《歷世真仙體道通鑑》Vol. 21

Gan Ji was a native of Langya, though some accounts say he came from Beihai. His original name was Shi; he later changed it to Ji. For generations, his ancestors had understood the arts of the Dao and had refrained from killing living beings. Gan Ji devoted himself to cultivation with even greater diligence than those who came before him.

He often traveled along the flowing waters of Quyang, where he found more than a hundred scrolls of divine books. Their borders were red, their text white, their opening pages blue, and their section headings vermilion. They were called the Taiping Qingling Shu (Book of Great Peace and the Azure Collar). The year was Jiawu, the second year of the Heping era under Emperor Cheng of Han. Tradition says Gan Ji received this book in person from the Old Lord. The Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace) spoken of today by Daoists is this same work.

The scripture was divided according to the ten Heavenly Stems—Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui—with ten parts of seventeen scrolls each. Another account says that Gan Ji suddenly fell ill with a stubborn disease that no medicine could cure, despite more than ten years of trying every remedy. He therefore burned incense morning and evening, pleading with Heaven to grant him a means of healing. Moved by his sincerity, the Old Lord commanded the immortal Bo He to appear as an old medicine seller and hand Gan Ji the scripture in the marketplace. He said, “By obtaining this book, you will not only recover from your illness but also gain long life and carry it throughout the world.”

Gan Ji bowed in gratitude and accepted the book, and his illness immediately disappeared. Later, the Old Lord descended in person and taught him the meaning of the scripture. Based on this teaching, Gan Ji organized the passages he had received and compiled them into 170 scrolls. Once he had grasped the scripture’s essential teachings, he used them to cultivate himself, nurture his nature, avert calamities, and treat illness. Everything he did proved effective.

The scripture’s essential teaching is this: In human life, spirit (Shen) is bestowed by Heaven, essence (Jing) by Earth, and vital energy (Qi) arises through the harmonious blending of Yin and Yang. If people preserve their essence, cherish their spirit, and maintain their Qi, they can attain long life within themselves and bring peace to the state beyond themselves.

The scripture also says that ministers should care for their ruler and wish him long life; children should keep their parents in mind, worry about their advancing years, and influence them through words and conduct so that they turn toward the Dao. They should also continually seek unusual remedies and wondrous methods for their ruler and parents, and offer these to them. Disciples should be mindful of their teacher’s kindness. People are born through their parents, achieve virtue through their teachers, and receive honor through their ruler. They should often consider what they might do for their ruler, parents, and teacher as they grow old. They may work hard to learn, seek out worthy people, and obtain unusual remedies and methods to help them. These are the virtuous deeds of loyal ministers, filial children, and respectful disciples praised by the wise rulers of antiquity. If everyone acted this way, all under Heaven could be at peace. Whatever people of good conscience do becomes a virtuous deed, and their words and actions are sincere and true.

He often reproached himself inwardly, cleansed his thoughts, and corrected his conduct, thereby moving Heaven and receiving its blessings. Afterward, he always gave thanks with sincerity and devoted diligence, never growing lax. Through such cultivation, one could hope to attain the Dao and become an immortal.

The formula he taught said: “My character has eleven strokes, and my name is Shi. Bingwu and Dingsi are the ancestral origins. The four mouths govern affairs, bringing all things under order. The child’s turban uses its corner to govern its right side. The hidden dragon must not be used; Kan corresponds to Si. Whoever sees it can live a long life, dwelling for ages between Heaven and Earth—simply continuing to live. Those who can treat a hundred kinds of illness must not be deceived lightly. There is no greater happiness than Chang’an. To make people live long, be like the Queen Mother of the West, and like the four seasons, cycling and returning again. This ninety-character formula is transmitted to practitioners of the arts.” These arts also included divine elixirs and wondrous medicines, which could be used in service to one’s ruler, father, and teacher.

Later, he also transmitted the precepts and methods of the libationer, entrusting them to Ji. From then on, Ji upheld the scriptures, practiced the Dao, and spread the teachings. He passed the teachings on to disciples, appointed male and female officials, and widely instructed the people, until people from all four directions came to follow him.

