《歷世真仙體道通鑑》Vol. 34

Chen Xingming

The perfected one Chen Xingming practiced at Yuanyang Palace on Mount Heng. Yuanyang Palace lay east of the temple. From there, five li north up the mountain stood Shangqing Palace, facing it from afar, the two forming the legs of a tripod. This was during the Taishi era of Emperor Wu of Jin. In his youth, Chen Xingming admired famous mountains and went to Tianzhu Peak to seek traces of the Dao. There he met two divine beings, each about eighteen or nineteen years old.

The divine beings said, “We travel throughout the Four Seas, searching for people determined to cultivate the Dao. People who cultivate the Dao may be focused for a while at first, but often give up halfway and fail to persevere. How, then, can they shed their ordinary forms, ascend through the clouds, and rise into the heavens? The merit you have accumulated is quite good. As long as you do not turn back, why worry that your name will not be entered in the Golden Towers and Jade Halls? Cultivating the Dao is hard at first and joyful afterward: hardship has an end, but joy is without limit. You live in deep mountain valleys among birds and beasts, enduring hunger and thirst, cold and heat, and toil. You leave behind worldly honors and riches, part from your family, and relinquish love. Of course this is hardship. But to live forever, endure as long as Heaven and Earth, transform without limit, fly through the sky, and grow wings—this is joy. Knowing this, how could you fail to keep up your diligent cultivation?”

Chen Xingming bowed and said, “I will always remember the sages’ teachings and strive to cultivate until I attain the Great Dao. I dare not slacken.” The divine beings then taught him the “Way of the Bright Mirror.” After eighteen years of cultivation, the two immortals descended and said to him, “In the past, I taught you the Supreme Way, and you have indeed cultivated it diligently. Now you are about to ascend to the Nine Heavens and roam in all directions. This is the reward for the merit you have accumulated. The hardship you endured before has at last brought you joy.”

On the first day of the third month in the first year of the Taikang era of Emperor Wu of Jin, clouds of mist and rosy light surrounded Chen Xingming’s dwelling, and celestial music sounded in the air. The people living below the mountain rushed to see, but found only an empty house. The chickens and dogs inside had ascended to Heaven along with him. In the first year of the Chonghe era under Emperor Huizong of Song, the court bestowed on Chen Xingming the title “Perfected One Who Attains Emptiness and Preserves Stillness.”

Yin Daoquan

The perfected one’s surname was Yin and his personal name was Daoquan. He was from Tianshui. He cultivated the “Cavern of Perfection Method of Returning Shen” (a Daoist practice intended to return the spirit and attain immortality) and wore Fulu (talismans and registers) of the Five Emperors and Six Jia, as well as the Zuo and You Lingfei.

A celestial immortal descended and said to him, “Those who ascend to immortality must first possess the necessary aptitude before they can cultivate the Great Dao. In the past, Emperor Wu of Han personally received from the Queen Mother of the West the Twelve Practices of the Golden Mother’s Lingfei and the Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Sacred Peaks. In the end, he achieved only corpse liberation (a Daoist means of attaining immortality by leaving the physical body behind); he could not ascend with his body and bones together. You received only one of these methods, yet you have already …”

“Is it not through accumulating merit and receiving the blessings planted in former lives that one ascends to Heaven?” Daoquan said, “My learning is shallow and my experience limited. I would ask you to tell me the names of these twelve methods.”

Tianzhen said, “First, the talismans of the Five Emperors and Six Jia, which make the spirits fly at one’s sides; second, the Eastern Meng script of the Great One and the Vast Cavern; third, the Nine Red Class talisman for entering fire through Bing and Ding; fourth, the Register of Jade Maidens of the Great Yin and Six Ding, for reaching the Real and escaping the spirits; fifth, the text on calling forth the Real and summoning the essence with the heavenly light of the Six Wu and Great Yang; sixth, the formula for concealing one’s image and transforming one’s form through the golden light of stone essence and the Six Ji; seventh, the statutes for summoning and directing attendants through the plain summons of the Six Geng; eighth, the method of bringing forth yellow water and moonlight through the Six Xin; ninth, the Eight Arts of the Ren and Gui Sixfold Evasion for hiding underground; tenth, the Ritual Forms of the Eight Endowments, the Ten Formulas, and the Six Void Powers of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You; eleventh, the Three-Five Sequential Practice of the Earth Real Ones, with its plain, winding formulas and words for Chou, Chen, Xu, and Wei; twelfth, the Purple Passage and Blazing Radiance of Inner Vision at the Center for Yin, Si, Shen, and Hai.”

There are also five methods concerning the mountains of the Five Sacred Peaks. The first is the talismans of the Five Sacred Peaks, used to guard the famous mountains of the five directions and issue proclamations summoning the myriad spirits; these belong to the True Writings of the Most High. The second is the map of the foothills of the Five Sacred Peaks, which depicts the winding contours and courses of the mountains as seen by immortals looking up from below or surveying the peaks, rivers, and foothills. The third is the map of the forms of the Five Sacred Peaks, marking the summits, grotto chambers, places where divine mushrooms and numinous herbs grow, as well as each site’s elevation, distance, and boundaries to the east, west, north, and south. The fourth is the map of the bones of the Five Sacred Peaks, which depicts the mountains’ underlying framework and the branching veins of their ranges. Above, these correspond to the patterns of the stars; below, they are connected to the rise of human affairs. The fifth is the map of the waterways and subterranean passages of the Five Sacred Peaks, depicting the sources of springs, the places where gold, jade, and treasures lie hidden, and the earth veins that run underground.

