《歷世真仙體道通鑑》Vol. 15

Comprehensive Mirror of Perfected Immortals Throughout the Ages, Volume Fifteen

Compiled by Zhao Daoyi, Daoist of the Palace of Ten Thousand Years of Sagely Longevity on Floating Cloud Mountain

Lord Pei

The Perfected Man of Pure Tranquility, Lord Pei, whose courtesy name was Xuanren, was from Xiayang in Youfufeng. He was born in the second year of Emperor Ming of the Han.

Lord Pei was clear-minded and composed, with refined and upright bearing. He was skilled at conversation and humor. His eyes were bright with spirit, his arms reached below his knees when hanging at his sides, and his voice was high, resonant, and clear; when he called out, it sounded like a bell. His family followed both Buddhism and Daoism. In his teens, he stayed awake day and night, devoting himself to reading the scriptures.

One year, on the eighth day of the fourth month, Lord Pei traveled in a carriage to a Buddhist monastery with Zhao Kangzi of Fengyi and Hao Jicheng of Shangdang. The sky was overcast and rain was falling when a poor man in worn cloth, his head wrapped in a yellow scarf, suddenly came up behind the carriage and asked to ride with them. Lord Pei courteously asked him who he was, but the man did not answer. So Lord Pei got out and invited him into the carriage. Zhao Kangzi and Hao Jicheng were both angry and demanded to know who the man was and how he could be allowed into their carriage. Lord Pei explained and persuaded them, and they finally agreed to let the man ride. Lord Pei walked behind the carriage himself, his expression unchanged. The passenger was equally calm and showed no embarrassment.

When they were close to the monastery, the man said, “My home is nearby.” He then got out and vanished in an instant.

At the monastery was a Daoist named Zhi Ziyuan, who understood Daoist arts well and was often consulted about events of the past. He was then already one hundred and seventy years old. When he saw Lord Pei, he exclaimed, “From my youth into old age, I have met many people, yet never anyone like you.” He invited Lord Pei into a secluded chamber and served him a lavish meal. After they had eaten, he led him to an even more hidden place. They sat together, and Zhi Ziyuan said, “I am exceptionally skilled at reading faces; no one surpasses me. The pupils of your eyes are just like the Yaoguang star among the seven stars of the Northern Dipper. Seen from your back, your form also resembles the Dipper’s bowl. You are destined both to hold a noble rank and to become an immortal. If you preserve and fully realize these gifts, you can fulfill the aspirations of all under Heaven. But the path that will guide you across into cultivation has not yet opened, and the seven Qi within you are not yet fully harmonious. For now, then, you will not encounter the mysterious, nor have the opportunity to attain it.”

Then Zhi Ziyuan passed on to Lord Pei the secret methods of his own cultivation. He said, “This is an inner practice for longevity, known to few in the world. In the past, while traveling through the valleys of Jiao Mountain and Biezu Mountain, I met the immortal Master Jiang—he was none other than Chijiang Ziyu. Master Jiang transmitted to me the Divine Formula of the Five Heads, which I have practiced faithfully ever since, for one hundred and seventy years. My strength is light and vigorous, and I feel no decline with age. But as for practicing it, I have not yet—”

If, while cultivating, you are very diligent but have lost a sincere and steadfast aspiration, and still cannot free yourself from worldly affairs, then even if you prolong your life, you will not become an immortal. This is still a fault caused by repeatedly violating the rules of cultivation and by not devoting enough attention to focused contemplation. Now I will teach you these methods: I will pass on various levels of visualization, techniques for applying them, and incantations; I will also pass on the scriptures and talismanic writings of the various Perfected Ones, as well as two methods for taking Fuling and sesame.

Zhi Ziyuan’s Method for Taking Fuling (said to have been taught by Master Jiang of Jiao Mountain): Take five jin of Fuling, wash it, and remove the outer skin. Pound it and sift it into a fine powder, then soak it in three dou of white honey. Place the medicine in a heatproof copper vessel or white earthenware vessel, and set the vessel inside a large pot. Fill the pot with water to halfway up the body of the medicine vessel. Heat the water over a low flame. Once it boils, turn the medicine vessel repeatedly so that the medicine and honey mix evenly. After a while, when the honey has boiled away, remove the medicine and place it in an iron mortar. Pound it thirty thousand times to make pills.

Take thirty pills each morning, each about the size of a parasol tree seed. The text says that after one hundred days, all illnesses will be dispelled; after two hundred days, you will be able to read at night; after two years, you will be able to command ghosts and spirits; after four years, Jade Maidens will attend and guard you; and after ten years, you will see by night as if in daylight and be able to make yourself invisible or appear at will. The text also says that after taking it for one year, no disaster will be able to harm you and no illness will be able to trouble you. Your appearance will return to that of an infant, your skin will become full and lustrous, white hair will turn black, and your eyes will shine.

