《歷世真仙體道通鑑》Vol. 47

The Immortal Lord Wang

In the early years of the Tianfu era under Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang, the Immortal Lord Wang set out from Shangdang to wander. He passed through Beiqiong and Goushi before reaching Mount Song. Open-minded and detached from worldly concerns, he traveled with companions, yet no one knew what he was doing. His movements were elusive, and he was never held back by attachments. At ease and content, he later wandered freely through the mountain forests, and no one knew where he had gone. People at the time thought nothing of it.

More than a year later, his Daoist disciples, younger brother, and nephews traveled south from Huguan along the Taihang route. Passing Mount Song and Shaoshi Mountain, they asked at the temples and monasteries along the way, searching for traces of him. Eventually, they found the Immortal Lord Wang in a sheer cliff northwest of Mount Song. He sat upright in a cave in the rock, his expression calm. The cliff rose nearly a hundred ren, steep and sheer, and was utterly impossible to climb.

His disciples and the others lit incense and bowed. Weeping, they lingered, unable to bear leaving him. Suddenly, the Immortal Lord Wang said to them, “Because of a small measure of merit I earned in the past, the Most High has appointed me Immortal Earl of Shaoshi. The road between the immortal realm and the human world is cut off. You need not grieve or cling to me any longer.” With that, he rose into the air and departed. At the time, the Daoist priests of Songyang—Jiao Yinhuang, Sun Xuanming, Fei Jingyan, and Luo Yingzhi—also burned incense and offered flowers, gazing up at the cliff cave and paying their reverent respects.

Li Sheng

Li Sheng, courtesy name Yunju, claimed to be from Jiangxia. He was born during the reign of Emperor Dezong of the Tang. Clever and perceptive from childhood, he grew up to read widely and write with skill. Quick-witted, he could speak with effortless eloquence. Refined in character and plain in manner, he once studied methods of refining Qi and cultivating the body under a Daoist priest on Shaoshi Mountain. In daily life, he traveled throughout the land in simple cloth clothes.

At the time, Yuan Zhen was serving as regional inspector in eastern Zhejiang, while Bai Juyi held a local post in Qiantang. Both were old friends of Li Sheng and admired his literary talent and Daoist arts, so they invited him to join them at a banquet. They asked, “You were born in peaceful times. Why not accept wealth and official stipends and remain a man in plain clothes for the rest of your life?”

Li Sheng replied, “I do not wish to be entangled in worldly affairs. Even if someone summons me, I will not go.” Then he slowly recited: “Born among the Confucians, I chanced upon an age of peace; the robes and headwear of the mysterious Way are burdensome, while plain clothes are light. Who would chase fame and profit along the worldly road? I would rather serve the Jade Emperor and return to Shangqing.” Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi greatly admired him. They kept him with them to drink and compose poems. After more than a year, Li Sheng left to travel elsewhere, and no one knew where he went after that.

In the first year of the Guangming era under Emperor Xizong of the Tang, Huang Chao captured the capital, and the empire thereafter fell into turmoil…

After the region east of the Yangtze had settled somewhat, Tian Jun, the military commander of Wanling (in the area of modern Xuancheng, Anhui), was very fond of Daoist arts. When Sheng arrived in Wanling, Tian Jun invited him to become his teacher and treated him with great honor.

Fifty years earlier, an old man from Wanling had seen Sheng when he was still a child. The old man said that Sheng’s appearance had scarcely changed since then, which everyone found astonishing. After Sheng joined Tian Jun, his complexion was lustrous and his movements light and nimble; he looked to be in his forties. His temples were black, his pupils square, and his teeth sharp, like a row of date pits. He liked to eat stone lotus seeds. In a short time he could chew through a sheng of them, splitting every seed in two—a feat no one else could imitate. He could drink two dou of wine without getting drunk. He could also go for long periods without food, sustaining his life by regulating his breath. Even in heavy snow he wore only a single layer of clothing, and his face grew more ruddy.