In the second year of Yuanhe under Emperor Xiaozhang, the Lao Lord appeared again and reproached Ji: “I previously transmitted the Daoist teachings to you so that you would assist the state, support its fortunes, and care for the people. But lately, your male and female disciples have used my name to seek wealth and indulge their desires. They have grown arrogant and overbearing, envied the worthy and excluded the capable, and argued among themselves over right and wrong. None of this accords with the Dao, so I have come expressly to tell you.”

Ji knocked his head to the ground one hundred times in succession and said, “Yes, yes. May the Most High forgive my past offenses and allow me to cultivate goodness from this day onward. What should I do from now on to remedy the wrongs committed by my male and female disciples?”

The Lao Lord said, “Listen carefully to this teaching. Even if people live for ten thousand years, what difference is there between them and rotting wood or ancient stone if they do not uphold the precepts? Better to observe the precepts and cultivate De, even if one is willing to live for only a single day; one should not, for the sake of staying alive, willingly break the precepts. Those who uphold the precepts may be appointed to posts among the celestial officials, or become immortals through corpse liberation—the Daoist practice in which a cultivator’s body is shed and the spirit ascends. Even if people in this world become nobles or dukes, or even emperors, committing grave offenses brings no benefit to their souls and spirits. Is that not heartbreaking?” The Lao Lord then commanded Ji to observe the precepts clearly and teach them to everyone, and explained to him a hundred and eighty precepts.

When he had finished, the Lao Lord said to Ji again, “The sages of ancient times all attained the Dao by following this way. The Dao is originally formless; to cultivate it successfully, one must receive the teachings from a master. Do not abandon the way of the master, and do not treat your elders lightly.” Ji bowed his head and accepted the command, then bowed again in thanks.

Later, Ji lived in Kuaiji. When Sun Ce pacified Jiangdong and marched into Kuaiji, local scholars and common people alike called Ji “Gan Lang” and served him as though he were a deity. Sun Ce summoned Ji…

When Gan Ji was with the army, many soldiers fell ill. They asked him to pray and sprinkle water, and the sick soon recovered.

Sun Ce led tens of thousands of men, intending to welcome Emperor Xian of Han and campaign against Cao Cao. He asked Gan Ji to divine the direction of the wind. Gan Ji’s divinations proved accurate every time, and the soldiers respected and admired him. They even paid their respects to Gan Ji before going to greet Sun Ce.

Sun Ce saw the soldiers often gathered around Gan Ji and grew angry. “Am I really inferior to Gan Ji?” he said. He had Gan Ji arrested and demanded, “There has been a prolonged drought, and the waterways are impassable, yet you do nothing to ease everyone’s hardship. You sit at ease on a boat, pretending to command spirits and bewildering my soldiers, disrupting my ranks. Today I will deal with you.” He ordered Gan Ji bound and left under the blazing sun. “Pray for rain,” he said. “If you can move Heaven to send a heavy downpour before the day is out, I will spare you. Otherwise, you will be put to death.”

Before long, dark clouds gathered and rain poured down. The river rose, and the boats drifted. The soldiers all congratulated Gan Ji. Sun Ce nevertheless had him killed. Weeping, the soldiers gathered and buried Gan Ji’s body. When they went to check on it the next day, the body had vanished. Sun Ce deeply regretted what he had done. From then on, he often saw Gan Ji appearing before or behind him. Before long, Sun Ce was wounded by assassins in the service of Xu Gong. When he looked in a mirror, he saw Gan Ji in it again. Terrified, he struck the mirror and cried out. The wound in his chest split open, and he eventually died. The Hun Yuan Record says that Gan Ji continued to move about in the human world for more than a hundred years before becoming an immortal and departing.

The Perfected One Dao Yi commented: “The Dao De Jing says that fine weapons are inauspicious objects and that people hate them, so those who have the Dao neither use nor approach weapons. Gan Ji’s grandfather admired the Daoist arts and devoted himself to hard practice, surpassing those who came before him. Yet later he put himself among the troops and was ultimately killed by Sun Ce. This may indeed be called ‘military liberation’—the belief that one sheds the mortal body and becomes an immortal through a violent death by weapons. But if Gan Ji had withdrawn into seclusion and accumulated good deeds and merit, how could we know that he would not have reached the state of ascending to immortality? Those who study the path to immortality in later generations should take being amid warfare as a grave warning.”