The officials, soldiers, and subordinate officers in charge of the talismans and maps number tens of thousands in each category. The Five Sacred Peaks govern three hundred and sixty great mountains and twelve hundred small ones, and they also have many ranks of immortal officials.

Although Emperor Wu of Han obtained these methods, he could not devote himself to keeping their precepts. He exhausted the people in warfare and became obsessed with military campaigns, destroying his own blessings with his own hands. Thus he could not equal the achievements of the Yellow Emperor. Now that you have encountered these methods, it is clear that you are a descendant of the Wenshi lineage and a member of the Great Harmony clan, whose people have practiced the Dao from generation to generation. I should make an appointment with you to meet above the Nine Clarities, in the midst of the Great Nonbeing.”

With that, he departed. The Perfected One’s experience was recorded in the third month of the first year of Yuanjia, during the reign of Emperor Huai of Jin.

On the ninth day, white clouds rose inside the room and remained for three days without dispersing. When they finally cleared, the Perfected One was nowhere to be found; only a fragrant scent filled the air.

In the first year of the Chonghe era under Emperor Huizong of the Song (1118), he was bestowed the title “Perfected One Who Penetrates the Real and Contemplates the Wondrous.” Zhang Maozong, then the local official in Tanzhou, once inscribed a poem at Hengyue Temple:

“Before the peaks of the numinous mountain, I wander through an ancient temple. How is this place different from the Palace of Pistil Pearls?

The immortal guests of the Five Clouds all have different forms; the misty splendor of the Ten Grottoes offers varied scenes.

The incense from the alchemical furnace holds the essence of metals and stones; the altar for offering to the stars is cool, with the wind of ivy and creeping vines.

I have heard the formulas for cultivating the Real along the Great Dao; in an instant, the road to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) lies within reach.”

Shi Cun

Dongmen Temple in the Hengyue Grotto lies west of Shilin Peak and south of Shiliu Peak, about twenty li from the temple at the foot of the mountain. Long ago, there was a Perfected One named Cun, surnamed Shi. He called himself Master Hu Fu, and some also called him Wanpenzi. His master was Huang Luzi. Shi Cun learned the Inner Writings of the Three Sovereigns, mastered the arts of commanding tigers and leopards, and knew how to vanish, transform, and command the landscape. He appeared and disappeared, and had lived for several hundred years. Admiring the grotto at Shilin Peak, which he believed to be a place where the pure, harmonious vital energy gathered, he settled there.

He also built a pavilion in a stone chamber west of the peak, stretching more than ten zhang across the open air. At times he rode out on a white leopard; at others, he walked back to the mountain, and the leopard would come to greet him. Immortals from the seas and mountains often gathered there. Though many people in the region admired him, few ever had the chance to meet him in person.

On the seventh day of the fourth month in the first year of the Yongkang era under Emperor Hui of the Jin (300), Shi Cun rode the leopard up to Heaven. In the first year of the Chonghe era under Emperor Huizong of the Song (1118), he was bestowed the title “Perfected One of Harmony and Plainness.” Another man, Li Changli of Shu, once lived and practiced in seclusion here for several years, then traveled to Tianbao Grotto. Today, only Leopard-Controlling Rock and the ruins remain.

The Zhengao records that Shi Cun was from the state of Qi. He called himself Wanpenzi, obtained Daoist arts, and could transform the landscape. He is now at Zhongyue or Mount Shaoshi. The Master of the Pot was none other than Shi Cun, but he had not yet received the talismanic writings of the Most High Lord Lao and had therefore not yet become a Perfected One. The “Jade Axe, Army and Fire Talisman” he used was one branch of the Daoist methods he had received. Another account says that Shi Cun was among Confucius’s three thousand disciples.

Master Liaoran

Master Liaoran was from Liaodong, and no prominent personal name of his has been preserved. He traveled through the twenty-four administrative centers of western Shu, then lived on Mount Taibai. Tigers and leopards surrounded him as he came and went among them, docile in his presence. No one knew the specific methods by which he cultivated himself.

Later he traveled through the Three Chu regions, spending nearly a hundred years there. His friends included Wu Meng, Lu Xiujing, Guo Pu, Xie Lingyun, and the monk Huiyuan; accounts of their associations with one another continue across the years. Yu Liang once…

The master asked his teacher, “Do you think these worthies can escape this corrupted world?”

The teacher replied, “Their skill in cultivation varies in depth, but they seek the same Dao. Though each has reached a different level of understanding and attainment, none has yet truly understood it completely.”

The master then asked, “And what about you yourself?”

The teacher replied, “I will tell you after you have passed this month.” Liang died less than a month later.

The teacher set out from the Western Mountain and headed for Mount Heng, where he visited the two altars of Qingyu and Baiyu. He then went to the Front Cave Gate to visit Master Li Changli, and drank freely with him for several days. Master Li later went to Shu Mountain, while the teacher withdrew to the Front Cave. The eminent Song-dynasty monk Zong Bing came to visit, but did not meet him.

Deng Yuzhi

Deng Yuzhi, courtesy name Yanda, lived in seclusion at Dongtai on Mount Heng. At night he recited the Great Cavern Scripture, a Daoist classic. His recitation moved Lady Wei, a female immortal from Daoist legend, who descended and told him, “You are destined to become an immortal. I have come especially to visit you.”

