifespan and hope for longevity. Our plea is urgent; we beg you not to turn us away.”

With a compassionate heart, Shidao welcomed everyone. He never spoke to obstruct or discourage them, but instead pointed out the essentials of the Dao according to each person’s nature and understanding. It was like walking for a long time through mist and dew, until one’s clothes grew damp, or drawing near agarwood and sandalwood, until a faint fragrance settled on one’s person.

From then on, he lived in Guangling for more than thirty years and had over five hundred disciples. He had practiced embryonic breathing, a Daoist method of regulating the breath and nourishing Qi, for a long time, and had made progress in refining elixirs.

One day, he told his disciples, “Just now, an official bearing talisman commands came to tell me that an Immortal official has summoned me. I must leave.” Soon, the room filled with a wondrous fragrance. Cloudlike vapors and auspicious birds resembling swans came into the courtyard, as though a host of Immortals had descended. With a serene and clear expression, he took leave of everyone, then vanished.

His disciples prepared his body for burial. Suddenly, a sound came from inside the coffin. When they opened it, they found only a body like a cicada’s cast-off shell. This is called “body liberation,” the Daoist term for shedding one’s physical form and becoming an Immortal.

Several days later, someone came from Yuzhang and said he had seen him traveling with a young attendant. Most of the local monks and laypeople recognized him, and asked why he had traveled so far. He replied, “I left Mount Heng many years ago. Now I have only returned for a short while.” Wherever he went, he often stayed at temples and shrines he had visited in the past.

Half a year after his departure, someone else came from Changsha and said he too had seen him, in circumstances matching the account from Yuzhang. He also said that he had seen him on the road to Hengyang, where he said he was returning to Donglingyuan. A woodcutter remarked, “When you pass this stream again in fifty years, that will be enough to verify it.” Looking closely into the origins of this account, he was a companion of the two Cais, Peng, Xie, and the others. They concealed their forms and left the human world, making it impossible for anyone to find them again. Immortals are generally like this.

Yin Qiqi, whose given name was Wenxiang and whose other name was Daoquan, usually called himself “Qiqi,” as most people did. No one knew where he came from. He traveled from place to place. People said they had known of him for a long time, yet could not guess his age. His complexion was smooth, fair, and radiant, and he looked about forty. In different places, he sometimes used different names. He once sold medicine in Jingzhou. At the time, a severe epidemic afflicted everyone in the Lingtai area, Han Chinese and ethnic minorities alike. Those who took his medicine recovered quickly, and people said his remedies worked like a miracle. He gave away the money he earned from selling medicine, while often getting drunk in the marketplace.

Zhou Bao met him in Chang’an. Not long afterward, when Zhou Bao became military governor of Jingyuan, he invited Yin Qiqi to Jingzhou. The epidemic there was then severe, and Yin Qiqi’s medicines were considered remarkably effective. Zhou Bao treated him with great respect and admired his Daoist arts, which could restore people to their original state and health. Later, Zhou Bao was transferred to western Zhejiang. Several years passed, and then Yin Qiqi suddenly appeared there again, selling medicine. When Zhou Bao heard the news, he was both surprised and delighted. He summoned Yin Qiqi at once and honored him even more than before.

Whenever Yin Qiqi got drunk, he would sing: “In an instant, I can brew fine wine; in the blink of an eye, I can coax flowers to bloom. My qin brings forth melodies as elegant as green jade, and in the furnace I refine cinnabar as white as snow.” Zhou Bao once tested these abilities and found them to be just as claimed. Yin Qiqi’s skill at growing melons and catching fish was also like the magic performed by Ge Xiangong, the legendary Daoist immortal Ge Xuan.

The azaleas at Hulin Temple grow more than a zhang tall and bloom profusely every year at the end of spring. The monks tell a story handed down from the past: during the Zhenyuan era, a foreign monk brought a flower root from Tiantai, tended it with medicinal liquid in an alms bowl, and then planted it. Afterward, people built and decorated a flower courtyard and kept it locked. Someone once glimpsed a woman in vivid red clothes wandering beneath the tree. Anyone who secretly picked its flowers or broke off a branch was sure to be troubled by a spirit. People came to believe that she was the flower’s spirit. They all cherished and protected it, and so it bloomed more luxuriantly than ordinary flowers and trees.

As the flowers neared bloom, the temple would send word in advance about their progress. The military governor, his staff, and his officials came one after another to admire them. Later, men and women from the whole city, along with visitors from elsewhere, arrived with wine and music to enjoy themselves. From spring through summer, people came from morning until night, and the townsfolk could scarcely attend to their livelihoods.

One day, Bao said to Qiqi, “The flowers at Hulin Temple are a marvel of the world. I’ve heard that some people can make flowers bloom out of season. Can these flowers do that too?” Qiqi replied, “They can.” Bao asked again, “The Double Ninth Festival is almost here. Can you make them bloom that day?” Qiqi agreed.

So Qiqi went to stay at Hulin Temple three days in advance. At midnight, a woman came to him and asked, “Would you like to make these flowers bloom, Daoist?” Qiqi asked, “Who are you, coming here in the middle of the night?” The woman replied, “By Heaven’s command, I am the spirit in charge of this flower. It has been in the human world for more than a hundred years, and before long I must return to Langyuan, the realm where immortals dwell. Now I am willing to help you make it bloom. Had you not come, Daoist, I could not have responded and appeared.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman vanished. The next morning, the monks were astonished to see the buds gradually opening. On the ninth day of the ninth month, the Double Ninth Festival, the flowers were in full bloom, as if it were spring. The temple reported what had happened to Bao. Everyone in the city found it extraordinary, and the crowds came to admire the flowers just as they did in spring and summer. A few days later, the flowers suddenly disappeared, leaving no fallen petals on the ground.

Later, Qiqi happened to disappear. The next morning, the monks at the temple were astonished to see the flower buds slowly opening. By the ninth day, the flowers were in full bloom, as if spring had arrived. The monks told Bao what had happened. Officials and townspeople throughout the city found it marvelous and came to admire the flowers as they would in spring or summer. A few days later, the flowers suddenly vanished, leaving no fallen petals on the ground.

Later, Qiqi happened to visit an official’s home just as the host was holding a banquet for guests. The host and guests hurried to welcome him. Two entertainers hired to liven up the gathering made fun of Qiqi disrespectfully. He asked the host, “May I use two chestnuts to propose a drinking game?” Everyone was delighted, thinking he would perform a trick to amuse them.

Qiqi held out the chestnuts for everyone to smell in turn. Those who smelled them detected an extraordinary fragrance and were amazed. But when the two entertainers who had mocked Qiqi smelled them, the chestnuts turned to stones and stuck to their noses; no matter how hard they pulled, they could not remove them. They could only complain that the stench was unbearable. They both stood up and danced wildly. The flower-shaped ornaments in their hair fell to the ground, and then they began to weep bitterly as the powder and rouge on their faces came off. The entertainers stopped playing music and dancing, yet the drums and instruments sounded by themselves, keeping a rather fitting rhythm. When the tune ended, the dancing continued. Everyone at the banquet laughed so hard they nearly fell over.

After a long while, the host pleaded with Qiqi and apologized. Before long, the stones stuck to the entertainers’ noses fell off and turned back into chestnuts. Everyone passed them around to smell and found them fragrant. The two entertainers’ hair ornaments and makeup were also fully restored, without the slightest damage. From then on, everyone treated Qiqi with respect.

Qiqi also once turned water into wine and shaved wood into dried meat. He made people walk backward, and could bring a boat to an immediate stop simply by telling it to halt. When he called to birds, they followed him; when he spat on fish, they came back to life. He scooped up earth with his hands and drew the contours of mountains and rivers on the ground. He broke off stalks of thatch and gathered ants, transforming them into cities and people. Someone who had walked through the place he had drawn said that everything there was vividly depicted, though on a somewhat smaller scale. The many magical arts Qiqi performed were truly beyond counting.

The following year, Xue Xuan and Liu Hao raised troops in rebellion, and Bao fled to Hangzhou. While in charge of military affairs and government, Bao imposed punishments recklessly and even unjustly executed innocent people. Earlier, when Chen Quanyu, the governor of Shangrao, passed through Bao’s territory, Bao seized the opportunity to fabricate charges against him and had Chen’s entire family wiped out. At the age of eighty-three, Bao was still vigorous and strong, and had more than a hundred singing and dancing concubines. It was said that this was because he practiced the “Seventy-Seven Method,” a form of cultivation. Later, Bao’s unjust persecution of the innocent, along with the resentment he incurred over Chen Quanyu’s case, caught up with him: one day, he suddenly died.

When Liu Hao’s army rebelled, the monks of Ganlu Temple pushed Bao from the northern cliff. People thought he had fallen into the river and died. Later, however, someone saw him in Jiangxi, where he sold medicine for more than ten years. He eventually went to Shu, and what became of him after that is unknown. The Hulin flowers were burned in the flames of war, and not a tree remained. It was said that their roots and stumps truly returned to Langyuan, the legendary realm of immortals.

Tan Qiao

Tan Qiao, courtesy name Jingsheng, was the son of Tan Zhu, an official in charge of instruction at the Imperial Academy. He was clever from childhood. As he grew older, he read widely in the classics and histories and had a strong memory; he could answer almost any question people put to him, and his writing was elegant and refined. Tan Zhu urged him to make passing the jinshi examination his ambition, but Tan Qiao did not want to follow that path. He was especially fond of the teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi, and studied in depth the various schools of thought, as well as the Account of King Mu of Zhou, the Account of Emperor Wu of Han, the Account of Lord Mao, and the Inner Traditions of the Immortals.

One day, Tan Qiao told his father that he wanted to travel to Zhongnan Mountain. His father agreed, thinking the mountain was not far from the capital. Tan Qiao traveled in turn to the famous mountains of Zhongnan, Taibai, Taihang, Wangwu, Song, Hua, and Tai. After that, he continued traveling and did not return home. Later, his father sent someone to deliver a letter reproaching him. Tan Qiao replied: “Lord Mao was once someone else’s son too, and he left his father to study the way of immortality. I admire him, and hope to achieve something in my own study of immortality.”

He admired Tan Qiao and hoped to learn from him. Seeing how firmly he had set his heart on the Dao, his parents did not bind him with worldly concerns, but let him follow his own aspirations. Tan Qiao studied the Dao with a Daoist on Mount Song for more than ten years, learning how to abstain from grains—a method of cultivation that involved eating no cereals—and how to nourish Qi. He took pleasure only in drinking, and often wandered from place to place in a drunken haze.

In summer he wore a black leather coat; in winter, a green cloth shirt. Sometimes he would lie out for an entire day in wind, rain, snow, and frost. People thought he was dead, but when they came closer, they found he still had a faint breath. His father often worried about him and regularly sent household servants to search for him. In spring and winter, he also made sure to send clothes and money. Tan Qiao was delighted to receive them, then immediately wrote back and sent the servants away, giving them generous gifts. As soon as they had left, he took the clothes his father had sent and gave them to poor people he met in the street. He left the money with wine shops, keeping none of it on his person.

When someone asked why he did this, he said, “How could I stand by and watch thieves steal these things? That would surely get other people into trouble. There is nothing to worry about in going without clothes or food.” He was always cheerful, though some people called him mad. As he walked, he often chanted, “A thread becomes the long river; a fan becomes the sky. My straw sandals I cast toward the Eastern Sea. Penglai is not far off, they say—it lies before Master Tan’s staff.”

Later, he lived on Mount Heng in the south, refined an elixir, and took it. It is said that afterward water could not wet him and fire could not harm him. He could also make himself disappear, and later entered Mount Qingcheng and departed.