At times, he would point his middle finger at a lamp more than a zhang away, and the lamp would sway as if struck by a draft blowing through the room. No one knew what medicines he took. When people asked him about Daoist arts and the way to long life, he always made excuses and declined to answer. Later, he suddenly told people, “I am tired of this turmoil of war. I may as well leave.”

At that time, Emperor Zhaozong had been overthrown by Zhu Quanzhong. When Sheng heard the news, he was furious. The next day, he suddenly stopped breathing, yet his complexion did not change. People placed him in a coffin, only to find that nothing remained of him but an empty robe. It was said that he had lived to the age of 147. Less than a month later, Tian Jun was defeated, and the disaster also caught up with Sheng. People believed that Sheng had foreseen what was coming and had left in advance. Later, he was seen many times in Shu, looking just as he had before. People missed him and considered him an extraordinary being.

Yi Yongchang

No one knew where Yi Yongchang came from. In the late Tang, he traveled around the region east of the Yangtze wearing feathered garments and coarse clothes. He loved wine, lived without restraint, and behaved unconventionally. People called him “Yi the Madman,” meaning that Master Yi behaved wildly. His wife was very young, skilled in music, and accomplished in all kinds of women’s needlework. Sons of wealthy families had tried to tease her with jokes and suggestive remarks, but she met them with a stern expression that allowed no disrespect.

Yongchang liked to compose lyrics to “Wang Jiangnan.” He and his wife often sang them back and forth, oblivious to those around them. At night, they often stayed in ancient temples and abandoned shrines. Yongchang once “died” in Liling. During the Tianyou era of Emperor Aizong, he and his wife came to Nancheng County in Jianchang, where both died in a single night. A military commander surnamed Ding wrapped them in bamboo mats and hastily buried them in straw by the roadside.

A year later, the commander went to Zhongling. One morning, beneath a shelter in the North Market, he saw Yongchang and his wife singing “Wang Jiangnan.” Yongchang went with the commander to a tavern and drank until they were both thoroughly drunk. Then the couple, arm in arm, sang loudly as they left the city and crossed the river. They reached Youwei Monastery, where they wrote on the wall of the main hall, calling themselves “the Red Dragon God King of the Upper Realm.” Afterward, they entered the Western Mountains and never came out.

Hu Erlang

Hu Erlang once saw a Daoist lying drunk on the road through Chengdu. Feeling sorry for him, Hu would place a stone beneath his head whenever he found him sleeping drunk by the roadside.

One day, when the Daoist had sobered up, he saw Hu Erlang beside him and was deeply moved. He urged him to cultivate the Dao, singing a song to offer his counsel gently:

“If you wish to explore the hidden mysteries of cinnabar, searching far and wide may still not lead you to them. Alchemy depends on lead and mercury, and also on the gold within water. Gold must be refined with water; when water meets earth, it cannot transform by itself. Once you understand the timing of the fire and regulate it just right, you will naturally grasp the subtle secret of returning the elixir.

“People know perfectly well that death awaits them, yet cling only to purple robes and vermilion garments—the symbols of rank, wealth, and fame. They do not realize how swiftly time passes, and imagine that life will always go on as it is. Why not turn back, seek a teacher, and cultivate the Supreme Dao, rather than waste year after year until old age? Before a cup of wine, you know only how to drink yourself senseless; when you look in the mirror, you see that you are growing old and withered.

“Erlang, listen carefully to what I say: the Immortals’ homeland is close at hand, and there is neither cold nor heat there. This is all I have to tell you. Do not cling to pride and luxury and refuse to leave them behind. It is because I remember your kindness that I urge you so earnestly. Turn back at once and seek the path to liberation. I have composed a few lines to give you; before long, these words will be passed down to this day.”

Hu Erlang asked, “May I ask your surname, sir?” The Daoist replied, “My surname is Zhu.” He then went to a butcher’s shop, bought pig’s blood, poured it into an intestine, and put the intestine into urine for Hu Erlang to eat. Hu Erlang found it delicious, and only then realized that the man was an extraordinary being. After the Daoist left, Hu Erlang too vanished. When his family prepared to bury him, they found the coffin unusually light. On opening it, they saw that only a bamboo staff remained inside.