Before preparing the medicine, observe purification for three days. It must be cooked in a sealed room. Do not let women, chickens, or dogs see the place where the medicine is stored, and avoid anything impure or disrespectful. Each batch uses five jin of Fuling and three dou of white honey. While cooking, cover the medicine vessel with a wooden lid and do not leave it exposed. Turn the vessel repeatedly, and open it only once the medicine is cooked. Use good firewood or charcoal; do not use wood from mixed or inferior trees. Attend to the cooking with full concentration and check it frequently. You may decide for yourself how many batches to prepare. Once the medicine is ready, shape it into pills in advance and put them in a vessel of honey. It is said that they can be kept for a thousand years without spoiling.

Zhi Ziyuan’s Method for Taking Sesame: Master Jiang is said to have taught this method to Lord Zhi at Golden Turtle Ancestor Mountain. Take three dou of plump sesame seeds, yellow or black, and pick them over until clean. Roast them over a low flame until richly fragrant and completely dry, then pound them carefully into powder until fine and smooth, without any lumps. Do not sift it…

Soak ground sesame seeds in three dou of honey and stir until evenly mixed. Put the mixture into a container and place it in a pot of water, then cook it by the same method used earlier for Poria. When the water has evaporated and the ingredients can be pounded, take them out and pound them thirty thousand times. Shape the mixture into pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take thirty pills each morning. After finishing one batch, it is said, the intestines will turn into sinews, the body will no longer know cold or heat, the face will regain the freshness of childhood, and the person will be able to command the spirits.

Mr. Jiang took only these two prescriptions and was able to rise into the sky. With each breath, he could travel freely from place to place, ride among the dragons to pay court to the perfected beings of the heavens, and ultimately take his place among the ranks of the immortals.

Luan Ba

Luan Ba, courtesy name Shuyuan, was from Neihuang. The Biographies of Immortals says he was from Shu Commandery. During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han, he held office and was promoted four times, eventually becoming governor of Guiyang, where he achieved good results. He was later transferred to serve as governor of Yuzhang. Strange spirits and ghosts were often reported in the local mountains and rivers, and the people frequently exhausted their wealth on sacrifices and prayers. Luan Ba had long been versed in Daoist arts and could command spirits and ghosts. He therefore demolished the sites used for these sacrifices and dealt with corrupt sorcerers. From then on, reports of strange occurrences gradually ceased. At first the people were quite afraid, but in time they all settled down.

After Emperor Huan died and Emperor Ling took the throne, Chen Fan was killed. Luan Ba was found guilty of being associated with him and demoted to governor of Yongchang. He cited his achievements in his defense, claimed to be ill, and refused to take up the post. He also submitted a memorial strongly urging the emperor to reconsider and defending Chen Fan and Dou Wu. Emperor Ling flew into a rage, issued a decree severely rebuking him, and handed him over to the Commandant of Justice for trial. Luan Ba then took his own life. (This account appears in the Book of the Later Han.)

The Record of Compiled Sources and Profound Learning relates that one day later, a violent wind rose and the sky grew dark. Luan Ba suddenly vanished. People soon learned that he had returned to Chengdu that day to say farewell to his friends and family, then ascended to heaven.

The Biographies of Immortals says that Luan Ba was from Chengdu in Shu Commandery. In his youth he loved Daoist arts and took no interest in worldly affairs. The local governor came to invite him to serve as a chief clerk, treating him with the respect owed to a teacher and friend. After Luan Ba took up the post, the governor said to him, “I hear that the chief clerk has Daoist arts. Could you show me something extraordinary?” Luan Ba agreed. He sat upright and still, then gradually entered the wall, his form becoming like a cloud. Before long, those outside could no longer see him. They saw a tiger take shape beside the wall: it was Luan Ba.

Later, Luan Ba was recommended as a filial and incorrupt candidate, appointed a Gentleman, and then promoted to governor of Yuzhang. On Mount Lu stood a temple whose spirit could speak to people outside through a curtain and could drink wine; wine cups would fly out through the air. When people went to pray for blessings, the spirit could also part the winds over the rivers and lakes so that boats could sail with the wind. After Luan Ba took office, he went to the temple, and the spirit disappeared. Luan Ba said, “The temple spirit is deceiving…” The original text breaks off here.

The Celestial Official, a divine functionary responsible for affairs in Heaven, had long been harming the people. By law, his crimes warranted punishment. The matter was therefore handed to Ba, a merit officer in charge of documents, assessments, and related duties. Ba intended to capture him in person. If they did not move against the demon promptly, Ba feared it would roam throughout the land and, using local sacrifices and offerings, continue harming innocent people.

Ba ordered the people in every region to pray earnestly and sent agents to make inquiries, searching for traces of the demon in mountain forests and at shrines to the local earth gods. The demon later fled to Qi Commandery, where it transformed into a scholar skilled in discussing the Five Classics. The governor married his daughter to him. Once Ba learned where the demon was hiding, he submitted a memorial asking to be relieved of his post as commandery governor so he could go capture it himself. The governor set out to seize the demon, and Ba also arrived at the governor’s residence. He said, “I hear you have a worthy son-in-law. I would like to meet him.”