Gong Song

Gong Song was from Langya. A man of literary talent, he wrote more than a hundred volumes. He became a disciple of the immortal Gan Ji. During the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han, Gong Song accompanied Gan Ji to a spring at Quyang, where they met a celestial immortal. The immortal gave Gan Ji ten sections of the Taiping Jing, written in vermilion on blue silk. Gan Ji cultivated according to the scripture and attained the Dao; later, he passed it on to Gong Song.

This book discusses in large part the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang, the rise and fall of order and disorder, and omens and calamities. It also speaks of the Way of Heaven, the Way of Earth, and the human way. Its central teaching is that rulers who can apply its principles can bring lasting peace and stability to the state while extending their own lives. Gong Song took mica for several hundred years and retained a youthful appearance, like a child. Later, he traveled in and out of Zhuyu Mountain, became an immortal, and departed.

Wang Daozhen

Wang Daozhen was a man of the Han dynasty who attained the Dao at Ancient Cypress Terrace, east of Guigu Mountain. White clouds often rose from the terrace, appearing from afar like a hundred-foot-high tower. Daozhen would often ride upon these clouds as he roamed the mountaintop. At dusk, he would return to the terrace, and the clouds would gather in with him. This mountain is Qingxi Guigu Mountain, north of Jingzhou. Some say that this place was not a terrace.

Wang Xuanfu

The exalted immortal Wang Xuanfu was from Donghai in the Han dynasty. He took Baiyun Shangzhen as his teacher, cultivated the Dao and attained it, and was given the title Perfected Man of Huayang. He was born on the fifteenth day of the sixth month and ascended on the sixteenth day of the tenth month, though it is not known which dynasty he belonged to. Later, he transmitted the Daoist teachings to Zhongli Jue, also known as Zhongli Quan, whose title was Master Zhengyang.

The meaning of Wang Xuanfu’s writings was obscure, and they have not been passed down. One poem attributed to him is preserved in the Collected Works of Hun Cheng:

In the mountains of Huayang lie many fields of sacred fungi;
The old man of Huayang lives long because of them.
Beneath tall trees beside the cliffs of green pines,
He drinks from flying springs amid banks of white cloud.
Neither cold nor hot, his spirit and vital energy are at ease;
He travels east and west, his breath long and unbroken.
With three thousand meritorious deeds complete, it is time to return;
Do not speak to people of the immortal realms within the grotto-heavens.

In the first month of the sixth year of the Zhiyuan era under the Yuan dynasty, the court posthumously honored him as “Emperor Shaoyang of the Eastern Florescence Purple Palace.”

Ji Zixun

Ji Zixun lived for more than two hundred years, yet his appearance never aged. Once, he picked up a neighbor’s baby but accidentally dropped it on the ground, killing it. After the family buried the child, Ji Zixun returned from outside and carried the child home. Fearing it was a ghost, the family dug up the burial place to check; there was nothing inside but earth.

In the Han capital, all the high officials and nobles sincerely wished to meet him. After he arrived, from ministers and nobles to ordinary scholars, there were often hundreds waiting to pay their respects. Ji Zixun prepared wine and dried meat for everyone; even after serving it all day, the food never ran out.

One day, students from the Imperial Academy came to visit. Ji Zixun set out after breakfast and arrived by midday. In less than half a day, he traveled more than a thousand li and visited twenty-three places in succession. Each of the nobles was delighted, believing they had been the first to meet him. The next day, when they asked one another about it, they discovered that Ji Zixun’s clothes and appearance had been exactly the same at every place. People near and far were astonished.

Later, Ji Zixun withdrew into hiding and was never seen again. On the day he left, people saw white clouds rising in dozens of places. Someone saw him in Bacheng, east of Chang’an, stroking a bronze figure with an old man. Ji Zixun said to the old man, “I remember seeing this bronze figure being cast. It was not long ago.” Yet by then the figure was nearly five hundred years old. The person who saw him called out to him…

When Mr. Ji stopped, he seemed slow in his movements. Even when people traveled alongside him, those on horseback could not catch up.

This account comes from the “Biographies of Immortals” in the Book of the Later Han. Ji Zixun was from the region of Qi. He entered government service after being recommended for his filial piety and integrity, later serving as a Gentleman of the Palace and then as a Commandant. People did not know that he possessed Daoist arts. The other accounts of his life are much like the legends of Wang Qiao.