Du Sheng, whose courtesy name was Keyun, called himself a native of Duling in the capital region. No one knew how old he was. He ate no food, yet could often drink three dou of wine without getting drunk. His complexion was rosy and bright, and he looked to be about thirty. He usually wrapped his head in a large square cloth and wore a battered hat, with a green cloth jacket in every season. He spoke with an uncommon bearing and considerable literary skill.

When people gave him new headcloths and garments, he accepted them but would not take off his old ones. After receiving the new clothes, he would go out, meet someone, and casually give them away. He often wandered near the city gate, walking back and forth in a drunken haze.

He was skilled at writing with sand. He would sprinkle sand into a bowl or basin of water and write characters shaped like dragons; the sandy characters would float on the water’s surface, turning from side to side. Sometimes he would shout, and the characters would fly up more than ten feet above the water. They looked faintly like clouds and mist, taking the shape of small dragons. When he called them, they returned to the water.

He never asked anyone for money, yet people gave it to him of their own accord. He would have people pass along the eaves of houses, and in a short while he would receive a great deal of money, which he then gave away to the poor and to wine shops. He did this wherever he went, day after day. People never grew tired of it and continued to give him money. Some suspected that he used magic to bewitch them.

In winter, he would lie in the snow for two or three days. People thought he had frozen to death. Only when someone prodded him to check would he slowly get up, shake the snow from his body, and walk on. His breath still seemed to carry the warmth of drunkenness, as though he had just woken from a summer’s nap after drinking.

Du Ruxiu was the son of Duke Du Cong of Bin and had served as governor of Suzhou. When he heard that Keyun was in the city, he was delighted and invited him to the prefectural office. He bowed to him and addressed him as “Daoist Elder,” an honorific for a person of the Dao. The guests and officials were astonished. Ruxiu explained, “When my late father served as military governor in Xichuan, he often associated with and deeply respected this Daoist Elder. The elder frequently visited my father’s study.”

When Ru Xiu was in his teens, he met Ke Yun. Now he was over fifty. Though he had been separated from this Daoist elder for forty years, Ke Yun’s appearance and clothing were just as they had been back then. Ru Xiu kept him at the prefectural office and sought his instruction in Daoist arts. Ke Yun said, “It is enough to govern through moral instruction and public administration, benefit the people, and make compassion your guiding principle. Besides, there are many affairs to attend to now, so you should especially preserve yourself. Since you cannot yet leave the world behind, give up your household, and live in seclusion among the mountains and forests, you should keep clear of the harm caused by warfare. Why ask about Daoist arts?”

At the time, people in the prefecture gave Ke Yun money and silk, but he could not refuse them. As soon as he left the city, he distributed the gifts to others, and Ru Xiu respected him all the more. Sometimes Ke Yun drank with Ru Xiu’s guests and staff. When they took turns singing and composing poems, Ke Yun often spoke verses on the spot. Their meaning was profound and carried something of the immortals’ way; others found it hard to follow with verses of their own.

Later, a military uprising broke out, and Ru Xiu was indeed wounded in the fighting and died. People also saw Ke Yun struck down and injured, but soon all they found on the ground was an old garment with three or four cuts from blades. A few days later, people repeatedly saw him passing through the Songjiang and Zhejiang regions, traveling through Hangzhou, Yuezhou, Quzhou, and Xinzhou before entering Jiangxi. As before, he drank wine and recited poetry in the marketplaces, writing in the sand.

A year later, someone saw him in Hunan and asked about what had happened in Suzhou. Ke Yun recounted it all clearly, then smiled and said that he had once lived on Mount Heng in the Southern Marchmounts, but now it was time for him to leave. On close examination, Ke Yun seems to have mastered Daoist arts of becoming invisible and transforming himself, so no one knew where he went.

◎ Yang Yin

Yang Yin was from Taishan. He entered government service through an inherited stipend and lived in Jinyun. Well versed in the classics, he passed the examinations and began his career as assistant magistrate of Jiajiang County in Xizhou. He later resigned and returned to Jinyun. His elder brother, Yang Xin, had served as magistrate of Le’an County in Taizhou. Yang Yin lived in seclusion on Mount Kuocang. Quiet by nature, he cared little for worldly honors and riches, longed for freedom and ease, and often admired the arts of the Dao.

One day, his wife suddenly died. Yang Yin said, “Zhuangzi beat on a pottery basin and sang; he understood the Way. Now she has been released. Is it not fitting to bury her? My son has made his own way, and my daughter is married. I have nothing left to worry about.” Later, he visited Ruanlang Pavilion. The cliff beside it rose more than ten zhang above the ground, bearing a large inscription in seal script. People said that Ruan Zhao had left a poem there, so they hired craftsmen to chisel the stone and make a rubbing. Only after comparing the inscription did they discover that it had been written by Li Yangbing, who served as magistrate of Jinyun County during the Tang dynasty, when he visited the pavilion. The poem read: “Where is the Ruan traveler now? Immortal clouds stretch across the mouth of the cave. A place beyond the reach of the human world—today I have come here.”

Beside the pavilion, Yang Yin drank wine with several Daoist priests from Jinyun Abbey while the flowers were in bloom. At noon, he suddenly fell to the ground, seemingly dead, though his breath remained warm. The others carried him home, and he did not wake for seven days. People from the village and the Daoist priests came together to ask after him. Yang Yin said, “At first, a man wearing a blue headscarf and deep red robes appeared. He called himself Lingying and invited me into a cave dwelling. Inside, I saw splendid, magnificent towers, terraces, and Daoist temples. Luan birds and swanlike celestial birds flew back and forth. The sky was clear, the scenery warm, and everything was unlike the human world. Before long, something flew out of the stone cave. It was shaped like an umbrella, blue in color, with a long handle. Lingying pointed to it and said, ‘This is the Blue Ganoderma. Eat it, and you can become an immortal.’ I was very hungry, so I sat on a stone and began to eat it. It tasted sweet and delicious, and before long…”

Lingying said, “You were destined long ago to become an immortal; today, you have actually met celestial officials.” He then took Yin to pay his respects to them. The three officials all wore distant-travel crowns and cloud-patterned robes, and were accompanied by many civil and military attendants. Lingying told Yin, “One is the Lord of the Little You Heaven, one is the Great Mao Lord of Huayang, and one is the Lord of Hidden Mystery, Assistant of Heaven’s Mandate.” Yin bowed to each of them in turn. The officials all said, “You have the bones of an immortal, but you are not yet ready to ascend. You should remain in the human world and continue your cultivation.” After a while, Lingying escorted Yin outside. They emerged at the west gate of Guaicang Cave.

Only then did Yin understand what he had experienced. Afterward, he gradually lost his taste for grain, drinking only three sheng of water and eating one cup of lily bulbs each day. His body grew light, and his joints became nimble. At the slightest movement, he made a sound like bamboo slips and clappers striking one another. He also often spoke and chanted as though conversing with someone, day and night without pause. Sometimes he would take out two or three hundred sheets of paper and fill them with writing in an instant. Others could not understand it, but when Yin read it to himself, it was all composed prose. Companions who were fond of Daoist arts wrote down what he chanted. The verses were indeed refined and beautiful, describing many scenes of immortal realms, like Yingzhou and Langyuan.

After a year, Yin had become lean and light-footed. Some people did not believe him and thought he had been bewitched by a demon. By the second year, he gradually grew plump and fair-skinned. He no longer cared for lily bulbs, drinking only water and wine. In the third year, his temples were black as lacquer, and his face looked as youthful as a child’s. He walked so lightly that he seemed ready to fly. He could drink three dou of wine without becoming drunk, and ordinarily wore coarse cloth clothing. Later, he went south into Mount Weiyu. After that, no one ever saw him again.

Yunji Qiqian, juan 114, “Section on Scriptures and Biographies, Biographies 13.” Title: “Preface to the Collected Records of Immortals of the Walled City.”

The Records of Assembled Immortals of the Walled City recounts the deeds of women from ancient times to the present who attained the Dao and became immortals. They left behind worldly life and ascended to immortality, transcending the ordinary to realize the Great Dao. In this way, they prolonged lives as fleeting as a horse glimpsed through a crack or a lamp flame in the wind, and enjoyed lifespans as enduring as the legendary Zhuang tree and the cassia in the moon. They escaped bodies as fragile as bubbles, becoming firm as metal and stone; thus they attained immortality and transcended the mundane world. Such people have appeared in every age. Over the course of many centuries, accounts of their deeds were compiled in scriptures and edicts, while mysterious illustrated texts and secret registers recorded them clearly and in detail.

Those who attained the Dao and became immortals followed many different paths. Some rose to the rank of supreme sages, others took their place among the high Perfected; some governed the heavens, while others presided over famous mountains. Some rode the star Ji through the Milky Way, others withdrew into the moon or raced toward the morning light. Some attended court and feasted in the Nine Heavens, the lofty celestial realms of Daoist teaching; others traveled to the farthest reaches in all eight directions.

Before the Kaihuang era, the Three Caverns’ treasured scriptures—the collective classification of Daoist texts—already contained many detailed accounts of those who attained the Dao and became immortals before the cosmic calamities. From the Nine Sovereigns and the Three Ancient Ages onward, down to the time when people began to tame oxen and harness horses, immortals often left their celestial palaces and descended to save living beings. At times they temporarily left the ranks of celestial officials to come among humanity and oversee its affairs. They passed down laws and established teachings, assisting rulers and governing their times; Confucian classics and the records of court historians describe these deeds in detail.

Some concealed their radiance and blended into ordinary society, then later ascended on rays of light. Some achieved merit in the mountains and forests, then lightened their bodies and rose aloft, following the mists and rosy clouds. Some left behind the noisy, polluted human world, mounted phoenixes and cranes, and soared into the void. Some personally assisted emperors; others were content to live among the common people. Once their unseen stores of merit were complete and their mysterious De had reached Heaven’s ear, even their chickens and dogs could ascend with them, and their families in the courtyard could rise together. Such deeds are recorded in the texts, and every age has seen many examples.

In antiquity, Ruan Cang, an official of the Qin dynasty, and Liu Xiang, a commandant of the Han dynasty, wrote in succession about the affairs of immortals, and their works circulated among the people. Later came such books as The Book of Grotto Mysteries, Accounts of the Immortals, Accounts of Daoist Learning, Collected Accounts of Immortals, Further Accounts of the Immortals, Accounts of Later Immortals, Accounts of Grotto Immortals, and Records of the High Perfected. More than ten works were compiled to record the deeds of immortals. Other books described famous mountains and blessed lands, surveyed the geography of mountains and rivers, gathered accounts of marvels and knowledge of natural things, or introduced methods of immortality and medicinal substances. They often cited many people by name, recorded their related deeds individually, and collected all kinds of hearsay and eyewitness reports. Their contents are too extensive to recount in full. It is clear, then, that the deeds of immortals have been plainly set forth; they are not beyond investigation.

Some people in the ordinary world believe that one can be called an immortal only after the physical body has died and the soul-consciousness has become perfected. They do not believe that the physical body, too, can ascend. This view is held by those whose understanding is shallow and who have been misled…

There are many paths for cultivating the Dao. Why is this so? The True Scripture says that after attaining the Dao and leaving the world of dust, some withdraw from sight while others appear. Though the Dao they realize is the same, their methods of cultivation differ. Thus there are many ways to become an immortal; one need not be confined to a single path or bound by one method.