Zhang Ao

No one knows where Zhang Ao came from. After attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal in the late Tang dynasty, he often visited the residence of Li Chengying, the Master of Subtle Transformation at Yujuhua Cave in Chengdu. In the ninth month of the fifth year of the Xining era under Emperor Shenzong of Song (1072), Zhang Ao also sold medicine in the marketplace, though no one recognized him.

A scholar-official met him on the road and saw him sitting calmly without returning a greeting. This struck the official as strange. He also noticed Zhang Ao’s lofty bearing, quite unlike that of other medicine sellers. Only the next day did people learn that the man had been Master Zhang, but by then no one knew where he had gone.

Li Chengying, whose courtesy name was Yingzhi, could foretell people’s good and ill fortune. When Zhao Bian, Duke of Qingxian, was magistrate of Jiangyuan County, Li Chengying once said, “In a certain year, you will enter Shu.” Later, Zhao Bian was transferred as predicted, and was posted to Zizhou. Li Chengying then said he would be transferred to Chengdu, and this too came true.

Nie Zhongyou, the governor of Hanzhou, very much wanted to invite Li Chengying to visit, but Li refused, saying, “The Star of the Heavenly Prison is active in this man’s fate.” Nie Zhongyou never succeeded in inviting him. Not a single thing Li said failed to come true; perhaps this was because he had already attained the Dao.

Master Yu says:

Li Mengfu

No one knows where Li Mengfu was from. In the early years of the Kaiping era under Emperor Taizu of the Later Liang, he lived in Nanchang and was wild and unconventional. He would often hang a fish from his fishing rod and sing “The Fisherman’s Tune.” The song was widely loved, and people often competed to buy the lyrics. With the money he earned, he would go drinking at taverns.

At times, he would break through the ice and put the fish into the water. When it came back out, steam seemed to rise from its body. Whenever he met someone and struck up a conversation, he could compose a poem on the spot.

At the time, Zhong Chuan governed Nanchang. Li Qiong, the governor of Guizhou, wrote to Zhong Chuan: “Mengfu is my younger brother. I hope you will look after him.” Zhong Chuan sent people to search the markets and inns, but Li Mengfu had already disappeared.

Le Zichang

Master Le, whose given name was Zichang, was from Hailing. During the Kaiping era under Emperor Taizu of the Later Liang, he ran a brewery and enjoyed making friends with Daoists—people who cultivated the Dao. When Daoists came, he invited them to drink. Even when someone pretended to be a Daoist, he treated him just the same.

Later, a Daoist came and boasted, “Other people come here and drink only three sheng. How could that be enough for me?” Master Le asked how much he could drink. The Daoist replied, “There is no limit to what I can drink.” So Master Le let him keep drinking until dusk. When he looked again, the Daoist had collapsed, drunk, into a wine vat and died. Frightened, Master Le quietly carried the vat, Daoist and all, away and buried it.

Three days later, a fragrance rose from the burial place. Master Le dug it up and found that the wine in the vat had turned red like cinnabar. It was fragrant, smooth, and clear, quite extraordinary. Delighted, he said, “This must be an extraordinary being. Is he going to make immortals of my whole family?” He and his family drank all the wine, then rose into the clouds and departed. Only his nephew fell back down from the sky. The story goes that he had eaten garlic and so could not go with them. Even so, he later lived to be over a hundred. Afterward, people built the Tianqing Abbey, a Daoist monastery, at this spot.

Wu Hanxu

The Daoist Wu Hanxu, whose courtesy name was Heling, was striking in appearance, yet never came down from the mountain. He spent his days immersed in drink, and his home did not even have cooking utensils. The villagers called him “Wu the Gibbon.” He would often sleep for more than ten days without eating, and said, “If you want a life of ease, you have to be a little lazy; once you become diligent, you can no longer live at ease.”