The demon already knew Ba was coming, so it pretended to be ill and refused to appear. Ba told the governor, “Your son-in-law is not human. An old demon has disguised itself as a shrine god and fled here. I have come especially to capture it.” The governor summoned his son-in-law, but he still refused to show himself. Ba said, “It will be easy to make him come out.” He asked the governor to bring him a brush, inkstone, and writing table for drafting a memorial, then drew a talisman. Once it was finished, Ba gave a long whistle. Someone in the air suddenly took the talisman away, though no one could see who it was. Everyone present was astonished.

When the talisman reached the scholar, he wept to his wife and said, “I will surely die once I go.” Before long, he came into the courtyard carrying the talisman. When he saw Ba, he did not dare approach. Ba shouted at him, “Old demon, why don’t you return to your true form?” As soon as he had spoken, the scholar turned into a wildcat and kowtowed, begging for mercy. Ba ordered it killed. Everyone saw a sword fall from the air, and the wildcat’s head dropped to the ground. The governor’s daughter had already given birth to a child, which also turned into a wildcat and was killed in the same way.

After leaving, Ba returned to Yuzhang. Yuzhang Commandery was full of demons and strange beings, especially one-legged demons that often harmed the people. Once Ba took office, these calamities ceased, and the evil spirits were all driven away for a time.

Later, Ba was summoned to serve as a Gentleman of the Secretariat. At the New Year’s Day court banquet, he arrived late and appeared to have been drinking. When the court offered wine to the officials, Ba did not drink. Instead, he sprayed three mouthfuls of wine toward the southwest. The official responsible for such matters reported that Ba had behaved improperly, so the emperor summoned him to ask about it. Ba replied, “In my home district, people believe I can control demons and protect the sick. While I was still alive, they built a temple for me. This morning, the elders of my village all came to the temple to make offerings to me. I could not send them away in time, which is why I arrived with wine on me. Just now I saw a fire break out in the Chengdu marketplace, so I sprayed wine toward the southwest and turned it into rain to put out the fire. I did not intend to show disrespect. I ask Your Majesty to send someone to inquire in Chengdu. If what I have said is untrue, I am willing to accept punishment.”

The emperor immediately sent a courier with a letter to make inquiries. Chengdu reported that after the New Year’s Day meal, a fire broke out in the marketplace. Soon afterward, three heavy showers fell, coming from the northeast, and the fire was extinguished. The rain smelled of wine wherever it fell on people.

The violent storm darkened heaven and earth so completely that the two men, seated face to face, could no longer see each other. In this way, they lost track of Ba.

Later, someone learned that Ba had returned to Chengdu to take leave of his friends and relatives, saying that he would not come back. People young and old alike went to the temple to see him off. It is said that a violent storm was raging and the sky was dark when they bade him farewell, and no one knew where he had gone. The Daoist text Zhengao records that Ba had once departed by “military release,” entering Mount Linlü to practice, and returned home thirteen years later. He is now in Red Stone Mountain on Mount Heming.

Zuo Ci

Zuo Ci, courtesy name Yuanfang, was from Lujiang. In his youth, he mastered the Five Classics and was also familiar with astrology and the calendar. Seeing that the Han dynasty’s fortunes were nearing their end and the realm was about to fall into chaos, he sighed: “These are times of decline. Those who hold high office will be in danger, and those with great wealth will invite death. The glory and riches of this world are not worth coveting.” He then began studying Daoist arts. He was especially skilled in the Six Jia Arts, techniques associated with dates, directions, and the summoning of spirits. He could command spirits and make food appear before him simply by sitting down. He devoted himself to practice on Mount Tianzhu, where he obtained the Scripture of the Nine Elixirs and Golden Liquid from a stone chamber. He mastered many arts of transformation, and there were too many extraordinary accounts of him to record.

Cao Cao heard of Zuo Ci’s reputation and summoned him, confining him in a room under guard and giving him no food, only two pints of water each day. A year later, Zuo Ci was released, yet his appearance was unchanged. Cao Cao wanted to learn the Dao, but Zuo Ci said, “To learn the Dao, one must be tranquil and practice Wuwei, or non-action.” Cao Cao grew angry and planned to kill him. When Zuo Ci learned of this, he asked to leave. Cao Cao asked, “Why are you leaving so suddenly?” Zuo Ci replied, “I know you want to kill me, so I ask permission to go.” Cao Cao said, “I had no such intention. If you wish to keep your lofty aspirations, you need not stay long.” He then held a farewell banquet for him.

Zuo Ci said, “Since we are about to part, I would like to share a cup of wine with you.” Cao Cao agreed. Zuo Ci pulled out his hairpin and drew it across the wine cup. At once, the wine divided into two halves, separated by about a tenth of an inch. Zuo Ci drank one half and handed the other to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was displeased and did not drink it right away. Zuo Ci asked to finish the remaining wine himself, then tossed the cup toward the roof beam. The cup hung from the beam, swaying like a bird dipping and raising its head. It seemed about to fall, but never did. Everyone at the banquet stared at it for a long time. When the cup finally fell to the floor, they looked around and saw that Zuo Ci had vanished.