One day, Deng Yuzhi suddenly saw three blue birds, shaped like cranes, circling and wheeling through the sky as they called out. After a while, they departed. Deng said to his disciples, “Since the blue birds have come, the appointed meeting is near.” Having said this, he underwent transformation and departed.

Xu Lingqi

The perfected one Xu Lingqi was from the Wu region and practiced in seclusion at the Shangqing Palace on Mount Heng. The palace stood seven li northeast of the temples on the mountain. When Xu was young, he encountered a divine being who taught him the essentials of the Mysterious Elixir, the method of embracing the sun’s radiance, and the practice of guarding the Mudball Palace—Daoist internal cultivation methods concerning alchemical practice, visualization of sunlight, and nourishing the upper Dantian in the head. He ate meals made from sesame and was thus able to roam among mountains and seas and travel to and from the southern mountains. He had done so for many years.

He surveyed caves, grottoes, and valleys throughout the area, and wrote the Record of Mount Heng, describing its grotto abodes and wondrous phenomena. He wrote that Zǐgài Peak and Yúnmì Peak each rose more than five thousand zhang. On Yúnmì Peak stood a stele commemorating Yu’s flood-control works, inscribed in tadpole script, an ancient form of seal writing with curling strokes said to resemble tadpoles. Below the stele was a stone altar encircled by flowing water, a place of exceptional beauty.

Flocks of cranes often gathered on the summit of Zǐgài Peak, where divine mushrooms and numinous herbs also grew. Beneath the mountain was a stone chamber containing an incense burner, a pestle and mortar, and an alchemical furnace. On Zhùróng Peak stood an altar of green jade, five chi across. To its east grew a purple pear tree three hundred chi tall, said to have been planted by Yu the Great. Its fruit was as large as a dou and red as the sun; legend held that eating it brought immortality.

During the Yixi era of Emperor An of Jin, the mountain recluse Pan Jue came to the western side of Zhùróng Peak. He saw a split in the rock, from which something purple and mudlike flowed. It was fragrant, soft, and edible. Not knowing that it was the marrow of the stone, Pan Jue did not eat it; he left it there and went away. Later, he suddenly realized what it was and returned to look for it, but the stone marrow had disappeared.

Xu Lingqi also recorded these wondrous events, along with accounts of commanding ghosts and spirits and subduing dragons and tigers. In the first year of the Yuanhui era of the Song emperor known as the King of Cangwu…

In 772, the seventh year of the Dali era of the Tang dynasty, Master Xuanhe, Zhang Dakong, lived here. He was Li Mi’s teacher. After attaining the Dao, he departed by means of corpse liberation at Yuanyang Palace. In 847, the first year of the Dazhong era, Han Weiyi admired his example and came here to cultivate, eventually attaining the Dao. In 1118, the first year of the Chonghe era, Emperor Huizong of the Song bestowed on him the title “Perfected One Who Illuminates the Real and Penetrates the Subtle.”

The foundations of the palace and temple still remain today. A stone inscription records that in the past there was an immortal rooster here, which announced the dawn each morning. Having eaten immortal herbs, it lived forever. Woodcutters occasionally caught sight of it, but were unable to capture it.

Deng Yuzhi

Deng Yuzhi, courtesy name Yuanda, was from Xinye in Nanyang. As a child, he dreamed that a bird brought him a seal in its beak. Later, he obtained talismans for dispelling evil and counteracting poison, and everyone he treated recovered. He became friends with Xu Lingqi outside the ordinary world. Together they traveled among famous mountains and sought out accomplished adepts. After meeting one who had attained the Dao, Deng learned the art of the Golden Cauldron and Fire Talisman, a method of elixir refinement.

In 474, the second year of the Yuanhui era under the Song emperor of Cangwu, Xu Lingqi had already ascended to immortality. Deng Yuzhi, meanwhile, lived in seclusion at Dongmen and remained there for a long time before leaving. He later traveled among the blessed grotto-heavens beyond the lakes, but was continually troubled by a lack of materials for refining elixirs. Once, after gathering herbs, he spent the night in a stone cave and dreamed that a spirit being said to him, “Your accumulated merit is such that Heaven will summon you. You should leave the mountains in good time; the immortals are waiting for you.” When he awoke, he was both startled and delighted.

In 502, the early years of the Tianjian era under the Liang, the Directorate reported that the Star of Shaowei had appeared in the region of Changsha in southern Chu. Emperor Wu of Liang sent an inspector to investigate. He summoned Deng Yuzhi and asked what he cultivated. Deng replied, “This poor Daoist cultivates the method of Golden Liquid, but lacks the materials for refining the elixir.” The emperor bestowed gold and silk on him and allowed him to choose a quiet, secluded site in the Dongzhen Blessed Land of Mount Heng in the south, where he could establish upper, middle, and lower palaces for cultivating Neidan and Waidan.

One night, a spirit being told him, “Near the Great Grotto lies a village that attracts good fortune and prolongs life.” This was an instruction to remember the place. Later, after Deng Yuzhi had successfully refined the elixir, he moved to a place east of Zigaifeng. On the thirtieth day of the twelfth month in the final year of the Tianjian era under the Liang, eight Perfected Ones arrived at his dwelling in cloud chariots with feathered canopies. These were the eight immortals who had attained the Dao earlier. Deng Yuzhi then went to a natural stone altar and ascended to Heaven.

In 1118, the first year of the Chonghe era, Emperor Huizong of the Song bestowed on Deng Yuzhi the title “Perfected One Who Transcends the Real and Gathers the Marvelous.” Zhang Di, governor of Hengzhou, reported this to the emperor and requested that a palace and temple be officially established at the place where Deng had lived.