He had never written anything, but one day suddenly composed “Song of Ascension,” which includes these lines: “The Jade Emperor, a revered Daoist deity, issues an edict and grants me an immortal office. A dragon exhales clouds, and a phoenix comes to lend its aid. Towers and pavilions suddenly appear before my eyes; the wondrous flowers and plants are things I have never seen. I go to the Great Luo Heaven, the celestial realm of Daoist belief, to view the world. It seems as small as if held in the palm of my hand. At the time, I did not hurry to ascend to heaven. Later, on a sudden whim, I carried the world with me to Yingzhou, the fabled immortal isle in the sea.”

In the second year of the Qingtai era under Emperor Lu of the Later Tang, Wu Hanxu ascended to heaven. There was also a hermit from Jingtai…

Master Iron-Crown Fan admired the Dao of Union with the Numinous and often rode a white ox to visit him. Ma Xifan, king of Chu, once took Master Fan as his teacher. Later, when Ma Xifan succeeded to the throne, Master Fan disappeared without a trace.

Li Yunqing

No one knew where Li Yunqing came from. He was well versed in the classics and histories, and especially skilled at writing poetry. He wrote twenty volumes of Collected Works from the Mountain Studio. Many prominent people of his time repeatedly summoned and recommended him, but he politely declined, refusing to enter official service. He often said, “To become a supreme perfected immortal, one must carefully observe the precepts and cultivate De (Virtue/Power), quietly accumulate merit through good deeds, and save living beings.”

He therefore devoted himself to studying medicine so he could heal the sick. Clever and perceptive, he never used medicines that harmed living creatures, relying only on minerals, stones, plants, and herbs. He said that among the methods devised by ancient immortals and passed down to later generations, some prescriptions used insects and fish as medicine. Because of this, some people could not readily ascend to immortality; this was a warning enough in itself.

At first, he lived in seclusion on West Mountain. Later, he moved to the hills north of Mount Lu. People seeking treatment came in an unbroken stream from across several prefectures and within a thousand miles, yet he never accepted payment. He abstained from sexual desire and avoided meat and fish. His home stood near the Temple of the Nine Heavens Envoy. Every morning and evening, he prayed: “I use medicine to relieve the people’s suffering, seeking neither power nor profit. Even in lives to come, I will never turn back from this path. The spirits are efficacious and all-knowing; surely they can protect me.”

He lived in the mountains for more than sixty years, his complexion glowing yellow and his eyes bright. Those who knew him all said this was the result of the good deeds he had quietly accumulated.

One day, he followed an herb gatherer deep into the mountains and suddenly saw a man wearing a round cap and purple robe. The man bowed to him and said, “I am the mountain god here. The True King, Envoy of the Nine Heavens, has issued an order: because you have earned merit by saving living beings, I am to bestow upon you the Great Clarity Nine Blossoms Divine Elixir, the Supreme Subtlety, Lord of Heaven’s Flying-Heaven Guideline and Earth-Walking Record, and a scroll written in golden slips and jade characters.” These were secret methods of the kind transmitted in Daoism: divine elixirs, cultivation methods, and talismanic texts. The divine figure added, “From now on, you should withdraw from the human world and devote yourself to cultivation.”

Li Yunqing bowed in thanks and asked, “May I meet the Envoy of the Nine Heavens?” The mountain god replied, “Though you have abstained from sexual desire and meat, you still associate with ordinary people. The defiling vapors of the mundane world have not yet left your body, so for now you cannot meet him.” The mountain god was about to hand him the divine elixir and jade text, but then vanished.

From then on, Li Yunqing withdrew from worldly life and built a hut in a secluded place on Sacred Governance Peak, where he practiced cultivation. From the reign of Emperor Muzong of Tang until the first day of the eighth month in the second year of Tongguang under Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, he ascended to immortality in broad daylight.