One day later, Cao Cao held a banquet for his guests, and Zuo Ci was among them. Looking around at the company, Cao Cao said, “Today’s feast has nearly every delicacy one could wish for. The only thing missing is perch from the Song River in Wu.” Zuo Ci asked for a copper basin, filled it with water, and used a bamboo pole as a fishing rod, lowering the hook into the basin. Before long, he caught a perch. Cao Cao said, “One fish is not enough for all the guests.” Zuo Ci lowered the hook into the basin again, and then…

Zuo Ci (a figure in legend renowned for his arts of the Dao, or daoshu) brought out perch, each of which was over three chi long. Cao Cao then said, "We have the fish now. It's just a pity we don't have ginger from Shu."

Zuo Ci replied, "Ginger is easy to get. I'm only afraid that Your Excellency will suspect I found it on the spot." Cao Cao said, "Earlier I sent men to Shu to buy brocade. You may have them buy two more bolts." Hardly had he finished speaking when Zuo Ci said the purchase had been made. When the envoy returned, Cao Cao asked him what the extra brocade looked like. The answer matched exactly what Zuo Ci had described, as though it had been arranged in advance.

Cao Cao went out to the outskirts of the capital, accompanied by about a hundred gentlemen-officials. Zuo Ci brought only a sheng of wine and a jin of dried meat. He poured the wine and divided the meat himself, yet all the officials drank their fill and ate their share. Cao Cao grew suspicious. While Zuo Ci was seated, he ordered men to seize him and have him killed. Zuo Ci withdrew into the wall and suddenly vanished.

Later someone saw where Zuo Ci was staying and reported it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao sent men to arrest him again, and they did capture him. Zuo Ci had not been unable to conceal himself; he had deliberately let the world learn of his marvelous arts. He was therefore seized and thrown into prison. When the jailer tried to interrogate him, he found one Zuo Ci inside the cell and another Zuo Ci outside the door, and did not know which one to question. When Cao Cao heard of this, he was disgusted and ordered a general to take Zuo Ci to the market and execute him.

Before long, seven Zuo Ci appeared. The officers at first seized one, then lost six; after a while, the six they had taken were also all gone. Cao Cao then ordered the four city gates shut and a search made. Someone who did not know Zuo Ci asked what he looked like. The answer was: "One eye is defective, he wears a hempen headcloth, and he is dressed in a blue unlined robe." Yet every man they encountered resembled Zuo Ci, and in the end they could not tell whom to seize. Cao Cao ordered that every one they caught be killed.

A few days later, someone saw Zuo Ci and cut off his head to present to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was delighted and said, "It is truly Zuo Ci's head." But when he leaned in to look closely, the head was only a bundle of thatch grass. When he turned to look at the body, that too had disappeared. Someone who came from Jingzhou said he had seen Zuo Ci there.

Later, someone encountered Zuo Ci on Mount Yangcheng and gave chase. Zuo Ci ran into a flock of sheep. Cao Cao knew he could not catch him this time, so he had him come out of the flock on his own, saying, "I will not kill you again. I only want to test your arts." Suddenly an old ram knelt on its foreleg, rose up like a man, and said, "Why is everything so hurried?" The pursuers immediately surrounded it, but all the several hundred sheep in the flock had turned into such old rams, each kneeling on a foreleg, standing, and speaking the same words. The crowd could no longer tell which one to seize. (Most of the above account matches the Book of the Later Han.)

The Governor of Jing Province, Liu Biao, also believed that Zuo Ci was deluding the people, and he planned to seize and kill him. When Liu Biao left the city to review his troops, Zuo Ci, knowing that Liu wished to witness his arts, went to him and said, "I have some modest wine that I would like to offer to the soldiers." Liu Biao said, "A Daoist who comes alone, ……" The original text breaks off here.

In the text, li refers to sweet wine and fu refers to dried meat. The episodes of food and drink, concealment, multiplication of the body, and transformation into sheep are all narrative devices used in the biography to display Zuo Ci's marvelous arts.

Zuo Ci (Zuo Ci, a Daoist fangshi, or "technical master") showed off his profound Daoist arts by means of these scenes. Though the crowd was large and its power great, how could a few cups of wine and a little dried meat possibly relieve them all? Ci had the onlookers watch as he displayed the wine: there was only a single dou of it, held in a vessel, and only one bundle of dried meat, which ten men together could not lift. Ci then took up the dried meat himself, cut a slice from it with a knife, and tossed it to the ground. He then invited one hundred people to come and receive wine and meat, which were distributed to the soldiers. Each person drank three cups of wine and ate one slice of dried meat, yet they ate and drank as they normally would. Over ten thousand people all received enough wine and meat, while the wine in the vessel remained just as it had been, and the dried meat was not used up. The thousand guests at the banquet all became roaring drunk. Sun Ce (Sun Tao-nan, a general of Eastern Wu) was greatly astonished, and from that point on he no longer harbored any intention of harming Zuo Ci. Zuo Ci then left Sun Ce and went to Eastern Wu's Dantu, to visit Xu Duo, a man of the Way.