Wang Qiao

Wang Qiao was from Hedong. During the reign of Emperor Ming of Han, he served as a Gentleman of the Secretariat and later became the magistrate of Ye County. Under Han custom, local officials in the capital region had to return to court on the first and fifteenth days of each month. At dawn on the first day of every month, Wang Qiao would arrive at court from Ye County. The emperor thought he came far too often, yet had never seen a carriage or retinue accompanying him, so he secretly ordered the Grand Astrologer to observe him.

The Grand Astrologer reported that whenever Wang Qiao was about to arrive, two wild ducks would fly in from the southeast. The emperor therefore waited for the ducks and cast a net to catch them, but caught only a single shoe. On inspection, it proved to be a shoe the emperor had given to an official of the Secretariat four years earlier.

Whenever Wang Qiao went to court, the drum beneath the gate of Ye County would beat by itself, its sound carrying all the way to the capital. Later, a jade coffin appeared before the hall of the county office. The officials pushed and pulled at it, but it would not budge. Wang Qiao said, “Has the Celestial Emperor summoned only me?” He then bathed, changed his clothes, and lay down inside the coffin. At once, the coffin stood upright. After a night had passed, it was buried east of the city, where a mound formed of its own accord. That night, every ox in the county was drenched in sweat and panting with exhaustion, though the people did not know why.

The people built a shrine to Wang Qiao and called it the Shrine of Lord Ye. Officials and commoners alike came to pray there, and all said their prayers were answered. Anyone who offended him was said to suffer calamity at once. Another account holds that Wang Qiao was the ancient immortal Wang Ziqiao. This story comes from the Book of the Later Han. The shrine was later renamed the Twin Ducks Abbey and placed under the jurisdiction of Ruzhou.

The Master of the Pot

No one knew where the Master of the Pot came from. He often sold medicine, hanging a pot above the entrance to his shop. After the market closed, he would leap into the pot, where no one could see him. Only Fei Changfang, a man from Runan, saw this from an upper floor and found it extraordinary. Fei Changfang went to visit him, bringing wine and dried meat.

The Master of the Pot realized that Fei Changfang knew he was a being of supernatural powers and said to him, “Come back tomorrow.” The next day, Fei Changfang returned, and the Master of the Pot took him inside the pot. Within it was a splendid jade hall, filled with fine wine and delicacies. After they had eaten and drunk together, they came out, and the Master of the Pot said, “I am an immortal. Because I committed an offense, I was banished to the human world. Now I must leave. Would you like to come with me? There is some wine downstairs; I’ll bring it up so we can say farewell.”

Fei Changfang summoned ten men to lift the wine vessel, but they could not move it. The Master of the Pot smiled and raised it with a single finger. The vessel looked to hold only about a sheng, yet the two of them drank all day without finishing it.

Fei Changfang then resolved to seek the Dao, but worried that his family would miss him. The potter cut a length of green bamboo as tall as Fei Changfang and hung it behind the house. Seeing it, his family thought it was Fei Changfang’s body, hanging after he had taken his own life. They cried out in terror, then buried the bamboo as his remains. Fei Changfang was actually standing nearby, but his family could not see him. Afterward, he followed the potter into the mountains.

The potter left him alone overnight in a place overgrown with brambles and prowled by tigers. Fei Changfang was not afraid. The potter then had him lie in an empty house, with a thousand-jin stone suspended above his chest by a rotten rope. Snakes crawled over and gnawed at the rope; it was on the verge of snapping, but Fei Changfang remained perfectly still. When the potter returned, he stroked him and said, “You are ready to be taught.”

The potter also made him eat feces, which contained three worms and smelled foul. Fei Changfang felt disgusted. The potter said, “You were almost on the verge of attaining the Dao, but you cannot get past this. How can you hope to succeed?”

When Fei Changfang took his leave to return home, the potter gave him a bamboo staff and said, “Ride it, and you can go wherever you wish. Once you arrive, you may throw the staff into Gepi.” At the time, Gepi was in the area of Xinjian County, Yuzhou. The potter also drew a talisman for him and said, “Use this talisman to command the ghosts and spirits of the earth.”

Fei Changfang lowered the bamboo staff and, in an instant, was home. He thought he had been away for only a dozen or so days, but in fact more than ten years had passed. He then threw the staff into Gepi. Looking back, he saw that it had turned into a dragon. His family, who thought he had died long ago, did not believe he had returned. Fei Changfang explained that what they had buried was only a bamboo staff. His family dug up the grave and opened the coffin, and there, sure enough, was the staff.