Zhang Jianming

Zhang Jianming was from Yan. In his youth, he was known for his Confucian learning and traveled throughout the Hedong region. Later, he left and went to …

After Daoist Tong had become familiar with the teachings of Laozi and Zhuang Zhou, Emperor Gaozu of the Later Jin summoned him in the ninth month of the fourth year of Tianfu (939), on the Xinmao day of the Jihai year. The emperor asked whether the Daoist Way could be used to govern the state.

Tong replied, “The so-called Dao explains the source of the mysterious transformations of all things. It is also the overarching principle that embraces Heaven and Earth and Yin-Yang, and gives expression to their De. One who has truly attained the Dao can govern Heaven and Earth even while resting quietly on a couch.”

Gaozu was impressed by the force of his words. He invited Tong into the inner palace to explain the Dao De Jing and made him his teacher. One day, hearing the palace drum announce the time, Tong asked Gaozu, “Your Majesty, do you hear the drum? Its sound is one. Among the five tones and twelve pitch standards—the ancient systems of musical notes and tuning—the drum itself belongs to none, yet it brings all sounds into harmony. ‘The One’ is the foundation of all things. Whoever can hold fast to the One can govern the world.” Gaozu praised his words. On the fifth day of the fifth month in the fifth year of Tianfu, the emperor bestowed on him the title “Master of the Mysterious Way.” After that, no one knew where he went.

Your servant Daoyi remarks: Zhang Jianming may be said to have deeply understood the Dao. Consider his reply to Gaozu: “One who has truly attained the Dao can govern Heaven and Earth even while resting quietly on a couch.” The Dao De Jing says, “Without going out the door, one can know what is happening in the world; without looking out the window, one can see the Way of Heaven. The farther one travels, the less one knows. Thus the sage knows without traveling, understands without looking, and accomplishes without acting.” Zhang Jianming’s reply conveys just this meaning. His statement that “whoever can hold fast to the One can govern the world” likewise draws on the thought of the Dao De Jing.

He Yuan

He Yuan’s place of origin is unknown. He once served under the Later Jin as an Auxiliary Director of the Ministry of Waterways, an official responsible for water management. After attaining the Dao, he lived forever and never died. When Emperor Zhenzong of the Song made his eastern pilgrimage to Mount Tai, He Yuan met him by the roadside, paid his respects, and left. That evening, the emperor was reviewing the register of those who had paid their respects at the imperial residence. When he learned what had happened, he was greatly astonished. At the end of the register was a poem He Yuan had written.

The first poem said: “Clear-headed days are always few; drunken days, always many. I sing of the wind and admire the scenery, savoring the Great Way with a lofty mind. Those in the deep palace, after all, see less deeply than I, a lonely minister. The world is in turmoil—what can one do but face the wine?”

The second poem said: “Through three reigns, my achievements have stood out alone; though I am old, my concern for the people has not waned. I hope that people throughout the four quarters of the world may all drink themselves merry together. How could ordinary people understand this wish?”

The emperor ordered the relevant officials to search for He Yuan, but they could not find him. In the early years of the Tiansheng era under Emperor Renzong of the Song, He Yuan sent his disciple Yu Cheng to court with images of the Buddha and Laozi, valued at several hundred thousand. There was also a man named Qiao Tong who, when young, contracted a severe case of leprosy. He left home, gave up on life, and settled in a remote mountain. Later, he met He Yuan, the Auxiliary Director of the Ministry of Waterways. He Yuan taught him to consume pine resin and similar substances, and gradually guided him in cultivating the Dao. At the age of eighty, Qiao Tong could still go up and down the mountain with ease, and he accompanied He Yuan on several journeys east.

Su Shi (literary name Zizhan) said, “My teacher once traveled through Mizhou. On the road at Changshan, he met you and took a great liking to you.” Su Shi wanted him to stay, but he declined, saying, “My teacher has already arranged to meet me at Meng Mountain on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.” Su Shi then wrote a poem to send him off and sent five quatrains to the Water Bureau. After that, no one in the world ever saw the Water Bureau again.