As Zuo Ci passed by Xu Duo's home, several guests who were among Xu's followers happened to be there, driving six or seven ox carts. The guests lied to Zuo Ci, saying, "Mr. Xu is not at home." Zuo Ci knew they were deceiving him, and so he had them leave. No sooner had the guests departed than oxen appeared in the tops of the poplar trees: the oxen walked along the treetops, and whenever a person climbed up into the trees, they vanished from sight; once the person came back down, the oxen would reappear. Thorns more than a foot long also sprouted from the wheels of the carts, which could be neither cut through nor pushed. The guests were terrified and went to tell Mr. Xu that a one-eyed old man had come. They had observed that he did not seem to be someone with urgent business, and so they had lied and said Mr. Xu was not in.

Shortly after the guests had left, Xu's ox carts all came to be in this state. Mr. Xu said, "Alas, this is Lord Zuo coming to visit me. How could you deceive him? Hurry and go after him; it is not too late." The guests set off in different directions to pursue him, and once they caught up with Zuo Ci, they kowtowed and apologized to him. Zuo Ci's anger subsided, and he sent them back home. When they returned, the oxen and carts had been restored to their original condition.

Later, Zuo Ci went to see Sun Ce. Sun Ce again wished to kill him, and so during an outing he invited Zuo Ci to accompany him, having him walk ahead of his horse, intending to stab him from behind. Zuo Ci wore wooden clogs and leaned on a bamboo staff, walking slowly. Sun Ce whipped his horse to chase him, yet never managed to catch up, and so he had no choice but to give up.

Zuo Ci subsequently entered Mount Huo and refined the Jiuhua Elixir (a Daoist elixir). When the elixir was complete, he ascended to immortality and departed. The Zhen Gao (a Daoist scripture collection) states: "Zuo Ci is now on Mount Xiao Kuo, where he often comes and goes, sometimes staying here; before long, he will again receive an office." Zuo Ci's face appeared very youthful, which was precisely the benefit that came from furnace-fire alchemy and the Jiuhua Elixir.

The annotation at the end of the chapter states: Zuo Ci's courtesy name was Yuanfang; he was the younger brother of Li Zhongfu and the teacher of Ge Xuan. When the father of Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao, gathered fangshi from various regions, Zuo Ci was among them. In the late Jian'an period under Emperor Xian of Han, Zuo Ci crossed the river to seek out mountains, and he was later able to enter a cavern. He also sought cinnabar and refined the Jiuhua Elixir. The method for refining the Jiuhua Elixir is found in the Taiqing Zhongjing.

Xiaokuo refers to Mount Xiaokuo Cang (Xiaokuocang Shan), located north of Yongjia Creek Bridge.

Kong Yuanfang

Kong Yuanfang was a native of Xuchang. For many years he took pine resin and poria (fuling), and he began these preparations when he was already quite old. From then on, however, he seemed to grow younger year by year, and he often looked like a man in his forties.

Xi Yuanjie and Zuo Yuanfang were his close friends. All of them studied the Five Classics, understood the affairs of the world of their time, and devoted themselves to the arts of the Dao (daoshu). Kong Yuanfang was kind by nature. In daily life he wore coarse clothing and ate a vegetarian diet, and he never drank more than a sheng of wine. He lived to be over one hundred and seventy.

Sometimes adepts of the Daoist community invited Kong Yuanfang to banquets. At these gatherings the guests took turns composing drinking verses. When it came Kong Yuanfang's turn, he did not recite a verse. Instead, he planted his staff on the ground, gripped its shaft with both hands, and stood on his head with his feet raised. Then, still upside down, he lifted a wine cup with one hand and drank from it. No one else present could do this.

Kong Yuanfang had a wife and a son. He did not hoard possessions, though he did grow some grain. Once his house caught fire, and everyone rushed over to fight the blaze and carry out the clothing, grain, beds, and utensils. Kong Yuanfang paid no attention to any of this. He simply sat beneath the hedge and watched the fire. When his wife urged him to help, he laughed and said, "Why should one grieve and mourn over such things?"

Later, he cut into the bank beside a body of water and made a grotto chamber more than one zhang in both width and length. Kong Yuanfang entered the chamber and abstained from grain and food for several months before he returned home. His family could not visit him at the chamber. A cypress tree stood in front of it, and whenever he came and went, he wound his way through thorns and tangled weeds, so outsiders could hardly find his dwelling. One of his disciples, who had urgent business and wanted to call on him, was never able to find the place.

Afterward, a young man named Feng Yu, from the east, who was fond of the arts of the Dao, secretly watched Kong Yuanfang and saw him enter the chamber. Feng Yu followed him inside. Kong Yuanfang said, "No one has ever seen me before. Since you have seen me today, it seems I may teach you something." He then gave Feng Yu two scrolls of plain silk, which were books written on white silk, and said, "These two scrolls set forth the essential principles of the Dao. They may be transmitted to only one person every forty years. If there is no suitable person in the world, they must not be passed on merely because the years have come around. If no one has received them for forty years, and then two worthy persons appear at the eighty-year mark, they may be transmitted to both at once. To withhold the teaching when a worthy person appears is to seal off the Heavenly Dao. To transmit it when one should not is to divulge heavenly treasure. Whoever seals off the Dao or divulges the treasure will bring calamity upon their descendants. I have now completed the transmission, and I must leave."