Some become friends of perfected beings or guests of the Heavenly Emperor. Suddenly, a dragon carriage comes to receive them, or they travel far upon the clouds. The stories of Gu Xi, Chang Li, Qing Guang, and Chi Song are examples of this kind. Others receive immortal books and Fulu (talismans and registers), cultivate the method of Yin Shadows, and refine the body, renewing the transformation of soul and flesh. They have also accumulated deep merit through their earlier deeds. The Five Elders, the Lord Above, and the True Kings of the Four Extremities are examples of this kind. Still others devote themselves to a single purpose and remain unwavering when tested. Their gaze is fixed upon Kunlun, and in their hearts they pay homage to the Great Emperor; in the end, they attain the Dao. Huang Guan, Wei Daowei, and Fu Jun are examples of this kind.

There are also such scriptures, talismanic instructions, and medicinal formulas for cultivation as the Great Cavern, Seven Transformations, Eight Endowments, Three Diagrams, Embryonic Essence, Mottled Talismans, Hidden Zhi and Curved Su, Jade Essence and Golden Liquids, Secret Talismans of Yellow Water, Red Trees and Green Blossoms, Ringed Stems and Crimson Fruits, White Feathers and Imperial Images, and Nine Turnings and Eight Jades. Taking these can transform one into a phoenix or dragon; consuming them can change one’s body until it is like gold and jade. There are also cultivation instructions from the Golden Pendant and Jade Pendant, scriptures of the Three Sovereigns and Eight Radiances, numinous methods such as Flowering Elixir and Plain Memorial, and essential teachings of the Divine Tiger and Golden Truth.

Once perfected, one can ride upon wings of flight and soar through the sky, or wield the radiance of molten gold to summon spirits and subdue rebellion. In flight, one wears kingfisher plumes and dark feathers; when riding, one travels in a flying canopy or the Qu Chen carriage. All seventy-four methods of cultivation must be practiced without the slightest error. The transmission of the thirty-seven colors must also be completed step by step, so that one may possess the full regalia for ascending to heaven. Some are even granted the Nine Honors and rise aloft to travel far; they undergo seven trials and still hold firmly to what is right.

Cultivation of the Dao depends on a master’s transmission of secret instructions, but it must also be confirmed within one’s own heart. The movement of the stars cannot shake one’s resolve; thunder cannot make one afraid; wealth and rank cannot confuse one’s purpose; sights and sounds cannot stir one’s heart. This is what is meant by “my destiny is in my own hands”: longevity can be attained through one’s own cultivation. How could all those who have attained the Dao throughout the ages ever be named one by one? The Southern Perfected One said, “When merit has been accumulated in full measure, one may ascend to heaven in broad daylight. When the spreading of the Great Dao has no end, one can attain deathlessness.” This is what those words mean.

Among immortals, those of the highest rank ride cloud chariots and wear feathered canopies, ascending with body and spirit together. Those next in rank withdraw to remote valleys and secluded forests, concealing their whereabouts as they secretly cultivate transformation. Below them are those who leave the flesh behind and take refuge in another form, like snakes shedding their skins or cicadas emerging from their shells. Direct ascent into the sky is the highest attainment; those who attain immortality through corpse liberation—leaving a body behind or using one to escape—rank lower.

Some people have not yet accumulated enough merit, and their virtue has not yet become known. Others have taken filial devotion and loyalty, or chastity and resolve, to the utmost. Still others never forget the Dao in their hearts, but have had no opportunity to perform meritorious deeds for the community. They live in poverty and seclusion, cultivating alone, and their good deeds have not become widely known. The Highest One recognizes their aspirations, and the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji) commends their sincerity. Even if their allotted years end and they die, their souls and spirits can still receive blessings and become benevolent ghosts and spirits. The Office of the Earth, which oversees the underworld, does not bind them, and the Register of Ghosts does not record them. They may dwell freely in blessed realms, enjoying happiness and living as they please. When their allotted time in the underworld is complete, they can become ghost immortals, enter the immortal realm of the netherworld, and receive the rank of a king. By continuing to accumulate merit thereafter, they too can join the ranks of the immortals.

From this we can see that good deeds are never wasted, and that immortality can indeed be attained through cultivation. Merit is not measured by size, and good deeds have no higher or lower standing.

Cultivating merit and practicing goodness should be sustained over time, without slackening. How could those who cultivate the Dao fail to urge themselves onward? Yin and Yang work together as one of the Dao’s wondrous functions: they transform and nurture the myriad things, allowing life in all its forms to multiply without end and renew itself continually. Thus, Heaven covers all things and Earth bears them; the clear and the turbid work together. The sun and moon shine down, each with its own function by day and by night. Through the signs of Yin and Yang, such as the sun and moon, the Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and humanity—come into being.

Mugong, the exalted deity who presides over the male immortals of the East, governs the Zhen direction (the East). Jinmu, the Queen Mother of the West and the foremost of female immortals, dwells in the Dui marsh (the West). The respective ranks and domains of the male and female immortals are recorded with great clarity.

On examining the relevant proclamations, canonical texts, and illustrated accounts, one finds that records of male and female immortals are often mixed together without distinction. This work now draws on the seven scriptures of the Shangqing tradition, as well as writings on visualization and cultivation, the sun, moon, and five planets, and ascending through the air by pacing the void. It also incorporates accounts of the Primordial Father and Mysterious Mother, distinguishing the honorific titles for the Yang and Yin, and bringing together the discussions of various authors in a single book. Jinmu is revered as the foremost of the female immortals, and Yongcheng is her seat of rule. The deeds of women who attained the Dao, from ancient times to the present, are therefore collected in a work titled Collected Immortals of Yongcheng.

The Upper Scripture says: “When men attain the Dao, the highest rank they may reach is True Lord; when women attain the Dao, the highest rank they may reach is Primordial Lady.” This biography centers on Jinmu, with the Primordial Ladies ranked after her. It consists of ten volumes and was written by Master Guangcheng, Du Guangting.

Biography of the Queen Mother of the West

The Queen Mother of the West is the Golden Mother of the Ninefold Numinous Marvel and the Tortoise Mountain. She is also called the Golden Mother of the Tortoise Terrace of the Great Numinous Nine Radiances…

The Queen Mother of the West, also known as the Golden Mother of the Ninefold Numinous and Wondrous Tortoise Mountain, the Golden Mother of the Great Numinous Ninefold Radiance Tortoise Terrace, or the Primordial Lady Golden Mother, is a revered deity formed from the most wondrous Qi of the Western Florescence. She dwells in the realm of cavernous darkness and holds an exalted position.

In ancient times, Dao-Qi gathered in stillness, clear and pure, abiding in Wuwei (non-action). As the Great Dao was about to unfold its mysterious workings and bring forth the myriad things, it first transformed the most genuine Qi of the Eastern Florescence into the Duke of Wood. He was born above the blue sea, in the land of Azure Numen, and presides over the Qi of Yang harmony and governs the East. He is also called the Duke-King. The Great Dao then transformed the most wondrous Qi of the Western Florescence into the Golden Mother. She was born in Yichuan of the Divine Continent and bore the surname Gou. Able to fly from birth, she presides over the numinous Qi of Yin and governs the West; she is also called the Queen Mother. Both she and the Duke of Wood received the substance of the Great Void. In mysterious and hidden realms, they nurture the divine spirits, taking form as they condense from the Dao’s purest Qi. Together they harmonize the two Qi of Yin and Yang, nourish Heaven and Earth, and bring forth the myriad things. The Golden Mother embodies yielding nature and is the source of the utmost Yin Qi. Dwelling in the West, she nurtures all beings. Women who cultivate the Dao and become immortals, whether in Heaven, the human world, or the Ten Directions of the Three Realms, all fall under her authority.

The Queen Mother of the West dwells in the Western Capital of Spring Mountain on Tortoise Mountain, as well as in the Garden of Langfeng at the Mysterious Garden of Kunlun. There stand tier upon tier of golden walls, twelve jade towers, the Gate of Jade Blossoms, the Hall of Luminous Green, a nine-tiered Mysterious Terrace, and chambers of purple, emerald, and cinnabar. The Jasper Pool lies to the left, while the Green Waters encircle the right. Below the mountain stretch nine layers of Weak Water, its waves soaring ten thousand fathoms high. Only immortals traveling in divine carriages such as wind-driven chariots and feathered wheels can reach the place. The phrases “jade gates brace the sky, green terraces support the heavens, and halls of blue jade stand” evoke the palace garden’s soaring height and extraordinary splendor.

There, the buildings adjoin vermilion and purple palaces. Curtains shimmer with the lustre of fine jade, and the surroundings are bright as moonlight. The Queen Mother of the West wears an ornate headdress and a sacred talisman on her person. Immortal maidens attend her on the left, and feathered youths—attendants from the immortal realms—on the right. Layer upon layer of jeweled canopies shine against one another, while feathered banners screen the courtyard. Below the steps grow white-ring trees and vermilion-gang groves. Thousands upon thousands of pale blue trees stand with branches and trunks like jade. They rise a thousand xun high, and even without wind, they naturally give forth exquisite sounds, clear and pleasing to the ear, like the music of the Nine Performances and Eight Assemblies, a grand celestial gathering.

The Divine Continent lies southeast of Mount Kunlun, which is why the Erya says, “The Queen Mother of the West is beneath the sun.” Another account says that the Queen Mother wore her hair loose, had an ornate headdress and tiger’s teeth, and was skilled at letting out long cries. But this description actually refers to her envoy, the White Tiger spirit associated with the Metal Qi of the West; it does not describe the Queen Mother herself.

The Heavenly King of Primordial Beginning once bestowed on the Queen Mother two registers—the Origin and Lineage of the Ten Thousand Heavens and the Nine Lights of Turtle Mountain. These registers, transmitted by the immortals, enabled her to command and summon the myriad spirits, govern the perfected and the sages, preside over covenants and attest to pledged agreements, and direct the ceremonial retinues of the immortals throughout the heavens. Whenever the Celestial Worthies and the Most High Sages gathered for audiences and banquets, or for examinations and verification, the Queen Mother would appear and take part. She also participated in every transmission and initiation involving the precious scriptures of Shangqing and the jade books of the Three Caverns, important Daoist texts.

In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor set out to subdue the tyrannical Chiyou, but for a time he could not defeat him. Chiyou was skilled in all kinds of illusions: he could summon violent winds and torrential rain, and stir up clouds of smoke that threw the army into confusion. The Yellow Emperor returned to the foot of Mount Tai to rest. Heavy with worry, he fell asleep.

The Queen Mother of the West sent a messenger clad in black fox fur to give the Yellow Emperor a talisman. The messenger told him, “Taiyi is in front, Tianyi behind. Whoever obtains this talisman will prevail and defeat the enemy in battle.” The talisman was three inches wide and one foot long, with a jade-like blue-green sheen. Its markings had been drawn in cinnabar and blood. After the Yellow Emperor put it on, the Queen Mother of the West sent a woman to him. She had a human head and a bird’s body, and called herself the Mysterious Maiden of the Nine Heavens, a goddess in Daoist mythology. She taught the Yellow Emperor the Three Palaces, the Five Intentions, Yin-Yang strategy, and techniques including Taiyi Dunjia and Liuren Budo. She also revealed the secrets of the Scripture of the Hidden Talisman, the Five Talismans of the Numinous Treasure, and the text called the Five Victories.

The Yellow Emperor then defeated Chiyou at Zhongji, destroyed the descendants of the Shennong clan, and slew Yugang at Banquan. The realm was brought to peace, and he established his capital at Zhuolu in Shanggu.

Several years later, the Queen Mother of the West sent the spirit of the White Tiger, riding a white tiger, to the Yellow Emperor’s palace with a map. Later, when Yu the Shun was governing the realm, the Queen Mother of the West sent a messenger to present him with a white jade ring, and gave the map to Boyi. The nine provinces originally laid out by the Yellow Emperor were thereby expanded to twelve. The Queen Mother of the West also sent a messenger to present Shun with the “Imperial Offering.” Shun played it to harmonize the winds of the eight directions.