Chen Huidu

The Perfected One Chen was named Huidu and was from Yingchuan. He first lived on Maoshan, gathering wondrous and numinous herbs…

Huo Zhi (a person whose exact identity is unknown) usually drank wine and ate no food. He lived this way for several years. When he traveled south, he carried two boxes filled with minerals and medicinal substances used in alchemy. When he reached Mount Heng, he chose a quiet, beautiful place and settled at Yuqing Abbey. The abbey lies south of Shilin Peak, about twenty-five li up the mountain from the temple.

There he swore an oath to Heaven and began refining elixirs. In the middle of the night, demons came to harass him, repeatedly smashing the alchemical furnace and hauling over huge rocks to crush it. He remained focused, sitting in meditation on a stone and reciting the Huangting Jing (a major Daoist classic). He wore the Wuyue Zhenxing Tu (a talismanic diagram depicting the forms of the Five Sacred Peaks and used in Daoist practice), and his resolve grew ever firmer. In the unseen realm, a response seemed to arise; the power of the Dao secretly protected him, and at last he seized the mountain demons. Their baleful influence gradually dispersed, and the demons cried out in terror. The perfected one ordered them to carry stones and swear an oath. He spared them from death and made them flee far away to another world.

Later, the elixir was complete, and its light illuminated the mountains so brightly that it could be seen from far away. He took the elixir and ascended to Heaven on the thirteenth day of the fifth month in the third year of the Yongming era under Emperor Wu of Qi.

A poem titled “Dan Terrace,” inscribed by Zhang Jiuling of the Tang dynasty, says: “West of Chicken-Head Peak, a gateway stands open; Chen refined the elixir, ascended, and climbed the lofty Dan Terrace. Did the demons truly swear their oath in those days? Even now, people say those stones were planted there on the demons’ shoulders.” In the first year of the Chonghe era, Emperor Huizong of Song bestowed on him the title “Perfected One of Vacuous Clarity and Primordial Mystery.” Near the former site of the abbey, the mountain summit still bears traces of the Dan Terrace, the Demon-Planted Stones, Thunder Pool, Wind Cave, Scripture-Recitation Platform, and Elixir-Bathing Spring.

In modern times, a Buddhist monk built a temple on the former site of Yuqing Abbey and named it Guangming Temple, but it was abandoned soon afterward. During the Qiandao era of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, the Daoists Deng Shiyong and Huang Shouzheng cleared the mountain, felled trees, removed weeds, built houses, and raised funds from charitable patrons to rebuild the temple halls. People said their prayers for rain and rituals to ward off disasters were effective. Local residents also lived at the hermitage, and Daoist teachings flourished there once more.

Zhang Tanyao

Hengyang’s Zhaoxian Abbey lies eight li east of the temple. According to an old record, Liu Zong chose and opened the site during the Southern Qi; another account says it was built during the Xian’ning era of Emperor Wu of Jin.

Long ago, a perfected one named Zhang Tanyao lived here. He made contact with perfected beings in the celestial realm and received their secret transmission, learning the methods of nurturing the primordial harmony within and silently paying homage to the Great Emperor: practices of inner cultivation and silent visualization. After twelve years of practice, he traveled in spirit through the heavens and met the Great Emperor of the Imperial Pole. The emperor bestowed on him such elixirs as Jade-Treasure Amber Paste and the Fluid That Unites Spirit and Image. After taking them, Zhang’s transformations became unfathomable and his spiritual powers limitless.

On the third day of the seventh month in the first year of the Yanxing era under the Qi emperor Fei, thunder suddenly roared and Heaven and Earth shook. Then phoenixes and cranes arrived bearing an imperial summons to welcome him, and he ascended to Heaven. In the first year of the Chonghe era, Emperor Huizong of Song bestowed on him the title “Perfected One Who Preserves Light and Inherits Illumination.”

Zhang Ruzhen

The Jiuzhen Abbey on Mount Heng lies ten li east of the temple. Old records say that Master Xinye founded it during the Taikang era of the Jin dynasty. At the beginning of the Tianjian era under Emperor Wu of Liang, the Perfected One Ruzhen lived there.

Master Zhang Nai was Ruzhen’s fellow townsman and neighbor. From childhood, he spoke little, lived simply and guarded his integrity, refusing to follow worldly customs. As an adult, he withdrew from society to cultivate the Dao. He was naturally endowed with extraordinary spiritual capacity. Later, he met a divine being in a mountain cave, who taught him the Way of “Illumination Through the Cave of the Bright Mirror”: the art of seeing through all things as clearly as a bright mirror.

The divine being said: “Heaven perceives the underlying principles of things; the Dao reflects their forms. The Way of Heaven is clear and pure, while the Way of the mirror is bright: it sees clearly and makes no mistakes. Forms appear in the mirror, and things are reflected there, so the shapes of mountains and rivers and the condition of ghosts and spirits have nowhere to hide. Heaven, through its clarity, contains all things; the mirror, through its brightness, reflects countless forms. If you cultivate Heaven’s clarity and the mirror’s brightness, purify your heart and settle your spirit, and reach a state of transparency within and without, you can attain the highest Dao. But if your heart and spirit are disturbed by external things, your inner self grows weary and your spirit becomes clouded and defiled. Unable to remain clear and bright, you will drift ever farther from the Dao.