After he finished speaking, Kong Yuanfang abandoned his wife and son and entered the cliffs to the west. Fifty years later, he briefly returned to his hometown, and perhaps some of the people there still recognized him.

Jiao Xian

Jiao Xian, courtesy name Xiaoran, was a native of Dayang in Hedong. He lived in the village for many years. He was said to be one hundred and seventy years old, he often ate white stones, and his appearance was like that of a boiled taro root.

Every day, after the sun had set, Jiao Xian went into the mountains to gather firewood and gave it to others. Beginning with the first household at the edge of the village, he went from door to door, and when he had completed one round, he started again from the beginning. He would first leave the firewood outside each family's gate. If someone saw him, they would spread a mat, invite him to sit, and set out food. Jiao Xian would then sit down and eat without speaking to anyone. If no one saw him, he would quietly leave the wood by the door and depart. He continued this year after year.

After the Wei dynasty yielded the throne, Jiao Xian moved to the bank of the Yellow River, where he built a small thatched hut and lived alone. He used no bed or mat, lying and sitting only on straw, and his body was so filthy it seemed coated with mud and lacquer. Sometimes he went several days before eating a meal. When walking, he did not take the small paths, and he had no dealings with women. When his clothes wore out, he sold firewood at the market and bought a used garment to wear. Even in winter, he often wore only a single layer.

The Grand Administrator Dong Jing went to visit him, but he still would not speak. Dong Jing also regarded him as a worthy man. Later, a wildfire broke out, and the flames reached Jiao Xian's hut. People rushed to look and saw Jiao Xian sitting upright beneath the roof, motionless. Only after the great fire had burned the hut away did he slowly rise, and his clothes were not even scorched.

When he was rebuilding his hut, heavy snow fell and many houses were crushed, including Jiao Xian's. People came running but could not find him. Assuming he had frozen to death, they joined together to tear apart the hut in search of him. They found Jiao Xian lying peacefully beneath the snow, his complexion ruddy and his breathing slow and even, as though he were lying drunk in the midsummer heat. No one knew the reason. Many wanted to learn the Dao (Way) from him, but Jiao Xian replied, "I have no Dao." He lived in this manner, appearing sometimes old and sometimes young, for more than three hundred years. Later he bade farewell to the people and departed, and no one knew where he had gone. Those who sought his instruction never once heard him impart a single teaching. The Book of Wei says: "Since the time of Fuxi, there has been only this one man."

Yang Wengbo

Yang Wengbo served his parents with great filial devotion. After they died, he buried them, and his sincerity moved the spirits, so a spring welled up beside their grave. A man who was watering his horse gave him a sheng (a unit of measure) of white seed and told him that if he planted it, jade would grow. One day, a blue-clad youth led him to Mount Hai, where an immortal said that because he was devoted to his parents, he should attain immortality (xian). Later, a woman of the Xu family became his wife in exchange for a white jade disc (bi). After several years, the couple ascended to heaven together.

The In Search of the Supernatural (Soushenji) also records that Yang Wengbo often provided thin rice gruel (jiangshui) to travelers. One day, a man who had finished drinking took a sheng of white seed from his bosom, gave it to him, and said, "Plant it, and jade will grow..."

According to legend, a man obtained fine jade and planted it as instructed, and later harvested a pair of jade discs (bi). Xu Gong said, "Once you obtain a pair of fine jades, I will give you my daughter in marriage." And so he gave his daughter to him.

Li Yiqi

Li Yiqi was a native of Shu Commandery. He is said to have lived during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han and to have survived into the reign of Liu Bei, the First Ruler of Shu Han. When people described to him the scenes of distant commanderies and kingdoms, palaces and abbeys, markets and streets, he could shape clay into corresponding figures and landscapes, though made very small. After a while the images vanished, and no one knew where they had gone.

Liu Bei, the First Ruler of Shu Han, prepared to march east against Wu to avenge Guan Yu and sent for Li Yiqi. When Li arrived, Liu Bei asked him about the omens of the campaign, but Li did not answer. He asked only for paper and brush and painted more than a dozen pictures of soldiers, horses, weapons, and ceremonial banners, then tore them up with his hands. He then painted the image of a giant figure, dug up the earth to bury it, and left without a word. Liu Bei was deeply displeased.

Liu Bei did indeed send out his army, and at the Battle of Yiling he was defeated by Lu Xun (courtesy name Lu Boyan). His forces suffered catastrophic losses: over a hundred thousand men were killed, and only a few hundred returned, while nearly all of the weapons, armor, and provisions were lost. Ashamed and enraged, Liu Bei fell ill and died at Yong'an. People then recalled the giant figure that Li Yiqi had painted and buried, and took it to be a sign of Liu Bei's death.

Another account says that Li Yiqi lived in an earthen cave in a corner of the city wall. Winter and summer alike he wore only a single unlined garment, drank wine, and ate dried meat and jujubes. Sometimes he did not leave his cave for a hundred days, sometimes for two hundred.