The Shangshu Diyanqi records that the Kingdom of the Queen Mother lies in a remote wilderness in the west. In ancient times, Mao Ying (courtesy name Shushen), Wang Bao (courtesy name Zideng), Zhang Daoling (courtesy name Fuhan), and all those among the Nine Sages and Seven Perfected Ones who had received Heavenly Books went to the gate of Kunling to pay homage to the Queen Mother of the West.

At that time, Shushen and Daoling served the Lord of the Dao, the Most High. They rode in a carriage with nine canopies, drawn by a flying dragon-shaped team. They crossed the Jishi Mountains, passed the ford of the Weak River, crossed the White River, and traversed the Black Waves. In the blink of an eye, they arrived beneath the palace gates of the Queen Mother and paid her a visit. After Zideng had observed ritual purity for three months, the Queen Mother transmitted to him the Plain Scripture of the Seven Stars, Treasures and Radiances of Jade Blossoms.

Lord Mao accompanied Lord Wang of the Western City to the White Jade Turtle Terrace and paid homage to the Queen Mother. He asked her for the Way of long life, saying, “I, Mao Ying, have meager abilities, yet I admire the enduring lifespans of dragons and phoenixes. Though my life is as brief as one that begins at dawn and ends at dusk, I hope to attain long years.”

The Queen Mother, moved by his steadfast resolve, told him, “In the past, I once took the Primordial Heavenly King as my teacher. I also went to the Imperial Heaven’s Fusang to pay homage to the Queen Mother and ask…”

The person seeking the way to long life said, “With my mediocre capacities, I envy the enduring lifespans of dragons and phoenixes. I wish to exchange my brief life, like that of a creature born at dawn and dead by dusk, for years without end.” The Queen Mother, moved by his earnest devotion, told him, “Long ago, I studied under the Primordial Heavenly King and the Sovereign Lord of the Azure Mulberry of the Celestial Heavens. They taught me the Way of the Jade Pendant, Golden Dangling Ornaments, and the Two Luminaries Woven Together. By practicing this Way, one can ascend to the Supreme Ultimate, reach the Ten Directions below, draw in the moon’s radiance, absorb the sun’s essence, and enter the Gate of Heaven. This scripture is called the Mysterious Truth. I now pass it on to you; you must practice it diligently.” Then the Queen Mother ordered Lord Wang of Xicheng to explain it in detail and passed on to him the precious book The Dispersed Formulas of the Four Youths.

Later, as King Mu of Zhou’s life neared its end, he led the Eight Steeds and the Seven Companies of Attendants. He rode in a chariot drawn by fine horses such as Huoliu and Chiji, with Baiyao leading the way and Zaofu driving. The wheels raced like wind and lightning for three thousand li, crossing the land of Polü Wufu and the wilds of the Rhinoceros Jade Dark Pool. On an auspicious Jiazi day, they made a bridge from giant turtles, alligators, fish, and tortoises, crossed the Weak River, and climbed to the lands of Xuanpu and Langfeng on Mount Kunlun, where they paid a visit to the Queen Mother of the West. King Mu presented her with a white jade tablet and rich brocade as birthday gifts, sang the song “White Clouds,” and then engraved a record of the visit on Mount Yan. Afterward, he returned to the Central Plains.

The immortals said to ascend to Heaven are divided into nine ranks. The highest are the High Immortals, called the True Kings of the Nine Heavens. The second rank consists of the Lesser Immortals, called the True Sovereigns of the Three Heavens. The third are the Supreme Perfected. The fourth are the Flying-Heaven Perfected. The fifth are the Numinous Immortals. The sixth are the Perfected. The seventh are the Numinous Adepts.

There are nine ranks of immortals who ascend to Heaven. The first rank is called the “High Immortal,” titled the True King of the Nine Heavens. The second is the “Secondary Immortal,” titled the True Sovereign of the Three Heavens. The third is the Most High Perfected One; the fourth, the Flying Heavenly Perfected One; the fifth, the Numinous Immortal; the sixth, the Perfected One; the seventh, the Numinous Person; the eighth, the Flying Immortal; and the ninth, the Immortal. Each rank has its proper order, and none may skip a rank. When immortals ascend to Heaven, they first pay their respects to the Duke of Wood (the Eastern King), then visit the Mother of Metal (the Queen Mother of the West). Only after completing the duties entrusted to them may they ascend into the Nine Heavens, enter the realms of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), pay their respects to the Most High Lord Lao, and appear before the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning.

Thus, early in the Han dynasty, four or five children were playing by the roadside. One of them sang: “Wearing a blue skirt, entering Heaven’s gate, bowing to the Mother of Metal, and saluting the Duke of Wood.” No one at the time understood the song’s meaning. Only Zhang Zifang (Zhang Liang) knew what it meant. He went forward, bowed, and said, “This is a jade attendant of the Eastern King.” When immortals attain the Dao and ascend to Heaven, they should bow first to the Mother of Metal, then salute the Duke of Wood. Those who have not transcended the mundane world and reached the realm of truth do not know the way in.

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was devoted to the Way of longevity. In the first year of Yuanfeng, he climbed Mount Songgao, built the Terrace for Seeking the Perfected, and observed purification and quiet contemplation. On the Wuchen day of the fourth month, the Queen Mother sent Wang Zideng, a Jade Maiden of Yongcheng, to tell Emperor Wu: “I hear that you are willing to give up the stipends of the Four Seas and set aside the dignity of the Son of Heaven in pursuit of longevity. Your devotion and diligence are indeed sincere! On the seventh day of the seventh month, I will come to visit briefly.” Emperor Wu asked Dongfang Shuo whether this matter would come to pass. He then observed a pure fast for a hundred days and burned incense in the palace.

On the seventh day of the seventh month, after the second watch of the night, dense white clouds rose in the southwest and drifted straight toward the palace. As the clouds drew nearer, they revealed nine-colored rosy light, while the sound of flutes and drums shook the sky. A great company of dragons and phoenixes, attendants and riders, came in escort: some rode qilin and deer, while others traveled in heavenly carriages and on heavenly horses, beneath rainbow-colored banners and feathered ceremonial standards. A thousand carriages and ten thousand riders illuminated the palace halls. Then the Great Immortal…

A great many attendants stood in close-packed ranks, each more than ten feet tall. Once they arrived, the attendants vanished without a trace.

The Queen Mother of the West, a female immortal deity, rode in a purple-cloud carriage drawn by a nine-colored, mottled dragon. She carried the Heavenly Truth Plan and wore the Diamond Spirit Seal. Her yellow brocade robe was embroidered with vivid patterns and shimmered with golden light. At her waist hung the Sword of Divided Light, and a broad sash of flying clouds was tied around her. Her hair was arranged in an elaborate coiffure, crowned with the Tai Zhen Morning Tassel diadem, and her feet were shod in square jade shoes patterned with phoenixes. She appeared to be about twenty years old. Her bearing was graceful and dignified, her beauty peerless: she was a true immortal.

After stepping down from her carriage, she had two attendants help her onto a couch, where she sat facing east. The Emperor bowed to her, knelt to ask after her well-being, and stood respectfully beside her for a long while. The Queen Mother of the West invited him to sit and served him rare delicacies from the heavens. The feast included fragrant flowers and fruit, purple mushrooms, and sweet flag, along with many other immortal plants. They were all treasures unknown in the human world, and the Emperor could not name them.

The Queen Mother of the West then ordered an attendant to bring peaches. Seven, each as large as a steamed bun, were placed on a jade platter. She gave the Emperor four and ate three herself. As he ate, the Emperor kept the peach pits. The Queen Mother of the West asked why he had saved them. “I want to plant them,” he replied. “These peaches bear fruit only once every three thousand years,” she said. “The soil of the Central Plains is poor; they would not take root there. How could you grow them?”

Next, the Queen Mother of the West ordered her attendant Wang Zideng to play the Eight Treasures ao zither, Dong Shuangcheng to play the Cloud-and-Harmony sheng mouth organ, Young Master Shi to strike the jade of Kun Court, Xu Feiqiong to sound the Spirit-Shaking reed organ, Wan Linghua to play the stones of Wuling, Fan Chengjun to strike the chime stones of the Dark Cavern, Duan Anxiang to perform the music of the Nine Heavens, and Fa Ying to sing the “Song of the Mysterious Spirit.” The various melodies rang out with force and clarity, resounding through the sky.

When the singing and music ended, the Emperor left his seat, bowed to the ground, and asked about the way to long life. The Queen Mother of the West said, “If you can take wealth and honors lightly, be content with a quiet and humble life, and devote yourself to experiencing emptiness and stillness and realizing the Dao, that is already very good.”

Yet your innate temperament and bodily desires are given to excessive indulgence: you pursue lust without restraint, inflict death in defiance of proper law, and act with extravagance and caprice. Extravagance is like a cart that damages the body; lust is like an axe that harms it. Taking life brings corresponding retribution, while extravagance corrupts the heart. When desires accumulate in excess, the spirit is depleted; when filth accumulates in excess, life is cut short. Your tiny body contains calamities that damage its form; though scarcely more than a foot long, it is assailed by a hundred sharp blades. How, then, could you hope to cast off the Three Corpses—the spirits said in Daoism to dwell within the human body, lead people to wrongdoing, and consume their years—and preserve your body for a long life? It is like a wingless quail wishing to fly to the Heavenly Lake, or a fungus that lives from dawn to dusk wishing for a lifespan of many years.

If you can sweep away these disordered desires, remove the filth and change your mind, nourish your spirit and Qi in the Crimson Palace—the inner palace said in Daoism to store and cultivate essence and vital energy—and close the gate of lust so that it never opens again; if you can quiet your extravagant impulses in a still chamber, cherish all living beings and do them no harm, uphold compassion and strive to give, while refining and nourishing your Qi and cherishing your Jing, then perhaps there is hope for you. If you do not do this, it is like trying to cross a great river while carrying a stone.

The Emperor knelt and received the Queen Mother’s admonition. “I truly am unworthy. I have sunk into worldly ways, and after inheriting the legacy left by my forebears, I became entangled in worldly affairs. In carrying out punishments and decrees, I have often gone astray, and my offenses have piled up like a mountain. From this day forward, I will follow these words.”

The Queen Mother said, “You already know the methods for nourishing your nature and the essentials of regulating your body. You need only practice them diligently and not grow slack. My master, the Celestial King of Primordial Beginning, once imparted these important teachings to me on the Terrace of Severe Empyrean: ‘Those who wish to attain long life…’”

Begin with self-cultivation: firmly guard the “Three Ones” (the three vital sites of spirit and Qi within the human body) and protect the root of life. The essence of the Mysterious Valley nourishes the body and fills its inner treasures; pure vital energy flows ceaselessly into the Gate of Heaven. Golden chambers revolve at the body’s center, while the blue and white energies gather distinctly at the Muddy Pellet (the upper Dantian in the head). Cultivate the body’s fluids and gather in its vital energy, so that spirit and Qi are complete within you. Guard all three palaces (the upper, middle, and lower Dantian); spirit and Qi reside in the Crimson Palace (the place of the heart). In the Yellow Court (the central area within the body), the energies of the two Earth phases, Wu and Ji, do not dissipate, but circulate through the five viscera and twelve meridians. Regulate your breathing so that the six bowels flow freely and the hun and po souls are at peace. In this way, you can dispel every illness, withstand heat and cold, preserve your essence and vital energy, and prolong your life.