“I once received this method from Master Chang Sang, who in turn received it from the Heavenly Sovereign of Taiwei. Those who obtain it can penetrate the mysteries and see far in all eight directions. In the Dongzhen teachings, the ‘Way of the Four Regulations’ calls for practice in accordance with the four seasons, and its fundamental principle is the same. The ancients said, ‘Empty the room, and brightness will arise of itself; still the heart, and the Dao will arrive of itself.’ This is indeed so.”

After practicing this method for nine years, Ruzhen could see a thousand li away, and nothing could be hidden from him. On the eighteenth day of the eleventh month in the thirteenth year of Liang’s Tianjian era, he went alone into the mountains and did not return for three days. His disciples went to look for him and saw him dressed in immortal robes, riding a cloud chariot. Surrounded by flutes and drums, his figure grew indistinct as he ascended to Heaven. In the first year of the Chonghe era under Emperor Huizong of Song, the court bestowed on him the title “Perfected One Who Attained the Dao in Complete Perfection.”

Liao Chong

Liao Chong, courtesy name Qingxu, lived in Lianshan Commandery in the third year of Emperor Wu of Liang’s Datong era. He was renowned for his learning and virtue and served as registrar of the commandery. Later, he resigned from office, traveling in search of the essential teachings of the Dao and settling on Mount Songgao.

Much later, while passing through the area around Gong’an in Jingzhou, he encountered two spirits who stirred up winds and waves and obstructed boats. He subdued them and ordered them to escort boats across the river. Liao Chong later went to the Southern Peak and met the Perfected Lord of Great Peace atop Zhurong Peak, where he received the essential teachings of the Dao. Afterward, he said to the two spirits: “I live in Chenyang, refining elixirs. You can guard my furnace for me. When the elixir is finished in time, you too will have…”

After completing the refining of the divided elixir, he returned to his hometown. He often rode a tiger and used a snake as a whip, and lived for more than a hundred years.

In the second year of the Xiantian era (713), during the Tang emperor Ruizong’s reign, he ascended to heaven amid dark clouds and wind.

Youwu Daorong

Youwu Daorong of the Northern Qi spoke little from childhood and had no command of literary writing. He often preferred to be alone. While traveling on Mount Heng in the south, he met Lord Chi, from whom he learned talisman water, incantations, and methods for calculating celestial phenomena and seasonal cycles. He mastered all these arts.

Another account says that he became a Daoist priest when young. Hearing that someone in Jinyang was skilled in magical arts, he went to visit him. The man was expert in Daoist talisman water and incantations, Yin-Yang calendrical methods, astronomy, and the properties of medicines. He passed all his knowledge on to Daorong. More than a year later, he said to him, “I am an immortal from Mount Heng. Because of certain transgressions, the Celestial Bureaucracy banished me to the human world. My term has now ended, and I must return to my home among the immortals. Please accompany me to the banks of the Fen River.”

When they reached the river, its waters suddenly surged, and the bridge was swept away. The man went to the water’s edge, performed the Yu-step—a ritual step used in Daoist ceremonies—and cast a talisman into the river. The waters immediately parted down the middle. Before long, the flood subsided, and the two men crossed slowly over the sand.

Later, Emperor Wenxuan summoned Daorong to Jinyang. When he reached the mountains of Liaoyang, his horse was startled in the middle of the night, and a fierce beast appeared some ten paces ahead. Daorong calmly drew a fiery pit on the ground with his staff, and the beast immediately fled.

Jia Ziran

Jia Ziran practiced at the Taiping Abbey on Mount Heng, burning incense and observing the precepts. Later, he met the Perfected Person Chen Shaowei of Mount Heng and paid his respects to him according to the ritual for a disciple of Ziming. The Perfected Person said, “I know everything you have been cultivating. In the future, a highly accomplished Perfected One will certainly pass on wondrous arts to you.”

Afterward, Jia Ziran met the Elder of Qingcheng, who descended to his dwelling and taught him the secret method of “Ninefold Unity and Flying Immortality.” Later, he ascended to heaven in broad daylight.

Xiao Linghu

Xiao Linghu, courtesy name Tianyou, was from Luling. At the age of seven, he could compose poetry whose meaning transcended the mundane world. At fifteen, he began to take an interest in Daoist arts. As an adult, he met an accomplished adept and learned the Golden Liquid Elixir and embryonic breathing, a method of cultivation that regulates the breath and nurtures Qi.

He traveled widely among famous mountains, carrying more than a hundred volumes of Daoist books. He often said, “To ascend to the Southern Palace, one must first cross Songling.” He then set out in search of Dongyang. Passing Mount Yuelu, he gazed up at a portrait of the Perfected Deng and said, “This mountain is one of the blessed places of Songling.”

That night, he met a Perfected Person and learned the art of the fire cauldron, a method of refining elixirs in a furnace and cauldron. In the second year of the Zhenguan era (628), during the Tang emperor Taizong’s reign, he traveled upstream along the Xiao and Xiang rivers. He personally paid his respects to the God of Birth and used Daoist rites to drive away harmful influences, helping many people in the local community. Later, he lived at Zhaoxian Abbey, practiced the fire cauldron art, and refined and sold “yellow and white substances,” a Daoist alchemical term for gold, silver, and other metals. He used the proceeds to renovate the abbey, making it look entirely new. Lords and kings came to pay him their respects and asked him to serve as their ritual master, bowing to him as though they were his disciples.