From then on, Fei Changfang could cure all kinds of illnesses and punish the hundred ghosts with his whip. He could even command the Shegong, the spirit who protected the local community. Sometimes, while sitting alone, he would suddenly grow angry. When people asked why, he would say, “I am punishing ghosts who have broken the law.” Once, while sitting among guests, he sent someone to Wancheng Market to buy fish paste. The man returned in the blink of an eye, and Fei Changfang served the meal. At times, people saw him in several places thousands of li apart, all on the same day. Later, Fei Changfang lost his talisman and was killed by ghosts. (This passage is from the Book of the Later Han.)

The Dao Tradition records that each year in Runan, a demon would impersonate the prefect, dress in official robes, and beat a drum outside the government office. This caused the people of the commandery great anxiety. On one occasion, Kui happened to meet Fei Changfang on his way to pay a visit to the prefect. Terrified to leave, he came forward, took off his clothes, and kowtowed to beg for mercy. Fei Changfang scolded him: “Show your true form right here in the courtyard!” The demon immediately turned into a softshell turtle as large as a cartwheel, with a neck one zhang long. Fei Changfang handed it a document and ordered it to deliver it to the Lord of Gepi, the spirit of the waters at Gepi. The demon then kowtowed…

The tearful man took the letter, stuck it beside the pond, then wrapped his neck around it and killed himself. Later, the Lord of the Eastern Sea went to pay a visit to the Lord of Gepei and took the opportunity to have an affair with his wife. For this, Fei Changfang, a Han dynasty Daoist master said to be skilled in Daoist arts, impeached the Lord of the Eastern Sea and held him in custody for three years. During a severe drought in the Eastern Sea, Changfang went to the shore and saw the man. He pleaded on his behalf and asked for rain, saying, “The Lord of the Eastern Sea is guilty. I previously detained him at Gepei. Now release him and let him bring rain.” At once, a heavy rain fell.

Once, while traveling with others, Changfang saw a scholar wearing a yellow headscarf and a fur coat, riding a horse without a saddle. The man dismounted and bowed. Changfang said, “Return the horse to its owner, and I will pardon your offense.” When the others asked why, Changfang replied, “This is a civet cat. It stole the horse of the Lord of the Earth Shrine, the deity who oversees the local altar.” Changfang could also shorten the earth’s pathways, traveling thousands of miles in an instant. When he led someone to stand before him, that person remained unharmed.

Wu Jun’s Continuation of Records of Strange Events recounts that Huan Jing, a man from Runan, studied the Dao under Fei Changfang. Changfang told him, “On the ninth day of the ninth month, disaster will strike your household. Quickly have your family sew red cloth bags, fill them with zhuyu berries, and tie them to their arms. Then climb to a high place and drink chrysanthemum wine; this will avert the disaster.” Huan Jing did as he was told, and the whole family climbed a mountain. When they returned home at dusk, they found that all their chickens and dogs had suddenly died. The custom of climbing to high places during the Double Ninth Festival is said to have originated with this event. A mountain for climbing still stands in Jianning Prefecture.

The Record of the Cinnabar Terrace says that Lord Hu, whose surname was Xie and whose given name was Yuan Yi, lived in the gourd. There is also a Lord Hu Mountain in Xinghua Army. According to legend, someone once met Lord Hu and was taken by him to the summit, where he saw palaces, towers, and halls. Lord Hu said, “These are the sun and moon inside the gourd.” A temple to Lord Hu still stands there. Another account says that the Hanging Gourd Abbey in Caizhou was once Fei Changfang’s place of retreat, and that a Hanging Gourd Tree grew there. At Lingyang Abbey in Xinzhou, it is said, Fei Changfang’s bamboo staff turned into a dragon. The origins of these stories can no longer be established.

Hua Tuo

Hua Tuo, courtesy name Yuanhua, was from Qiao County in the state of Pei during the Han dynasty. He was well versed in many classics and understood the arts of nourishing life. Even when nearing a hundred years old, he remained vigorous in appearance, and people of his time considered him an immortal. Chen Gui, the Chancellor of Pei, recommended him for the post of Filial and Incorrupt; Grand Commandant Huang Wan summoned him to serve, but Hua Tuo accepted neither appointment.