This is what is meant by breathing the harmonious Qi of Great Harmony and guarding one’s innate nature: it is the true key to cultivating the Dao. Anyone who practices in this way can attain longevity, command ghosts and spirits, and travel among the Five Sacred Peaks; only ascending into the sky remains beyond reach. If you can cultivate yourself in this way, it is enough to transcend the world of dust. All who study to become immortals begin here.

As for the Supreme One’s numinous medicines, the Lord Above’s wondrous substances, those that grow in the Yin realm beneath the earth, and the marvelous grasses among the layered clouds, these are medicines used by immortals. Those who obtain the highest-grade medicines can delay their decline beyond the time appointed by Heaven. These are taken by the Supreme One and are not treasured by the middle immortals. Those who obtain and take the middle-grade medicines can postpone the end of their allotted lifespan. These are taken by the Celestial Perfected and lie beyond the reach of the lower immortals.

The next grade of medicines includes the Nine Elixirs, Golden Liquid, Purple Florescence, Rainbow Essence, the Supreme Clarity Ninefold Turning, the Nectar of the Five Clouds, Dark Frost, Crimson Snow, the Leaping Three Yellows, White Fragrance of the Eastern Sea, Flying Life of Dark Continent, the Eight Minerals, the Thousand Mushrooms, the Nine Lights of Weixi, Stone Gall of the Western Flow, Blue Coins of the Eastern Sea, Surplus Grain of High Mound, Jade Fields of Jishi, the Great Void Return Elixir, the Golden Orchid Vessel, Crimson Grass of Long Light, and Flying Thousand of the Cloud Child. Those who take these medicines can ascend to Heaven in broad daylight. They are taken by flying immortals and are beyond the knowledge of earthbound immortals.

The next lower grade of medicines includes pine and cypress resin, mountain ginger, sunken essence, chrysanthemum, water plantain, goji berries, poria, sweet flag, and asparagus root, among others. These are taken by flying immortals and are beyond the knowledge of earthbound immortals.

Inferior-grade medicines include pine and cypress resin, wild ginger, agarwood, chrysanthemum, Alisma, goji berries, poria, sweet flag, Ophiopogon, giant sesame (sesame seeds), yellow essence, Lingfei, red board, peach gum, wood essence, cimicifuga, teasel root, Wei Rui (Solomon’s seal), and coptis, among others. These are only a few examples. There are many kinds of medicinal herbs, with more than a thousand names and varieties. Taking these medicines can prolong life. Even if they cannot make you immortal or allow you to ascend into the blue heavens, they can nourish the body and preserve a youthful appearance. They can also enable you to command ghosts and spirits and become an earthly immortal—one who has attained the Way through cultivation in the human world. Those who wish to enter the Way and cultivate should begin here, then gradually reach higher states.

If you can regulate your breathing, guide Jing and Qi, safeguard Shen and Qi, and keep Jing and Qi from dissipating, they can endure for a long time; when the breath endures, life will not wither. In this way, you need not spend money buying medicines or laboriously seek them out. You need only begin with yourself. This is a principle everyone puts into practice each day without often realizing it, and it is the highest and most natural essential teaching.

The human body receives Shen from Heaven, form from Earth, and Qi from the Dao. When Qi remains within the body, a person lives; when Qi departs, life ends. The plants and all things are the same. The life of a human being takes the Dao as its root. How could one fail to nourish Shen, secure Qi, and preserve the body? The highest sages prize the wholeness of both body and spirit. When the body perishes and the spirit departs, how could that not be a cause for grief? Once this body is lost, even after ten thousand kalpas it is difficult to regain. You should cherish it.

What I have said was transmitted to me by my teacher, the Celestial King Primordial Beginning. He then ordered the Jade Maiden Li Qingsun to write it down and present it to the Heavenly Emperor, urging him to practice diligently. The Queen Mother was about to depart, so the Heavenly Emperor rose from his seat, bowed, and pleaded…

The Queen Mother of the West then ordered a serving woman to summon the Lady of the Upper Origin, a title for a female immortal, and bring her to the imperial palace. After a long while, the Lady of the Upper Origin arrived and took her seat again. Celestial food was laid out for the gathering. Some time later, the Queen Mother ordered her to bring out twelve texts and talismans, including the Book of the Eight Assemblies, the True Forms of the Five Sacred Peaks, which depicts their shapes and spiritual powers, and the Spirit-Flying Talismans of the Five Emperors and Six Jia, associated with the Five Emperors and the Six Jia. The Queen Mother said that in Heaven these books were transmitted only once every forty thousand kalpas; in the human world, they could be passed on once every forty years to a person who possessed the Dao.

The Queen Mother ordered her serving woman Song Lingbin to open a brocade bag woven from clouds and take out a scroll to give to the emperor. Holding the scripture in both hands, she rose, presented it to him, and recited:

“Heaven is high and Earth is low; the Five Sacred Peaks stabilize the land’s contours. The breath of primordial reality surges, while vast waters gather wondrous, mysterious essence. The Way of Heaven moves through the nine directions, and the six realms remain at peace for ages. The writings of the Supreme Eight Assemblies are the foundation for soaring to Heaven and attaining true immortality. True immortals use them as tokens, thereby communicating with the spirits. If they are revealed or lost, they will be destroyed; if these treasures return to the right path, they can prolong life and bring longevity. Treat these scriptures with the utmost care. I give this special admonition to Liu.”

After the invocation, the emperor bowed and received the scriptures. The Queen Mother said, “Those who are just beginning to study the Dao and receive talismans should make offerings separately to the spirits of rivers, mountains, and peaks. They should fast and purify themselves before wearing the talismans. After forty years, if you wish to pass on the scriptures in your possession, you may have Dong Zhongjun and Li Shaojun verify them. As emperor, you should be especially diligent in making offerings to the spirits of mountains and rivers, so that the state may be secure. Transmitting the scriptures to those who are truly divine can bring protection to the people.”

With that, the Queen Mother and the Lady of the Upper Origin ordered their attendants to prepare their carriages and depart. Their retinue gathered, ready to ascend to Heaven. Smiling, they pointed to Dongfang Shuo and said, “He is the child next door to me. He has a playful, witty nature and has come three times to steal peaches. In former times he was an immortal official of Mount Tai, but because he indulged in jade wine and lost the dignity required to command his subordinates, he was demoted to assist you. He is no ordinary mortal.”

Later, Emperor Wu of Han ignored the Queen Mother of the West’s admonitions. He indulged in wine and women and continued to wage wars and shed blood. He campaigned against Liaodong and attacked Korea, opened routes through the southwestern tribes, and undertook vast construction projects, building terraces and palaces. The people across the realm complained bitterly. From then on, he strayed from the right path.

Later, he went to Huizhong and traveled to the Eastern Sea to make offerings at three shrines to the gods, but the Queen Mother of the West no longer descended. The book he had received was placed on the Bailiang Terrace and was later destroyed by a heavenly fire. Li Shaojun shed his bodily form and departed; after ascending to the heavens, Dongfang Shuo never returned. After the calamity of the witchcraft affair, Emperor Wu’s remorse deepened. In the second year of Yuanshi, he died at Wuzha Palace and was buried at Maoling. Later, more than fifty scrolls of Daoist books kept at Maoling, stored in a golden chest, appeared at Baodu Mountain. A jade chest and a jade staff also appeared in the market at Fufeng. Maoling was inspected and found intact as before, while the chest and staff had appeared in the human world. The scripture takes this as evidence of bodily liberation through corpse dissolution, a Daoist term for a practitioner’s transformation into an immortal by leaving behind or dissolving the physical body and departing the worldly realm.

It also says that the staff of the Great Mao Lord, Mao Ying, appeared in the market at Fufeng. Maoling was inspected and found intact as before, while the chest and staff had appeared in the human world. The scripture likewise regards this as evidence of bodily liberation through corpse dissolution.

The Great Mao Lord, Mao Ying, governed Mount Gouqu in the south. On the ji-you day of the eighth month in the second year of Yuanshou, the Perfected Lord of Southern Peak, Lord Chi; Lord Wang of the Western Citadel; and the Azure Youth of Fangzhu all accompanied the Queen Mother of the West as she descended to Mao Ying’s dwelling. Shortly afterward, the Great Emperor of Heaven sent the embroidered-robed envoy Leng Guangziqi to bestow on Mao Ying a divine seal and jade tablets, symbols of divine investiture. The Lord of the Grand Tenuity sent Guan Xiutiao, censor of the Three Heavens’ Left Palace, to bestow on Mao Ying an eight-dragon brocade carriage and splendid robes adorned with purple feathers. The Most High Great Dao…

The Heavenly Lord dispatched Assistant Dawn Physician Shi Shumen to bestow on Mao Ying a complete Golden Tiger True Talisman and a flowing-gold bell. The Sage Lord of the Golden Gate then ordered the Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate to send Wang Zhong, the Jade Gentleman of Upper Mystery of Orthodox Unity, along with Bao Qiu and others, to bestow on Mao Ying the Four-Section Swallow Embryo Luminous Divine Mushroom, a legendary immortal fungus. After the four envoys had presented the fungus, they told Mao Ying to consume it, wear his seal, dress himself, set his cap straight, carry talismans and registers, and stand holding the bell.

The four envoys told Mao Ying, “By consuming the Four-Section Hidden Fungus, you will rank among the True Ministers; by consuming the Jade Fungus of the Golden Gate, you will rank among the Lords of Destiny; by consuming the Luminous Golden Essence, you will rank among the Lords of Merit; by consuming the Long-Shining Twin Flyers, you will rank among the True Lords; and by consuming the Night-Luminous Cave Herb, you will oversee the offices of the left and right imperial censors. You have already consumed all these immortal fungi. Your lifespan will endure as long as Heaven and Earth, and your office will be Lord of Destiny. You are also invested as Senior Minister of the Eastern Mountain, to govern the immortals of the Wu and Yue regions and oversee the mountains, rivers, and sources of Jiangzuo.” Having spoken, the envoys departed together.

The Lords of the Five Directions each arrived in a carriage representing their direction, dressed in its corresponding colors. They descended into Mao Ying’s courtyard, conveyed the Great Emperor’s command, and bestowed on him a purple jade tablet, inscribed gold, and the Nine Bestowals. They invested Mao Ying with the title “Senior Minister of the Eastern Mountain, Lord of Destiny, Perfected Lord, and Perfected One of the Great Origin.” After conferring his office, they departed together.

The Queen Mother of the West and Mao Ying’s teacher, Lord Wang of Xicheng, laid on a heavenly banquet for him. They feasted, drinking wine and singing “The Song of Mysterious Numinous Power.” When the banquet ended, the Queen Mother took Lord Wang of Xicheng and Mao Ying to visit Mao Ying’s two younger brothers, and instructed each of them in the essentials of the Dao. She ordered the Lady of the Upper Origin to give Mao Gu and Mao Zhong the secret Daoist scriptures, including The Hidden Book of the Great Empyrean and The Essence of the Dao of Cinnabar Radiance. Holding The Hidden Book of the Great Empyrean, the Queen Mother then ordered her attendant Zhang Lingzi to take charge of the covenant of transmission, used to confirm the passing on of teachings, and bestow it on Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong. When the ceremony was complete, the Queen Mother ascended to Heaven and departed.

After this, Lady Wei Huacun, the Primordial Lady of Purple Emptiness, a Daoist female immortal, observed purification and abstinence at the Hidden Origin Terrace in Yangluo. The Queen Mother of the West, a revered female immortal of legend, and the Sage Lord of the Golden Palace descended to the terrace in an Eightfold Radiance Carriage. Together they traveled to the Upper Palace of Clear Emptiness, where they transmitted to Wei Huacun the four scrolls of the Hidden Books of Jade Clarity.