He lived there for five years and built the Pavilion for Seeking the Dao. In the sixth year, the year Renchen, he cast a bronze bell in Guizhou. Weighing five hundred jin, it was transported back to the Daoist temple. After that, he dared not ring it at the fifth watch, for fear of disturbing the earth spirits.

Later, he chose a secluded and beautiful place on the north side of the mountain to refine a divine elixir. The elixir was completed only after three rounds of ritual services. After taking it, at Mid-Autumn in the second year of the Hongdao era under Emperor Gaozong, he said to his disciples, “The time has come for me to leave and go elsewhere; I cannot stay long. You must work diligently and advance in your practice. In time, someone will carry on my work.” With that, he underwent corpse liberation, the Daoist way in which an adept’s body remains behind while their spirit departs. The room filled with fragrance, and what seemed to be a clear, resonant sound reached beyond the door. After a while, it faded.

Late in the Duangong era of Emperor Taizong of Song, one day just as the fifth watch began, the bell suddenly rang in the Daoist temple. Everyone was astonished and rose to investigate, only to find the bronze bell split open. Within ten days, a Daoist used his palm to melt copper and mend the crack in the bell. The copper’s red flames immediately went out. Everyone who witnessed this was filled with awe. The Daoist walked into the stream to wash his hands and vanished in an instant. To this day, marks said to have been left by his touch remain on the bell. The event was regarded as a supernatural marvel.

Zhang Huiming

Zhang Huiming was from Zhaojun. He built a hut for cultivation on Zhongtiao Mountain and once received teachings at Yuanzhen Temple. He often practiced incantations and prohibitions to drive away spirits and monsters. Later, he went to Chang’an, met Hun Yuanzi, and studied the Way of Gaoben. He then attained accomplishment through cultivation, became complete in De, and excelled in Daoist learning. Those who attended his lectures were all Confucian scholars.

Emperor Taizong summoned him to the inner palace to perform a Zhaijiao prayer ritual, which brought a notable response. Later, Zhang asked to return to the mountains, and the emperor granted his request, ordering him to reside on Mount Heng and conferring on him the title of Wonderful Aid Master. One night, he met Lady Youying of Mount Heng, who transmitted to him the essentials of embracing the One and preserving the true, and of blending the Three and Five. After twelve years of cultivation, the emperor again summoned him, this time to Mount Hua, to consult him on various matters. Later, Zhang underwent corpse liberation.

Li Simu

Li Simu was from Chengji. He became a Daoist companion to Master Dong from eastern Chu and Master Bai, and traveled among the famous mountains of the Sanxiang region. Later, he visited Daoists at the Five Peaks of Mount Heng. Though each master taught in a different way, each teaching pointed toward its own proper destination.

Master Bai had already ascended from Shigu Mountain, while Li Simu went to the capital. At the time, Gao Lishi resented Wu Yun and recommended Li Simu to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Li answered the emperor’s questions to his satisfaction. Later, when Li asked to return to the mountains, the emperor gave him generous gifts for his departure. His commentary on the Qingjing Jing was passed down through the generations. He later attained the Dao and died at Zigaifeng.

Master Dong lived in seclusion in a rear cave near Hengyang and often used incantations to cure people’s illnesses. When people offered him thanks, he asked only for wine, drinking until he was thoroughly drunk.

His ingenious words were not understood. When he slept, he often seemed drunk, lying down beside roads and among streams and valleys. Even when caught in heavy rain, his clothes did not get wet; when struck by severe frost, his body remained as white as ever. Several years later, he went from house to house to say farewell, telling people, “Take good care of yourselves.” Everyone found this strange. Before long, he departed through shijie—release from the corpse—behind a cave, leaving behind an empty shell like a cicada’s cast-off skin.

The final line of Du Fu’s “Remembering the Past” from the Tang dynasty reads: “I’ll also seek out Master Dong, the alchemist of Hengyang; heading south, I’ll raise the oars on the Xiao and Xiang early.” It means that he still intends to visit Master Dong, the alchemist of Hengyang, and to set out early by boat on the Xiao and Xiang rivers.

Shen Taizhi

Shen Taizhi, courtesy name Guangxiang, was originally from Luoyang. His ancestors served as officials in Huwai, in the area of present-day Hunan, and later generations settled in Changsha. After that, the family became dispersed across various places. People near and far admired Shen Taizhi. He settled at Liutang in Renfeng Village, Shaozhou, where several generations of his family took pleasure in doing good and helping others.

From childhood, Shen Taizhi lived in seclusion, kept apart from relatives and friends, read books, and lived simply. In his free time, he traveled around Mount Heng in the South, seeking out matters concerning immortals. One night, at the summit of Zhurong Peak, he met a perfected person who taught him the Golden Elixir fire-dragon method, a Daoist alchemical cultivation practice. After returning, he refined elixirs for many years without pause atop Yuhu, north of Yun Mountain. In time, the Great Medicine was perfected, and his cultivation and merit were complete. He could travel spiritually through the void, appearing and disappearing at will, his powers impossible to fathom.

On the sixteenth day of the eighth month in the twenty-sixth year of the Kaiyuan era (738), Emperor Ming of the Tang told his close attendants: “Last night, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, I dreamed that a divine being told me: ‘In Yun Mountain, Shaozhou, Hunan, there is a Daoist who has refined an elixir, attained the Dao, and become an immortal. If you treat him with due courtesy, you can invite him to serve as imperial preceptor.’”