Du Qi

Du Qi, courtesy name Guangping, was a native of Duling in Jingzhao. Near the end of the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han and at the beginning of the Jian'an era, he crossed the Yangzi River and took refuge with Sun Ce. Later, Sun Quan appointed him as a Xinxiao Colonel. (The Zhen Gao mistakenly records Sun Hao instead.)

In the second year of the Huangwu era, Du Qi studied arts of the Way under Jie Yan and received the Xuanbai (Dark and White) techniques. He lived for a long time east of Mao Mountain, and later he was able to conceal his form and evade all traces of himself. At times he went into the mountains with his disciples to cut wood, then traded the goods for clothing and grain, yet no one knew where they had gone. Legend holds that he later entered a cave and became an immortal. The Zhen Gao also states that he had two disciples: one named Sun Gui, courtesy name Hanhua, and the other named Chen Shijing. Chen Shijing served as a Gentleman Attendant under Sun Xiu.

Li A

Li A was a native of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period. According to tradition, people in every generation saw him, yet he never appeared to grow old. He often begged for food in the markets of Chengdu, and whatever he received he gave away in full to the poor. He left at night and returned in the morning, and the people of the market did not know where he stayed at night.

The final sentence of the original, you gu qiang zhe, appears incomplete, so its meaning following it cannot be determined.

Suspecting that Li A was an extraordinary person, Gu Qiang often sought out his company and attended to him. Gu Qiang once tried following A back to his residence, and then left.

Later, Gu Qiang followed A to Mount Qingcheng. He still did not know that A was a practitioner of the Dao (the Way), and fearing tigers and wolves in the mountains, he secretly took his father's great sword. A saw this and was angry. Gu Qiang said, "You let me follow you, so are you not afraid of tigers?" A took Gu Qiang's sword and struck a rock with it, and the blade snapped at once. Gu Qiang was deeply worried about the broken blade, and at dawn he came out again. A asked him, "Are you worried that the blade has broken?" Gu Qiang replied, "Truly, I fear my father will be furious." A then put the sword away and struck the ground with it, left and right, and the blade returned to its original form. He handed it back to Gu Qiang.

Gu Qiang followed A back to Chengdu. Before they reached the city, they met a carriage racing along the road. A placed his foot beneath a wheel, and after the wheel rolled over it, all of his bones were broken. A died on the spot. Gu Qiang stood by and watched, and before long A rose again, pressed his foot down, and was restored to his usual state.

Gu Qiang was eighteen at the time, and the A he saw was about fifty. When Gu Qiang was past eighty, A still looked as he had before. A told others that he had received a summons from Kunlun and had to leave, and from then on he never returned. (The Jiuyu Zhi (Gazetteer of the Nine Regions) records that Jiaotan Mountain in Zizhou was once where the Perfected Li A cultivated, and that he later ascended to immortality at Xinjin in Shuzhou.)

The commentator Chen Daoyi says: Li A had attained the Dao deeply and had cultivated for many years. He always earnestly kept in mind the relief of orphans and the poor, even stooping to beg for food in order to carry out his teaching, and his intent was profound. When he told Gu Qiang, "If you follow me, are you still afraid of tigers?", he expressed precisely the meaning of the line in the Daode Jing (Classic of the Way and Its Power), "On land, one does not meet rhinoceros or tiger." Though Gu Qiang's eyes were keen enough to recognize A as an extraordinary person, how could he understand that the rhinoceros has nowhere to thrust its horn, and the tiger has nowhere to use its claws?

Jie Xiang

Jie Xiang, courtesy name Yuanze, was a native of Kuaiji. He was thoroughly versed in the Five Classics (Wu Jing), read widely in the works of the various philosophical schools, and could also write essays. He secretly cultivated the Dao and went to Dongyue (the Eastern Peak) to study the arts of prohibition, Daoist techniques for subduing and restraining evil spirits and the like. He could light a fire on thatch and cook a chicken, and when the chicken was done, the thatch was not scorched. He could cause every household within one li to refrain from cooking for three days, during which no chickens or dogs crowed or barked. He could make everyone in a marketplace sit down and be unable to rise, and he could conceal his form and transform into plants, trees, or beasts.

Jie Xiang heard of the Jiudan Jing (Classic of the Nine Elixirs) and traveled with companions for several thousand li to seek it out, but he never met a true master. He then went into the mountains to devote himself wholeheartedly to cultivation, hoping to encounter immortals. When he was utterly exhausted, he lay down on a rock to rest, and a tiger came toward him and was about to pounce on Jie Xiang...

When Xiang woke from his sleep, he saw a tiger and said to it, "Has the Celestial Emperor sent you to guard me? Stop where you are. If the Mountain Spirit has sent you to test me, then leave at once." The tiger walked back into the mountains.

In a valley, Xiang saw some purple, shining pebbles, each as large as an egg and too numerous to count, and he took two of them. Later, he wandered deep into the valley and could not find his way out, so he had no choice but to return to the mountains. There he saw a young woman of fifteen or sixteen with an extraordinary appearance, dressed in multicolored garments, and he took her to be an immortal. Xiang kowtowed before her and asked for the method of long life (changsheng). The woman said, "Quickly return the thing in your hand to where you found it, then come back. I will wait for you here."