At that time, more than thirty immortals and perfected beings—including Lady Feng Shuangli of the Three Origins, the Left Immortal Duke of Purple Yang, Shi Lucheng, the Supreme Ultimate Immortal Elder, Lord Yan Gai, the Perfected One of the Western City, Wang Fangping, the Perfected One of Great Emptiness, Red Pine Master of the Southern Marchmount, the Perfected One of Tongbai, Wang Ziqiao, and others—each sang a Yin or Yang song of the Supreme Ultimate. The Queen Mother of the West sang:

“I ride the Eightfold Radiance Carriage, suddenly entering the immortal realm of Jade Clarity. Dragon banners flutter as they rise straight into the clouds; tiger standards command the vermilion troops. I wander among the hidden, mysterious crossings, while the myriad things turn and flow without cease. Alas, partings and reunions must eventually pass; when the cycles of calamity are spent, Heaven and Earth too will collapse. One should seek the vision within nonbeing and reach the state beyond birth and death. Realize the Dao of nature, quietly observe the myriad things, and unite with Great Emptiness.

The Southern Marchmount stands tall as a true pillar, its jade-like radiance reflecting the brilliance of its essence. One occupies one’s place without clinging to affairs, and with an open heart receives the wondrous Qi. Rejoicing in our meeting beside the River of Crimson Light, we accompany one another, our happiness without end.”

When the song was finished, Lady Feng Shuangli also completed her answering song. Then the Queen Mother of the West, Lady Feng Shuangli, the Left Immortal Duke of Purple Yang, the Supreme Ultimate Immortal Elder, and the Lord of Clear Emptiness accompanied Wei Huacun of the Southern Marchmount as they traveled southeast toward Mount Tiantai and Mount Huo. Passing the Golden Terrace on Mount Gouqu, they held a banquet for the Perfected Mao of Great Origin in the Grotto-Heaven of Huayang, and left Wei Huacun there.

Beneath the jade halls of Mount Huo’s Grotto Palace, where immortals dwell, all the immortals followed the Queen Mother of the West as she ascended to the Turtle Terrace, the fabled realm where she resides. The Great Perfected Golden Mother—that is, the Queen Mother of the West—is the teacher of all beings. She examines and commands the immortals, holds a position of great honor, and governs all affairs in the underworld and the human world.

Bian Dongxuan went in person to pay his respects to the Queen Mother and receive the Daoist teachings. Xie Ziran served her and eventually attained the Dao and became an immortal. Thus, both the Dongxuan and the Biography of Ziran say that the Golden Mother Master is the Queen Mother of the West. The Mysterious Scripture records many other related accounts, which are not copied here one by one.

The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, a goddess in Daoist legend, was a disciple of the Holy Mother Primordial Sovereign, who was the Yellow Emperor’s teacher. In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor ruled the state of Youxiong and served Yugang, grandson of Shennong. When Yugang grew weak, the lords fought among themselves and warfare continued without end. Each occupied a region associated with a direction and color, and took a title based on the Five Phases: the descendants of Taihao called themselves the Azure Emperor; the descendants of Yugang, who came from Shennong, called themselves the Red Emperor; the descendants of Gonggong called themselves the White Emperor; and the descendants of Getian called themselves the Black Emperor. The Yellow Emperor rose from the ancestral lands of Youxiong and proclaimed himself the Yellow Emperor.

The Yellow Emperor treated others with humility, honored the worthy and showed respect to those of lower station, and carefully cultivated his De (Virtue). In the twenty-first year of his reign, Chiyou began his rebellion. According to legend, Chiyou had eighty-one brothers. They had animal bodies but could speak like humans, with copper heads and iron foreheads. They ate sand and swallowed stones, but did not eat grain. They formed an army like five tigers, slaughtered the people, and forged weapons on Mount Gelu. They refused to obey the Yellow Emperor’s commands. Preparing to punish Chiyou, the Yellow Emperor sought far and wide for worthy people to support him.

The Yellow Emperor found Feng Hou by the sea and Li Mu in the great marsh. He appointed Dahong as his aide and Tianlao as his teacher. He established three ministers to represent the Three Terraces stars in the heavens: Feng Hou served as the Upper Terrace, Tianlao as the Middle Terrace, and the Five Sages as the Lower Terrace. The Yellow Emperor first obtained a precious cauldron in which food could be cooked without a fire. He also observed the sun’s course and calculated the calendar. He appointed Feng Hu as a general, named the son of his consort Feixiu crown prince, and chose Zhang Ruo, Xi Peng, Li Mu, Rong Guang, Long Xing, Cang Jie, Rong Cheng, Da Nao, She Long, and others as his aides. He then fought Chiyou at Zhuolu.

The Yellow Emperor’s forces suffered repeated defeats. Chiyou summoned a dense fog that lasted three days, leaving those inside and outside the camps unable to tell their direction. Feng Hou studied the movements of the Northern Dipper and built a south-pointing chariot, whose dipper-shaped pointer indicated south and helped establish the directions of the four quarters. Troubled and distressed, the Yellow Emperor fasted and prayed at the foot of Mount Tai.

The Queen Mother sent a messenger clad in a black fox-fur coat, who gave the Yellow Emperor a talisman and told him, “Fix your thoughts with devotion and pray to Heaven; you will surely receive a response from the Most High.” Several days later, thick fog filled the air and the sky grew dark. The Mysterious Maiden, a goddess said to have taught the arts of war and esoteric methods, descended riding a crimson phoenix and borne on auspicious clouds. Clad in a robe of nine colors, she came before the Yellow Emperor. He bowed twice and received her instruction.

The Mysterious Maiden said, “I have come at the command of the Most High. You may ask me anything that troubles you.” The Yellow Emperor kowtowed and said, “Chiyou is violent and lawless, slaughtering the people. Their cries of grief never cease, and they can scarcely keep their lives. May I ask for a way to win every battle and rid the people of this scourge?”

The Mysterious Maiden then taught the Yellow Emperor many military methods, talismans, and books of esoteric arts. These included the talismans of military authority associated with the Six Jia and Six Ren, as well as writings from the Five Talismans of the Numinous Treasure that describe commanding ghosts and spirits. She also taught seals for subduing demons and evil forces and opening the way to spiritual insight; the Five Yin and Five Yang Dunjia methods; and diagrams and charts for the Great One, the Ten Essences, and the Four Spirits, used to predict victory or defeat and seize the right moment for action.

Her teachings also included methods for drawing out essential principles from the Five Sacred Peaks and the Yellow River Chart; seals and ritual swords for commanding demons, such as the Nine Radiances, Jade Tokens, Ten Severances, and Numinous Banners; and the celestial retinue’s regalia: rosy-cloud crowns, fire pendants, dragon halberds, rainbow banners, emerald carriages, green silken standards, chariots drawn by horned dragons, tiger riders, canopies adorned with a thousand flowers, and carriages drawn by eight phoenixes. She further taught the use of ritual instruments such as feathered flutes, dark staffs, rainbow pennants, and jade axes, along with the seals of the Five Dragons and the pearls of the Nine Brightnesses. The tokens of the Nine Heavens served as credentials for transmitting military orders, while banners of five colors were used to identify the directions of the five quarters.

The Yellow Emperor then once again led the feudal lords into battle. Chiyou formed his ranks with the mountain and forest spirits known as chimei and other uncanny creatures. He had the Rain Master and Wind Earl guard him, and ordered Yinglong to gather water and attack the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor subdued these forces one by one. At last, he defeated Chiyou in the Wilds of Juepei, in the land of Zhongji, and buried Chiyou’s four limbs separately.

When Yugang defied his orders, the Yellow Emperor executed him in the Wilds of Banquan. He then drove the Xunyu, an ancient northern people, northward and brought peace to the four quarters. He traveled along the borders in every direction, covering a total of twenty-eight thousand li. Afterward, he cast a great ding vessel and established the Nine Provinces. He appointed ministers to oversee nine kinds of affairs and embody nine virtues, so they could observe Heaven and Earth, make offerings to the myriad spirits, establish laws, and institute teachings.

Later, the Yellow Emperor gathered copper from Mount Shou and cast a ding vessel at the foot of Mount Jing. A Yellow Dragon descended to welcome him, and the Yellow Emperor ascended to Heaven riding on its back. All these events arose from the talismanic texts and diagrammatic methods taught by the Mysterious Lady, a legendary goddess.

Scroll 115, “Biographies Section, Biography 14”

Liang Mu

Liang Mu was from Xuyi. After her husband died, she had no children, so she opened an inn at Pingyuan Pavilion. When guests came to lodge and rest, she treated them as though they had returned home. However long they stayed, she never grew tired of them or quibbled over how much lodging money they should pay. She herself wore coarse hemp clothing and ate coarse grain, yet often used what she earned to help the poor and sick.

A young man once stayed at the inn for a month. His manner was unlike that of ordinary people. As he was leaving, he said, “I am the Young Lad of the Eastern Sea.” Liang Mu did not know who this Young Lad was.

In the fourth year of the Yuanhui era of the Song, a bingchen year, Xu Daosheng, a Daoist of Mount Ma’er, was staying temporarily in Mengyin. One day, west of Jiangcheng, he encountered a cart drawn by a blue ram. The cart stopped of its own accord, and a young lad called to him: “Daoist Xu, please come over.” Daosheng approached and stopped about three paces from the cart. He then saw two boys, about twelve or thirteen years old, both dressed in yellow with crimson sashes and their hair tied in horn-shaped topknots. Their bearing and clothing were dignified and beautiful, rarely seen in this world.

The person inside the cart sent one of the boys to deliver a message: “I am Liang Mu, a guest at the inn in Pingyuan. Now the Supreme One—a title for the highest deity in Daoism—has summoned me back. I must pass through Penglai to seek Ziqiao, then go to Mount Tai to be examined. I have been summoned back because he wished to see me, and now I have indeed been able to meet you. I travel lightly in a numinous carriage, gliding onward. The roads across Xuangang are steep and rugged, and the stations along the way are few; each day I must travel three thousand li. The time for my service and audience is drawing near. My heart is burdened with worry, for soon I must ride the clouds and ascend to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the three heavenly realms of Daoism. These three boys are escorting me to Xuandu. Please convey my thanks to the faithful men and women of the East. The age of Great Peace is not far off; it will likely come in a little over ten years. Please encourage and guide one another. Once this period has passed, there will be no more worry or danger.”

Liang Mu raised her hand in farewell and said, “We shall meet again in the age of Great Peace.” Then she rode the cart swiftly into the sky, gradually disappearing beyond the edge of sight. Daosheng returned to the inn and made inquiries, confirming that this was the very day Liang Mu had transcended the world and attained the Dao.

Bao Gu

Bao Gu was the daughter of Bao Jing, governor of Nanhai, and the wife of Ge Hong, who served as a Cavalier Attendant in the Jin dynasty. Bao Jing’s courtesy name was Taixuan, and he was from Chenliu. From a young age, he possessed profound insight and could discern subtle, mysterious principles. He devoted himself to cultivating profound Daoist arts, though few people knew of his practice. Bao Jing and his younger sister had both inherited the hidden virtue accumulated by their ancestors, and so were fortunate enough to attain the Dao. Bao Gu and her younger sister were both ranked among the immortals.

Bao Jing was widely learned. He later became a disciple of Zuo Yuanfang, studying the Central Section rites and the essentials of the Three Sovereigns’ and Five Sacred Peaks’ methods of censure and summoning. These methods were Daoist arts for commanding spirits and gods through Fulu (talismans and registers), memorials, and other means. It was said that Bao Jing’s practice was highly effective: he could command spirits and gods, seal off mountains and forests, and subdue demons.