Hua Tuo was highly skilled in medicine. When preparing remedies, he used only a few ingredients and could gauge their proportions accurately in his mind, without weighing them. Acupuncture treatment usually required needling only a few points. If the root of an illness lay deep within the body and could not be treated with acupuncture or medicine, he would have the patient take an anesthetic powder with wine, leaving them so deeply unconscious that they felt nothing. He would then open the abdomen or back and remove the accumulated growths inside. If the illness was in the stomach or intestines, he would open them, wash them clean, and remove the diseased tissue and impurities.

He stitched the wound closed and applied a divine ointment. Four or five days later, the wound had healed; within a month, the injury had fully recovered. Wu Pu of Guangling and Fan A of Pengcheng both studied under him. They also treated the sick according to his methods and saved many lives. (See Book of the Later Han.)

Master Qinggu

Master Qinggu’s place of origin is unknown. For many years he practiced the “Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption” method, a form of breath regulation and inhalation-exhalation practice. Later, he succeeded in refining a great elixir in the furnace. After taking it, he attained the Dao.

Liu Wenrao

Liu Wenrao was Liu Kuan of Hongnong, whose courtesy name was Wenrao. In his youth, he was fond of Daoist arts. He was once recommended for his upright conduct and later rose through the ranks to become governor of Nanyang. He regarded the people as his own children, was never quick to anger or to speak, and quietly did good deeds, aiding the poor and those suffering from the cold. The people all liked him and felt close to him, as though they loved and respected him as a parent.

Later, he rose to the posts of Minister over the Masses and Grand Commandant. Once, after the emperor bestowed wine on him, he lay face down on the ground and fell asleep. The emperor asked why. He replied, “Your servant bears great responsibilities and is often so worried that I feel drunk. This morning, I sent a servant to the market to buy vegetables, but he secretly used the money to buy wine and drink. He returned only in the evening, lay down indoors, and had not bought the vegetables. When I woke, I scolded him, calling him a ‘dead dog.’ Then I immediately dressed and came to court. I have been worrying that the servant might take his own life because of this, and without realizing it, I fell asleep. I ask Your Majesty to understand and forgive me.”

He treated others with generosity and kindness, and behaved this way in all sorts of situations. When he was seventy-three, Master Qinggu came to his sleeping quarters one day and taught him the “Staff-Release Method,” a Daoist legendary method of attaining immortality by leaving one’s body behind and using a staff in its place. Master Qinggu then departed. Liu Kuan went to Mount Taihua to practice the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption method, and Master Qinggu later taught him how to refine elixirs in the furnace. He completed his cultivation and now serves in a cavern as a senior commander in the Office of Tongchu, overseeing those who are new to the Dao. (See the commentary to The Authentic Records. The commentary also records that Liu Kuan’s father, Liu Qi, served as Minister over the Masses during Emperor Shun’s reign. Liu Kuan was cautious and generous. Once, someone mistakenly took his ox for his own, so Liu Kuan unfastened it and gave it to the man, then walked home. Later, the man found his own ox and returned Liu Kuan’s, deeply ashamed. Liu Kuan instead comforted him and sent him on his way. The commentary also records that when Liu Kuan was governor of Nanyang, he often used a whip made of rushes. It says that when he lay face down after drinking wine before the emperor, he also replied, “Your servant would not dare get drunk. I simply bear great responsibilities and am so worried that I feel drunk.”)

Liu Wenrao forgave his servant and let him go buy wine. The servant returned after a long while, already dead drunk. A guest scolded him, saying he was like an animal—a grave insult. Liu Wenrao said, “I was only worried that he might lose his life over this.” Later, he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Daiqing, with an income of six hundred households.

He died in the second year of Zhongping, aged sixty-six. The court posthumously appointed him General of Chariots and Cavalry and also gave him the posthumous title Marquis of Zhaotao. His son Liu Song inherited the title. The relevant records give differing accounts of this matter, so it is recorded here in detail.

The preceding text is damaged; only the character “zhi” survives.

A discourse on the way of ministers says: Liu Wenrao served as an official in the Han dynasty and regarded the common people as his own children. This was perhaps what it looks like when Dao and De (Virtue/Power) manifest outwardly from within. Consider his way of governing: when angry, he showed nothing on his face; he never spoke harshly or raised his voice; and he took pleasure in doing good in secret, giving aid to the poor and those in hardship. He can indeed serve as a model for later generations of those who lived hidden lives amid the court and the marketplace while cultivating the Dao and seeking immortality. In general, accumulating merit and practicing good deeds are found in just such actions.