Xiang carried the pebbles back to the valley, and when he returned, the woman was still in the same place. He bowed again. She said, "The qi of blood-and-flesh food still has not left your body. You must abstain from grain for three years before you come to see me again. I will remain here and wait for you."

After Xiang returned home, he abstained from grain for three years. When the three years had passed, he went to see the woman again, and she was indeed still there. She then passed to Xiang a prescription for an elixir (danfang), telling him, "With this prescription you can become an immortal. Do not attend to anything else."

Before Xiang had the chance to refine the elixir according to the prescription, he was staying at the home of his younger brother, Le Yanya. Once, while resting on a bed beneath the curtains, he overheard several scholars debating passages from the classics and records, and there was one question on which they could not agree. Xiang listened from the side and, unable to hold back, offered them an answer. The scholars realized that Xiang was no ordinary man, and they secretly submitted a memorial reporting him to the Lord of Wu. When Xiang learned of this, he wanted to leave, saying, "I fear that the affairs of government will bind me." Le Yanya insisted that he stay.

The Lord of Wu issued an edict summoning Xiang to Wuchang. He treated him with great respect, addressed him as "Lord Jie," built him a residence, and gave him his own imperial curtains. The rewards he bestowed amounted to several thousand pieces of gold. The Lord of Wu learned the art of invisibility from Xiang and tested it by having Xiang return to the palace harem; no one could see him as he passed through the palace gates. He also had Xiang demonstrate his arts of transformation: melons, vegetables, and fruit trees that Xiang planted grew at once.

Once, Xiang and the former ruler were discussing fish cutlets (yukuai), and they debated which fish was the best. Xiang said, "The liu fish (liú yú) is the finest." The former ruler said, "That fish lives in the sea. How could one possibly get it?" Xiang replied, "It can be obtained. Just dig a square pit in the courtyard of the hall and fill it with water." He immediately asked for hooks and bait and began to fish. He lowered his line into the pit, and before long he had caught a liu fish. Delighted, the ruler asked, "Can this fish be eaten?" Xiang said, "I was going to fetch it for Your Majesty to make into fish cutlets. How could it not be edible?" He then had the cook slice the fish into cutlets.

The former ruler said, "If the envoys from Shu had not come, there would be no ginger to go with the fish cutlets, and the ginger here is not as good as theirs. Where could one get it..."

That man, having received the items described earlier, said to Ge Xuan, "This is easy to arrange. You only need to send one person and give him fifty coins."

Ge Xuan handed the man a talisman (fu) and told him to place it inside a bamboo staff, then close his eyes and ride the staff. When the staff stopped, he was to buy ginger, and after buying it, close his eyes again. The man did as instructed, mounted the bamboo staff, and before long arrived at Chengdu without knowing where he was. Only after asking a passerby did he learn that he had already reached the land of Shu. He then bought the ginger.

At that time, Zhang Wen, envoy of the state of Wu, was in Shu. His attendants happened to encounter the ginger buyer and were greatly astonished, so they wrote a letter and sent it home. When the ginger buyer returned, the fish kuai (raw fish cut into thin slices) in the kitchen had just been prepared.

Ge Xuan could also read all kinds of talismanic writings, understanding them as clearly and accurately as ordinary books, without error. Some people did not believe this, so they brought a jumble of talismans, removed the annotations from them, and showed them to Ge Xuan, who still identified each one.

Another man, who grew millet in the mountains, was constantly worried that macaques would come to eat it. Having heard that Ge Xuan possessed Daoist arts (daoshu), he came to ask for a way to drive the macaques away. Ge Xuan told him, "There is no other way. Tomorrow, go and look at your millet. If you see a troop of monkeys, shout to them loudly: 'I have already told Jie Jun, and Jie Jun has ordered you not to eat the millet.'" The man at first thought Ge Xuan was making fun of him. The next day, when he went to look, he happened to find the monkeys about to come down from the trees, and he tried saying Ge Xuan's words to them. The monkeys immediately retreated back up into the trees, one by one, and from then on there was no trace of them.

Ge Xuan repeatedly asked to leave Wu, but the Former Ruler would not consent. Ge Xuan then said that he would fall ill on a certain day of a certain month. The Former Ruler sent an attendant to present him with a box of pears. After eating the pears, Ge Xuan died not long afterward. The Former Ruler had him placed in a coffin and buried. Ge Xuan had died at noon, yet by that same afternoon he had already arrived at Jianye, where he gave the pears the Former Ruler had bestowed to a garden official to plant. Later, the garden official submitted a memorial reporting the matter. When the Former Ruler inspected Ge Xuan's coffin, it held only a wooden tablet bearing a memorial and a single talisman.

The Former Ruler missed Ge Xuan, so he converted the house where Ge Xuan had lived into a shrine and often went there in person to pay his respects. White cranes frequently flew to the shrine and settled on the seats for a long time before departing. Later, disciples saw Ge Xuan on Gaizhu Mountain, and his appearance looked younger than it had before.