In the first year of Daxing under Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin (the year wuyin), Bao Jing met the perfected person Yin Changsheng on Mount Jiang. Yin Changsheng taught him the art of liberation by the sword. This was one form of the Daoist method of corpse liberation: leaving behind a body or a substitute in order to shed one’s mortal form and become an immortal. Bao Jing was repeatedly summoned by the court and eventually rose to the post of Palace Attendant at the Yellow Gate. He later requested an appointment as governor of Nanhai.

Bao Gu married Ge Zhichuan, Ge Hong’s courtesy name. Ge Hong had served as a Cavalier Attendant, but, in order to refine cinnabar, he requested appointment as magistrate of Julu County. While Bao Jing was serving in Nanhai, his younger daughter had just reached the age of fifteen, when girls traditionally underwent the coming-of-age ceremony. She suddenly died despite having shown no signs of illness. Bao Jing was receiving guests at the time and remained composed, showing no grief. His younger daughter was buried on Mount Luofu, and her appearance remained lifelike; people therefore believed she had become an immortal through corpse liberation.

Bao Jing later returned to Danyang and died there. He was buried at Shizigang. During the rebellion of Su Jun, someone opened his coffin and found it empty except for a large sword. When the thieves tried to take the sword, they heard what seemed to be the sounds of soldiers and horses near the tomb. They turned to look and were terrified. The sword suddenly gave off a thunderous roar, and the thieves fled in fright. After the rebellion had been put down, people retrieved the sword and buried it elsewhere. Bao Jing and his sister, too, had both attained the Way of corpse liberation; Bao Gu and Ge Hong became immortals in turn.

◎ Sun Hanhua

Sun Hanhua was from the Wu region. Her father was named Sun Xi. She became Du Qi’s disciple and learned the essentials of Xuanbai, a key method of Daoist cultivation. After practicing it, she grew younger in appearance with each passing day. For more than ten years she traveled among the mountains of Wu and Yue. In the end, she attained the Dao, became an immortal, and left the human world.

◎ Li Xizi

Li Xizi was the grandmother of Li Zhong, the Jin dynasty governor of Dongping. Her family name is unknown. Li Zhong’s grandfather, Li Zhengjie, lived in seclusion in the countryside. By nature he was compassionate and made a practice of doing good deeds in secret. Li Xizi shared his outlook and devoted herself to helping others. During bitterly cold snowstorms, she scattered rice and other grains in the garden, worried that the birds might go hungry and freeze. This was how carefully she practiced kindness. She has now attained the Dao and lives in Huayang Cave Palace, an abode of immortals in Daoist legend.

◎ Han Xihua

It is not known where Han Xihua was from. She was compassionate toward all living things and often did good deeds in secret. She cared even for the smallest insects. She cultivated the Dao and became an immortal; she now lives within the grotto-heavens of Mount Song, a Daoist paradise in legend.

◎ Dou Qiongying

Dou Qiongying was Dou Wu’s younger sister. Her seventh-generation ancestor was named Dou Zhi. He often buried the remains of people who had no one to lay them to rest, and made saving lives his aim. The blessings of his good deeds thus extended to Dou Qiongying, enabling her to become a female immortal. She now lives in Yiqian Palace, an immortal palace in Daoist legend.

◎ Liu Chunlong

Neither Liu Chunlong nor Guo Shuxiang is known to have come from any particular place. Because their ancestors had accumulated merit through good deeds done in secret, both were able to undergo transformation through cultivation and ascend to the realm of immortals, entering Huayang Yiqian Palace.

Liu Chunlong, Dou Qiongying, Han Taihua, and Li Xizi were all naturally dignified and beautiful, with exceptional bearing and outstanding talent and insight. All were appointed Attendants of Mingchen and lived in the grotto-heavens. The post of Attendant was given to people of talent and virtue, without regard to gender.

◎ Zhao Sutai

Zhao Sutai was the daughter of Zhao Xi, governor of Youzhou in the Han dynasty. From a young age, Zhao Xi took pleasure in doing good. He often helped the poor and had also aided the families of Wang Hui and others, accumulating deep hidden merit through good deeds done without public recognition. Decades later, Zhao Xi traveled in person to Zhuling, a paradise in the world of immortals. His son was able to journey through a heavenly grotto, an abode of the immortals, while Zhao Sutai took up residence in Yiqian Palace, a palace in the immortal realm. She had lived there for four hundred years and was unwilling to leave. Believing that she had no relatives left anywhere in the world, she thought there could be no happier place. At times, she would put on ordinary clothes and go out to enjoy the mountains, rivers, lakes, and marshes. Lady Yiqian was Zhao Sutai’s rank and title in the immortal realm.

◎ Fu Lihe

Fu Lihe was the daughter of Fu Jian, a native of Beidi. Her whole family believed in Buddhism, but she swept and cleaned before the Buddhist statues every day, and whenever she made a vow, she said that her heart was devoted to the Dao of the immortals. She often took the “Essence of the Five Stars,” a substance used in Daoist cultivation. Her body then began to glow, and eventually she attained the Dao and became an immortal. She was skilled at singing songs of the empty grotto, a form of Daoist immortal music. When her voice rang out, birds would fly and dance, gathering before her to listen. This is an example of how her sincere cultivation brought a response, enabling her to attain the Dao.

◎ Huang Jinghua

Huang Jinghua was the daughter of Huang Qiong, Grand Minister of Works in the Han dynasty. From childhood she loved the Dao of the immortals and secretly practiced its essential methods. Later she became a student of Master Han, who transmitted to her an elixir formula from Mount Min. After taking the elixir, she entered Yiqian Palace and was granted the immortal rank of Lady Xiechen. She governed the Nine Palaces and oversaw and instructed the divine maidens.

◎ Zhang Weizi

Zhang Weizi was the daughter of Zhang Qing, a master craftsman during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han. Her native commandery is unknown. From childhood she loved Daoist arts. Later she left the world through corpse liberation, a Daoist method of shedding the mortal body and ascending to immortality, and entered Yiqian Palace. There she held the rank of Lady Xiechen, governed the Nine Palaces, and oversaw and instructed the divine maidens.

Zhang Weizi was the daughter of Zhang Qing, a master craftsman during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han. It is not known which commandery she came from. From childhood, she was fond of Daoist arts. Later, she achieved “corpse liberation”—the Daoist practice of shedding the physical form and ascending as an immortal—and left the mortal world. She lived at the Huayang Abode of the True Ones on the Terrace of the Great Origin’s Master of Destiny, where she took the Jade Consort of Donghua as her teacher and learned how to nourish herself by consuming mist.

Cloud and mist were thought to gather the essences of water and fire between mountains and marshes, and to contain the Qi of metals and stones. Consuming mist over a long period could make the body disperse and enter the void, merging with the clouds and mist. Zhang Weizi practiced this method and ultimately attained the Dao and became an immortal.

◎ Ding Shuying

It is not known where Ding Shuying came from. She once secretly performed good deeds, helping the poor and rescuing Zhao Fu from a desperate situation. These acts moved the August Immortal, who granted her the essential teachings of the Daoist arts. She is now an immortal woman of the Vermilion Mound Palace. She has traveled many times to the realm of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), and the Master of Destiny has also appointed her to help manage official affairs.

◎ Wang Fajin

Wang Fajin was from Linjin County in Jianzhou. From childhood, she took naturally to Daoism. Near her home stood an old temple. Although no Daoist priest lived there, she never treated it carelessly or showed disrespect while playing nearby. Whenever she saw a sacred image, she would bring her hands together and bow reverently, her expression full of awe.

When she was over ten years old, a female Daoist priest passed through her home village on her way from Jianzhou. Knowing that their daughter admired Daoism, her parents entrusted her to the priest’s care. The priest gave her the Zhengyi Register for Prolonging Life, a Fulu used in the Zhengyi tradition to pray for long life and protection, and named her “Fajin.” From then on, she devoted herself to burning incense and worshipping the gods, strictly observed purification and abstinence, and ate cypress leaves while giving up grain. During this time, she also experienced the arrival of divine spirits.

That year, famine struck the Three Rivers region. Grain prices soared, and five or six out of every ten people died. Many people dug up yams and wild kudzu roots to stave off hunger. Suddenly, two azure youths descended into the courtyard of her home and announced the command of the Supreme Emperor: “You were born with the bones of an immortal. You have devoted yourself to the Daoist teachings with sincere intent and have never forgotten the Dao. Now we are sending these azure youths to summon you to serve at the Jade Capital, the residence of the Heavenly Emperor.” Fajin rose into the air with the youths and went straight to the place where the Great Emperor dwelt. The Great Emperor ordered that she be given rosy elixir in a jade cup, a drink of the immortals.

After they had finished drinking, the Celestial Emperor said to him, “People can take human form only by receiving the combined Qi of the Five Phases and the harmonious Qi of Heaven and Earth. To be born in the Central Land is itself no small thing. The seasons turn under Heaven and Earth, as Yin-Yang Qi rises and shifts. The practitioner traveled through the air and reached the place where the Great Emperor resides; therefore, by my command, he was granted the rosy nectar in a jade cup.”

After they had finished drinking, the Celestial Emperor said to him again, “People take human form by receiving the combined Qi of the Five Phases and the harmonious Qi of Heaven and Earth. They also depend on the essence of the Five Phases of Heaven and Earth, which brings forth the grains and the hundred fruits to nourish them. Yet people do not know to be grateful for Heaven and Earth’s nurturing kindness. They casually discard grain and scorn clothes made from silk and hemp, while farmers who till the soil and women who weave work hard but go without enough to eat or warm clothing. Their labor is wasted, and people show it no care at all. Naturally, the spirits will punish them, and they will receive no protection from Heaven and Earth.

“Recently, the Earth Bureau, which governs the mountains, rivers, and waterways, has reported every day that people despise and slight rice and wheat, and fail to value the foundations of food and clothing. I have ordered the Office of Great Hua, which oversees Great Hua Mountain, to withdraw the spirit of the Five Grains. The crops people sow will then fail to ripen, leaving the people hungry as a sign of punishment.”

This is meant to warn people in the world. The foolish and ignorant drift through life in a daze, never awakening. By the command of the Most High (Taishang, an honorific for the supreme deity in Daoism), I have considered that the Great Dao takes the nurturing of life as its foundation. The many good people should not suffer because of the wrongs of a few wicked ones. Even if the spirits of Heaven and Earth punish the ignorant people, they do not know what they have done wrong. They have no way to repent or ask forgiveness, and can only suffer in vain.

You were meant to serve as a celestial attendant and enter the Heavenly Court to attend the gods. For now, however, you are to descend to the human world and urge the people to repent and correct their faults; to cherish mulberry trees and silkworms, attend to farming, and value the five grains and all fruits. Help them understand that the Great Dao nurtures people and the generous Earth nourishes all things, and teach them to honor the righteous Way and revere the gods. Water and fire are essential to daily life and should not be despised. Clothing and food sustain people, and should be used with restraint. If everyone follows these clear precepts, Heaven and Earth will cherish them, and the gods will protect them. The rains and winds will come in due season, and households and the state will be at peace. In this way, you will build up hidden merit through unseen good deeds.

Then the gods ordered a maid to bring out a scroll titled The Lingbao Pure Fasting Rite of Acknowledgment to Heaven and Earth, a ritual manual for Lingbao purification rites, and hand it to him to circulate among the people. The gods said, “People may gather and travel to secluded, lofty mountains to perform a purification rite, repent, and acknowledge their faults. Hold it twice a year: in spring, pray for a good harvest; in autumn, give thanks for the protection of the Great Dao. In this way, past accumulated offenses can be cleared away, and the Grain Father and Silkworm Mother, deities who govern grain and silkworm raising, will grant an abundant harvest.”