The Dao De Jing says, “The sage has no fixed mind of his own; he takes the minds of the people as his own. I treat the good with goodness, and I also treat the not good with goodness.” Is this not what is meant by “bringing goodness to fulfillment through De,” as seen in a person like Liu Wenrao?

Zhao Weibo

Zhao Weibo was from Dong Commandery. In his youth, he was devoted to Daoist arts and studied under Master Zhang in Handan. In his later years, he lived on Mount Zhong and taught the Jade Pendant and Golden Dangling Ornaments Scripture to Fan Qiulin. Fan Qiulin was the wife of Wei Xingdao, a Han dynasty general in charge of tower ships. After learning the Dao and becoming an immortal, she taught Zhao Weibo methods for observing the sun and moon and absorbing their vital essences. Zhao Weibo then ingested the essence of the Ninefold Spirit Bright Mirror, perfected the Dao, entered the Huayang Grotto-Heaven, and took up the post of Assistant in Charge of Preserving Life.

The River Chart says that people in the region of Wu and Chu often witnessed signs of a peaceful age and told others, “These words are no falsehood; before long, they will come to pass.” The “Bright Mirror” held by Zhao Weibo was clearly no ordinary worldly object.

He was also skilled at whistling. His voice sounded like a fierce wind battering a great forest, or like a flock of birds calling in unison. At times, he would whistle loudly on the Heavenly Market Altar and summon wind and rain; before long, clouds gathered above the altar. At other times, thick fog closed in from all sides, and a fine rain fell.

There were four Assistants in Charge of Preserving Life. Zhao Weibo oversaw the registers of immortals and also recorded those who studied the Dao. In addition, he was in charge of violent rainstorms, water lingzhi, and Le Changzhi.

Le Changzhi

Le Changzhi was a fellow native of the Eastern Minister of Fate. He served as an official during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, rising to the post of Gentleman Attendant in the Secretariat. Later, he took Master Li of Mount Zhong as his teacher and learned the “Seven Stars Stepping Method,” a cultivation practice that coordinates prescribed steps with the movements of the stars. Having mastered it, he attained the Dao, entered the Huayang Grotto-Heaven, and became an Assistant in Charge of Preserving Life.

Liu Gen

Liu Gen was from Yingchuan. It is said that he could make people see ghosts. He lived in seclusion on Mount Song. Du Xin, the governor of Yingchuan, heard of this and thought it was a supernatural deception misleading the people, so he summoned Liu Gen to the commandery office. Du Xin said to him, “You have…” The original text breaks off here.

“Why are you always misleading people?” Gen replied, “I can make people see ghosts.” Xin said, “Then prove it now. If there are no ghosts, you deserve to be put to death.”

Gen looked to the left and laughed. Before long, Xin’s deceased parents appeared before him, bound. The ghosts rebuked Xin: “As their son, you have failed to bring us honor and increase our standing. Why burden the dead as well?” Then they said to Xin, “Hurry and apologize to Mr. Liu.” Xin wept, bowed his head to the ground, and begged forgiveness.

After a while, Gen and the ghosts vanished. No one knew where they had gone. A few days later, Xin died too. Some say that Liu Gen regularly took the kernels from inside date pits, and that all evil influences and illnesses then ceased to trouble him.

The Collected Record of the Wonders of Mount Heng says that Master Liu Gen cultivated the Way of “Great Cavern Emperor Yi.” He once served as an official in various places, governing with De. In his later years he returned to the eastern peak of Mount Heng, where he refined and nurtured his true Qi, paid homage to the Big Dipper, practiced breathing exercises, and made offerings to the gods. At last he became an immortal and departed.

Pi Rixiu’s “Poem on Mao Gong Spring” reads:

Liu Gen attained the Way here long ago;

four hundred years have passed in this mountain hollow.

Long hair covered his body from head to toe,

so they called him the Green-Haired Immortal.

Thinking of the cool spring here,

I opened a spring in the towering summit.

The five-colored minerals have been refined;

a ladle strikes the water with a clear, bright sound.