Zhang Taikong

Zhang Taikong, whose given name was Taikong, cultivated the Dao in seclusion at Shangqing Palace on Mount Heng and attained the Dao. In the seventh year of the Dali era of the Tang dynasty (772), he became the teacher of Li Mi, a Tang dynasty chancellor. He later lived in seclusion at Yuanyang Palace and departed through shijie on the thirteenth day of the sixth month in the fourth year of the Zhenyuan era (788), during the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang.

Emperor Dezong personally composed an encomium in his praise:

“The Supreme Dao has no name to begin with; people have reluctantly given it a name to express their reverence for the Great Dao. The realm of the Truly Perfect likewise has no posthumous title, yet people still seek to give it one, to make its reality known. What can ultimately be spoken of is the fulfillment of virtue. Zhang Taikong, Daoist of Yuanyang Palace on Mount Heng, received the profound and refined, wondrous Qi—mysterious beyond mystery. He refined and nourished his bodily form, and kept his spirit within the Eight Radiances. He cultivated virtue on Mount Heng and was nearly a hundred years old. Relying on what is hidden and subtle, he probed deeply; embracing the primordial Qi, he wielded it freely. He dwelt in the vast, all-pervading Qi and preserved the true simplicity of the ancient world in body and spirit. When the late emperor was alive, he once promoted the mysteries of Daoism, looked up to see him arrive astride a dark crane, and bestowed on him robes like purple clouds. I have a minister whose words are lofty and mysterious…”

The source text ends here, so only the surviving portion of the final sentence of the imperial encomium has been translated.

I often think of this immortal, and regret that I was not born in the same age as he. To express my admiration, I have specially issued an edict honoring him: his name shall be recorded, his De made known, and this distinction passed down for generations. He may be posthumously honored as “Master of Mysterious Harmony.”

His Daoist temple was renovated three times, during the Chunhua, Tiansheng, and Zhenghe eras of the Song dynasty. In the first year of Xuanhe, Emperor Huizong of Song changed the temple’s name to Chongming Temple. About three li behind it stands Fuhu Rock.

Liu Shi

During the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, two men from Hengshan, Liu Shi and Liu Yuanche, had paternal uncles serving as officials in western Zhejiang. Later, both uncles became implicated in a matter involving the governance of the people and were exiled, one to Huanzhou and the other to Aizhou. The two men set out together to visit their relatives.

When they reached Baipu County in Lianzhou, they boarded a boat to cross the sea toward Jiaozhi. As the boat neared the shore at Hepu, villagers were performing a ritual to the spirits that night, and the sounds of flutes and drums filled the air. The boatmen and the two men’s servants all went ashore to watch. Around midnight, a sudden gale sprang up. The mooring rope snapped, and the boat was blown far out into the open sea, losing its bearings. Before long, it drifted to a solitary island, where the wind died down. The two men climbed ashore in distress and saw a jade statue of the Heavenly Worthy, bright and immaculate, resting on an altar. Beside it stood a golden incense burner; nothing else was there.

As they looked around, they suddenly saw a gigantic creature raise its head from the Eastern Sea and gaze about, as though listening intently. After a long while, it sank beneath the waves. Soon, purple clouds rose over the sea, stretching for several hundred paces. Within them appeared five-colored lotus flowers, more than a hundred feet tall. Their petals opened one by one, revealing curtains within, their colors interwoven like embroidered silk and dazzling to behold. Then a rainbow bridge suddenly unfurled, reaching all the way to the island. Before long, two maidens with double topknots arrived, seemingly carrying a jade box and a golden lotus-shaped censer. Before the statue of the Heavenly Worthy, they replaced the incense ash left in the burner and lit a wondrous incense.

When the two men saw the maidens, they bowed repeatedly and begged them, in their sorrow, to help them return to the human world. The maidens did not answer. After the men had pleaded for a long time, one maiden finally asked, “Who are you, and how did you come here?” The men told her what had happened. She said, “In a little while, the Venerable Master Yuxu, a Daoist deity, will descend to this island to meet the Lady of the Southern Sea. Keep pleading with him, and perhaps you will get your wish.”

No sooner had she spoken than a Daoist, riding a white deer and borne on rosy clouds, descended straight onto the island. The two men bowed and wept as they told him their story and begged for his compassion. The Venerable Master said, “Follow this maiden to pay your respects to the Lady of the Southern Sea. In time, you will have a day to return, so do not worry.” He then said to the maiden, “When I have finished my brief period of cultivating the Dao, I will go to her.”

They were received and shown to a seat before the tent. There they saw a young woman who had not yet come of age, dressed in a robe patterned with five colors. The two men gave her their names. The Lady smiled and said, “In former times, Liu Chen came to Tiantai; now there is Liu Shi. In former times, Ruan Zhao came; now there is Yuan Che. Could this not all be arranged by Heaven’s will?”

The Lady had two couches set out and invited them to sit. Before long, the Venerable Master arrived. The Lady rose to greet him with a bow, then returned to her seat. Several celestial maidens played the sheng, yu, xiao, and flute, drawing phoenixes and luan birds to accompany them. The music was refined and its rhythm harmonious. The two men felt dazed, as if in a dream; everything they saw and heard was rarely encountered in the human world.

Then the Lady ordered wine to be served. Suddenly, a black crane flew down from the sky with a colored note in its beak. It read: “Master Anqi has learned that the Venerable Master will travel to the Southern Sea. He respectfully asks the Venerable Master to visit him for a while.” After reading it, the Venerable Master said to the crane, “I will be there before long.” Then he said to the Lady, “A thousand years have passed since I last met Master Anqi. Such a meeting is hard to come by. If I did not travel south this time, I would have no chance to speak with him.”