In the Year of the Dragon and Tiger, the gods will summon you again. Then they ordered the Blue Lad, a celestial attendant, to escort him home. By then, he had been away from home for three months.

The text given to people was what is now called The Lingbao Method of Pure Fasting and Giving Thanks to Heaven and Earth. The ritual was simple and broadly similar to the Lingbao Natural Fast. It was said to produce results quickly when performed among the people. If the mats or implements used for the fast were neglected or even slightly unclean, or if the person presiding over the rite showed any lack of sincerity or fairness, violent winds and torrential rain would destroy the ritual mats, while thunder would crash and damage the implements.

From then on, people throughout the Sanchuan and Liang-Han regions performed this method every year. Even the simple and unworldly, and those of violent temper, carried out the rites with trembling reverence and care, knowing how to perform the ritual. When calamities such as moths, locusts, drought, or floods damaged crops and disrupted farming, people would unite in earnest to perform the fasting rite, burning incense and praying to the realm of the mystic. It was said that they would receive a response by morning or evening and surely gain protection. The results, people said, quickly showed who was sincere and who was not.

In Banan, this ritual was called “Pure Fasting”; in Shu, it was called the “Heavenly Merit Fast.” The names differed, but the practice was the same. In the eleventh year of Tianbao (752), the renchen year, cloud cranes came to escort Fajin to heaven. This event, too, accorded with the destiny of the Dragon and Tiger and the predictions of the divine beings.

Lady Wang

Lady Wang was the wife of Xie Liangbi, a Secretariat Drafter, and a descendant of Wang Xizhi, the Right Army General of the Eastern Jin. She was from Kuaiji. After Xie Liangbi passed the imperial examinations, he married her while serving as an aide in eastern Zhejiang. Later, Lady Wang fell gravely ill and did not recover for many years. Xie Liangbi received an imperial summons to enter the court, but in the end he could not go, and Lady Wang’s condition worsened. At that time, the Celestial Master Wu Yun was traveling abroad and came to Si…

After traveling through Ming, Tiantai, Lanting, and the Yu Cave area, he stopped in Shanyin. A member of the Wang family came to see him, asking for a cure. He used Daoist healing methods, including water incantations and swallowing talismans, and the man recovered after two nights.

Grateful for the protection afforded by Daoist methods, the man went to pay his respects to the Celestial Master (Tianshi) and received Daoist registers (credentials conferring a religious rank in Daoism), devoting himself to cultivation. He burned incense and sat quietly, focusing his mind and setting aside distracting thoughts. Living alone in a quiet chamber, he resolved to ascend to heaven at dawn. Later, he gave up food and drink and nourished body and mind by swallowing Qi. His spirit became peaceful and his body light. Strange fragrances often filled the air, and colored clouds shone over his residence, as though an immortal had arrived. He secretly associated with numinous immortals, though no one else knew.

She suddenly said to her daughter, “The illness I once suffered would probably have left me only ten years to live. Fortunately, the Celestial Master treated me and extended the life that was nearly at its end. I came to understand the Dao too late, and my practice and devotion to the Dao have not been diligent enough. When I think back on my past faults, I see that my repentance has not yet been complete. All my life I was influenced by worldly habits, and jealousy often filled my heart. Even now, darkness still clouds my mind, and I have not truly comprehended the Great Dao. I still need to refine my body through the Shadow Realm—the Daoist practice of using Yin energy or a secluded realm to temper the body—and cleanse my heart and change my ingrained habits. Only after twenty years will I be able to shed my old form, like a cicada casting off its shell.”

“After I die, do not put me in a coffin. You may make a cypress-wood shelter and place my body outdoors, sending someone to inspect it from time to time.” She died that very night. Her family followed her wishes and kept the funeral simple. They laid her body in the garden. It rested peacefully, as if asleep, and showed no signs of change.

Twenty years later, grave robbers broke into the burial place and threw her body onto the ground. In the depths of winter, a sound like thunder suddenly came from beside the cypress-wood shelter. The whole family was astonished and hurried over to investigate. When they lifted the body, they found it as light as an empty shell. The skin, nails, and hair were all intact, and there was a crease more than a foot long along her right side. They then gathered up the body and buried it again.

The Lady of Mount Heng once said that among those who attain the Dao, the highest ascend to heaven in broad daylight, their bodies and bones rising together as they take up their posts as perfected officials in heaven. Those of the next rank shed their forms like snakes or cicadas shedding their skins; their bodies and bones, too, rise together, and their physical bodies ascend to heaven. All become heavenly immortals and no longer dwell among the mountains. Liangbi also served the Celestial Master as a disciple and joined the Celestial Master in writing her biography, recording her deeds in detail.

Lady Hua

Hua Gu was the Daoist nun Huang Lingwei. Though nearly eighty, she still looked young, with a childlike face. Her conduct in cultivating the Dao was pure and noble, and people called her “Hua Gu.” She walked slowly and seemed unhurried, yet even a galloping horse could not catch up with her. No one knew where she came from. From the early Tang dynasty onward, she traveled through the regions of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Hunan, visiting nearly every famous mountain and numinous grotto.

Wherever she went, she sometimes spent the night in the forests and fields, protected by spirits. Anyone with ill intent who tried to harm her would at once meet with misfortune. People near and far came to respect and fear her, serving her as though she were a deity.

Hua Gu heard that Lady Wei of Mount Heng, a female immortal in Daoist legend, had once crossed the river to cultivate the Dao and built an immortal altar on Stone Well Mountain, west of the Ru River in Linru, Linchuan Commandery. She went to look for it. Many years had passed, and thorns and weeds had overgrown the site. The local people no longer knew where the altar was.

In the winter, in the tenth month of the second year of Changshou under Empress Wu Zetian (692), Hua Gu arrived at West Mountain in Hongdu and visited the Daoist Hu Chao to ask him about it. Hu Chao, whose courtesy name was Basu, could communicate with spirits. He directed her to look for Turtle Plain, about six li south of the southern gate. Long ago, there had been a stone turtle there that often damaged the crops in the fields. When people struck it, they broke off its head. The place where the stone turtle’s head had broken away was where the immortal altar stood.

Hua Gu went to search and saw that the remains of the altar grounds on either side of the stone turtle were still clearly visible. The spot where she stood was right in the middle of the altar. Beneath it, she found statues, an oil jar, an awl, a knife, lamps, and other objects. She then repaired the altar grounds and restored the site.

Later, Hua Gu dreamed that Lady Wei told her to look for Nine-Bend Pond south of the altar. Following the directions in her dream, she found it, and the brickwork remains beside the pond were still intact.

During the Jingyun era, Emperor Ruizong sent the Daoist priest Ye Shanxin with embroidered images, banners, and fresh flowers to conduct a ritual. A Dongling Abbey was built west of the ritual altar, and seven women were guided to renounce lay life and become Daoist priestesses. Later, Emperor Ming also often presided over purification rites and prayers, which continued without interruption. Whenever wind and rain came, the sound of flutes and pipes could sometimes be heard.

Each time people went to worship, they had to maintain solemnity and cleanliness. If they failed to do so, strange signs would appear, such as snakes and tigers crying out in alarm. At that time, cloud formations like dark clouds often came flying in groups, trailing bands of cloud that descended straight onto the altar before heading west, as if rushing toward Jing Mountain. This happened repeatedly over time.

Hua Gu, the Daoist priestess named here, had spiritual efficacy and communication with the divine. She received a hidden revelation that Jing Mountain held an ancient site that should be restored. Before long, an unusual fragrance drifted in from the west. After receiving one auspicious sign after another, Hua Gu went there in person to make repairs. When she spent the night at the cave entrance, she heard the sound of bells and stone chimes. The place had long been abandoned and overgrown with weeds, yet it seemed as though someone was guiding her. She lodged among the trees and wild grass, feeling at peace. At dawn, she entered the mountain and indeed found the remains of an altar hall, so she built dwellings there. She also heard the ritual chants known as buxu—Daoist music recited during worship or rites—and sounds like celestial music coming from within several miles around the altar. Anyone who went up the mountain to gather firewood without observing the rules of purity would encounter frightening oddities.

A wild elephant wounded by an arrow came to Hua Gu for help. She pulled out the arrow. From then on, before each purification rite, the elephant would bring her lotus roots in its trunk.

In the ninth year of the Kaiyuan era (the year Xinyou), Hua Gu was about to ascend and transform—that is, to attain the Dao and leave the world. She told her disciples, “My journey among the immortals is urging me to depart; I cannot remain long among humankind. After I die, do not nail my coffin shut. Simply cover it with red silk gauze.” The next day, she died without having been ill. Her skin was clean and fragrant, her body remained warm, and the courtyard and hall were filled with an exquisite scent. Her disciples followed her instructions: they left the coffin unsealed and covered it only with red silk.

Suddenly, thunder shook the area, and a hole the size of an egg was struck through the red silk. Inside the coffin, only the bedding and wooden tablets used for covering her remained. A hole large enough for a person to pass through had also been made in the roof. The melons offered at the funeral had been sitting for several days, yet vines grew from them and bore two fruits about the size of peaches. Whenever the anniversary of Hua Gu’s death came around, wind and clouds would gather thickly and surge straight into the house. When Emperor Ming heard these stories, he was astonished and ordered an investigation. The next day, he sent the Daoist priest Cai Wei to include Hua Gu’s deeds in the Later Biographies of the Immortals.

In the third month of the twenty-eighth year of the Kaiyuan era (740 CE), the emperor ordered Daoist priests to bring a dragon bi—a jade disc used in sacrifice—and perform a ritual to pray for blessings. Suddenly, a white deer appeared east of the altar. It walked between the tombs of the two Gu women and disappeared. This was where an empty coffin and wooden slips had been placed when Lady Hua was buried. Five-colored celestial moths also gathered on the altar. The prefect, Zhang Jingyi, took these as auspicious signs called forth by the emperor’s sacred virtue. He therefore erected a stele to record and celebrate them.

In the eighth year of the Tianbao era (749 CE), because this was where Lady Wei, a female immortal revered in Daoism, had ascended to immortality, the court assigned two Daoist women to practice there and maintain the incense offerings throughout the year. In the third year of the Dali era (768 CE), when Yan Zhenqing, Duke of Lu Commandery, took office as prefect of Fuzhou, he found the historic site in ruins and without anyone to oversee it. He summoned twenty-seven Daoist priests, including Tan Xianyan and Huang Daojin from Xiantaiguan, to live at Donglingguan. He also arranged for seven women of exemplary cultivation, including Li Qiongxian, to reside at the Immortal Altar Compound. Yan Zhenqing composed and personally inscribed the “Stele of the Immortal Altar,” recording these events.

Immortal Maiden Xu

Immortal Maiden Xu was the daughter of Xu Zhicao, a senior official in the Ministry of State Affairs during the Sui dynasty. It is unknown whom she studied under. It was said that she had lived for several hundred years, yet her appearance remained that of a woman of twenty-four or twenty-five. She excelled in the arts of spellcasting and incantation. Traveling alone, she visited the famous mountains and scenic places throughout the Three Rivers region, the Five Peaks, Tiantai, Siming, Luofu, and Kuocang. She often stayed in mountain crags and woodland caves, and sometimes lodged in Buddhist monasteries.

Once, several monks who presumed on their influence teased her with subtle, artfully worded remarks. Immortal Maiden Xu berated them. Angered, the monks tried to threaten her with a knife, but she grew even more indignant in expression. Smiling, she said…