First the gentle fire, then the fierce fire:

soon the mysteries of Yin and Yang, female and male, were understood.

Red salt sends up a crimson mist,

while the sun’s radiance rises as white smoke.

Drink it, and wings will grow;

in an instant, you will soar to the distant heavens.

Though Liu Gen has withdrawn from sight, he left traces behind. His rites have continued to this day, for nearly a thousand years. I came to seek out this sacred and beautiful place, and my journey will end here. Water drips from the spring’s cave-like opening, washing the moss from its depths. The surviving stonework of the well is round and clear; the water is as pure as jade marrow, with a bright, metallic sheen. Its color has a milky cast, and its taste is like lead that has been blended. Drink it, and the tightness in the belly eases; wash with it, and cramped hands and feet relax.

Sometimes, when visitors admiring the spring disturb its opening, wind and thunder suddenly shake the air. The white rope for drawing water is just the right length, and the Yue kiln jar, broad in the belly, is well suited to the task. As the water is drawn, the spring’s moonlike liquid ripples; as it is carried, the water swirls at either end of the pole. The Grand Remonstrator keeps the spring water before his Bell Pavilion. Its clarity is like a gentleman’s upright and unsullied character: it washes away filth and sweeps aside the evil brought by power. Country folk basking in the sun are stirred to delight, and hope, too, for the compassion of a marquis or lord. I know the hardship of going without water, and would gladly accept a bottle of this spring.

Liu Weidao

Liu Weidao, a native of Zhongshan, lived in the Han dynasty and studied the art of becoming an immortal on Mount Bozhong. After twelve years of practice, an immortal tested him with a huge stone weighing one hundred thousand jin. The stone was suspended above Liu Weidao, tied with a single white hair, while he lay beneath it. His mind was calm and his body at ease; he felt no worry or fear, and lay beneath the stone in this way for twelve years. The immortal tested him repeatedly, trying every means, but he never wavered. So the immortal bestowed upon him…

A Divine Elixir and Ascension in Broad Daylight

Xia Fu

Xia Fu, whose courtesy name was Ziye, was from Chenliu. In his youth, he took an interest in Daoist arts and often drank a medicinal preparation made by blending herbs, called “Shu He Yun.” Later, he entered Mount Wu and studied the “Soul Refining Method” under Master Red Beard. He then met Perfected Master Tongbai, who taught him the “Yellow Water Cloud Nectar Method.” He practiced these methods and eventually attained the Dao.

When Xia Fu was young, the ducal government summoned him to serve in office. He hung the summons on a mulberry tree and left. Such was the height of his ambition and his freedom from constraint. After completing his cultivation, he became an Attendant Gentleman of the Bright Dawn.

The Book of the Later Han and the Biographies of Recluses give another account: Xia Fu was from Yu County in Chenliu and had been a scholar in his youth. During Emperor Huan’s reign, he was recommended for his frank remonstrances but refused to take office. Straightforward by nature, he was at odds with the factionalism and self-serving alliances of the time. The eunuchs therefore came to hate him, and he was implicated in the Disaster of the Partisan Prohibitions. To escape persecution, he cut off his beard and hair, changed his appearance, and fled to the Linlü Mountains, where he made his living through manual labor. Later, he returned home, shut himself away, and saw no one. He died before the ban on partisans was lifted.

Fan Youchong

Fan Youchong was from Liaoxi and once served as a Gentleman of the Secretariat under the Han. He was well versed in geography and had also studied the “Way of Embryonic Transformation and Altering Form,” a Daoist method of cultivation involving bodily transformation.

Each morning, he visualized three kinds of Qi—blue, white, and red—each as fine as a thread, entering his mouth from beneath the sun’s disk in the east. He repeatedly drew them in ninety times, stopping when he felt full. After ten years of this practice, blue, white, and red Qi arose naturally within him, and he eventually became an immortal.

This was the “Great Simplicity Inner Vision Method” of Lord Gao Yuan. The Declarations of the Perfected says that Fan Jian was Fan Youchong. He had once served as the Director of the Office of Childlike Beginnings and now lived at Huayang.

Zhongli Jian

Zhongli Jian lived in the Later Han and once served as a Gentleman-in-Waiting. He and his younger brother, Zhongli Quan, entered the Three Peaks of Mount Hua to cultivate the Dao. When their practice was complete, they ascended to heaven in broad daylight.