The Lady told her attendants to set out food. The tableware was all polished jade. She and the Venerable Master ate together, but the two men were not served. The Venerable Master said, “These two guests are not yet suited to eating this food. But I can fetch them something from the human world.” So he brought out food from the human world for them. The Lady said, “Very well. Give them some ordinary food from the human world as well.”

After finishing his meal, the Venerable Master took a scroll of cinnabar script and talismanic writing from his robes and gave it to the Lady. She bowed as she accepted it, then took leave of the Venerable Master. He said to the two men, “You have the innate capacity to cultivate the Dao, and returning home will not be difficult. Since we have met by chance, I ought to give you an elixir. But each of you is destined to have a master of your own, so I am not the right person to be your teacher.” The two men bowed to him. After the Venerable Master departed, the Lady instructed her attendants to escort them home.

An attendant asked them, “What will you ride back on?” They replied, “We can travel on the Hundred-Flower Bridge.” The two men gratefully bowed farewell to the Lady. She gave them a jade pot a little over a foot tall and had someone inscribe a poem:

“From a leaf-shaped boat you came;

To the Hundred-Flower Bridge you go.

Should you reach the human world and tap the jade pot,

The mandarin ducks will speak plainly of their own accord.”

Before long, the bridge stretched out for several hundred paces, its railings covered in strange and wondrous flowers. The two men peered secretly through the blossoms and saw thousands of dragons and serpentine creatures coiling around one another, transformed into the bridge’s pillars and stones.

A messenger said, “I ought not to have been assigned to escort you, but there is another meaning behind this, so I have made a special effort to come and see you off.” As he spoke, he took a small box from inside his robe. Within it was an object that, seen indistinctly, looked like a spider.

He said to the two men, “We are water immortals. Water immortals belong to Yin and have no men. Long ago, while traveling along the Dao, I met a young man from Panyu. We grew deeply fond of each other, and I bore him a child. Before the child was three, we abandoned him. Madam’s destiny was long ago ordained: she was to become the son of the Southern Marchmount’s god. This has been in the making for a long time.

“Once, a messenger from Returning Wild Goose Peak on the Southern Marchmount went on an errand to the Water Palace, the underwater court where immortals dwell. On his way back, he brought me the jade ring my child had played with, but then hid it away. I have resented him deeply for this. Gentlemen, please take this box and look for the messenger’s shrine below Returning Wild Goose Peak. Throw the box inside, and a strange manifestation will occur. If you can retrieve the jade ring, take it to my child; the child will repay you as well. Whatever you do, do not open the box.”

The two men accepted the box and asked the messenger, “In the lady’s poem, she says, ‘If, upon reaching the human world, you knock on the jade pot, the mandarin ducks will explain things clearly.’ What does this mean?”

The messenger replied, “When you return, if anything comes up, simply knock on the jade pot. Birds will answer, and everything will go as you wish.”

The two men asked again, “The Venerable Master of Jade Void said we already have a teacher of our own. Who is that teacher?”

“He is the Master of Supreme Polarity of the Southern Marchmount,” the messenger answered. “You will meet him in due course.”

The two men then took leave of the messenger. The bridge came to an end, and they arrived at the place where they had once moored their boat at Hepu. When they looked back, the bridge had vanished. They asked what year it was, only to learn that ten years had passed. Their relatives in Quzhou and Aizhou had all died. Grief-stricken, they asked the way and set off for Hengshan. On the road, they tapped the jade pot with their hands. At once, they heard the mandarin ducks speak: “Have something to eat before you go; you will meet someone in due course.”

Soon they saw a dish filled with food by the roadside. After eating their fill, they reached home a few days later. The child who had once been an infant was now approaching twenty years of age. Yet the two men themselves had been dead for three days. Their family members were overcome by mingled grief and joy. Someone said, “The young master was lost at sea. His period of mourning ended nine years ago.”

The two men seemed weary of the world of dust, and their bodies had become still and lucid. When they learned that their wives had died, they were not greatly saddened. Together, they went to look for the messenger’s shrine below Returning Wild Goose Peak and threw the box inside. Suddenly, a black dragon several dozen feet long appeared. It raised a gale and hurled down hail, snapping trees and overturning houses. With a clap of thunder, the shrine was shattered. The two men trembled with fear and dared not look closely. They saw someone toss a jade ring down from the sky. They picked it up and took it to the Southern Marchmount Temple. On their way back, a young man in yellow appeared, carrying two golden boxes. He delivered one to each of their homes and said, “The young master has brought this medicine…”

When someone in the two gentlemen’s households died, they could still be brought back to life—even after sixty years had passed—by applying Resurrection Salve, said to revive the dead, to the crown of the head. Later, the young man suddenly disappeared. The two men used the salve to bring the wife back to life. Afterward, they traveled together in search of learned men among the clouds and waters, asking about Master Taiji, but could not find him.

One day, in the snow, they saw an old man carrying firewood and calling out to sell it. Seeing that he was old and freezing, they invited him to drink. Then they noticed the words “Taiji” carved into his wood carrier. Astonished, they bowed and asked to become his disciples, explaining their purpose as they presented the jade flask. The old man said, “This is the flask I use to hold Jade Nectar, the celestial dew or elixir of Daoist legend.” Delighted, he took the two men with him up Mount Zhuheng. They never came back down.