Guo Shuxian

Guo Shuxian was from Luoyang and lived during the Five Dynasties. Even as a boy, he could write prose. He excelled in history, calligraphy, and the study of written characters, and was also well versed in the nine divisions of the Confucian classics. At the age of seven, he took the imperial examinations as a child candidate. The Duke of Xiangyin of the Later Han summoned him to serve as an assistant.

Later, he quarreled with Dong Yi, the keeper of records, over a matter and walked away in a huff. Emperor Taizu of the Later Zhou appointed him a Doctor of the Book of Changes. In the early years of the Song, he again argued in court, this time with the investigating censor Fu Zhaowen, and was demoted to the post of registrar in Qianzhou. When his term ended, he resigned and held no further office, wandering at will through the regions around Qizhou, Yongzhou, Shanzhou, and Luoyang.

When he met people, whatever their rank or status, he often called himself “Miao.” When he came upon mountains and rivers, he would often stay for ten days or half a month. At times, his food ran nearly out, and he went for dozens of days without eating. In the height of summer, he bared his body to the sun, yet no sweat stained his clothes. In the bitter cold of winter, he broke through the ice to bathe; the ice had barely begun to melt.

Emperor Taizong of the Song had long heard of his reputation, so he summoned him to the capital and arranged for him to stay at the home of Dou Shenxing, a senior eunuch. Guo Shuxian had kept a fine long beard, but suddenly shaved it off. When Dou Shenxing asked in surprise why, he replied, “I simply wanted to imitate you.” Dou Shenxing flew into a rage. Emperor Taizong considered his conduct improper and appointed him registrar at the Directorate of Education, then later assigned him to the Imperial Academy.

Guo Shuxian became even more unrestrained. He often drank and spoke frankly about current affairs, so he was demoted to Dengzhou and later sent to Lin Yi in Qizhou. He said to the officials escorting him, “I am going now.” Then he dug a hole in the ground, apparently large enough for his face, bent down to look inside, and died. He was hastily buried by the roadside. Several months later, an old friend retrieved his body, intending to give him a proper burial, but only his clothes and bedding remained. Thus people said he had become an immortal through “corpse liberation.”

Chen Tao

Chen Tao was from Shupu. In his youth, he loved learning, excelled in astronomy, and was skilled at poetry. Foreseeing the decline of the Li house of Southern Tang, he gave up all thought of entering official service and built a dwelling on Western Mountain, where he delighted in composing poetry and pursued cultivation. His Poems on Various Pleasures of Leisurely Living circulated in the world.

During the Kaibao era of Emperor Taizu of the Song, someone saw an old man with his hair tied in horn-shaped knots and dressed in coarse cloth, entering the city with an alchemist—a practitioner of the Elixir Way—to sell medicine. After earning some money, they bought dried fish and sat facing each other beside the stove.

While eating and drinking, he behaved as though no one else were present. When drunk, he would sing. Others thought he was a servant woman in the household of someone surnamed Tao. One account says that he had attained the Dao and become an immortal. Today, a study hall still stands at Xiangcheng Temple on Mount Xi.

Sun Cheng

No one knew where Sun Cheng was from. He was skilled at writing poetry and could also foresee fortune and misfortune, good and ill. When he came to Mount Lu, he once inscribed a poem at the Temple of the Nine Heavens Envoy:

“Alone I enter the deep, secluded palace and pay homage to the Perfected One, supreme among the true beings. I burn incense not for the sake of a humble, impoverished body. On the sandbanks along both sides of the Qinhuai River lie nothing but white bones; the blood of the people in a thousand households by the Penpu—waters in the area of present-day Jiujiang—has stained the dust red. Amid Mount Lu’s clouds and mist, who is the master? And to whom belong the clear breeze and bright moon at Tiger Creek? The Prefect of Jiujiang diligently attends to the affairs of state, awaiting the imperial army’s permission to cross the vital ford.”

Within a few years, turmoil gripped Jinling—present-day Nanjing—and Jiujiang was heavily besieged. The people suffered greatly in the upheaval of war, and Sun Cheng’s poem proved prophetic. Later, Sun Cheng died in Nanchang. People threw his body into the river, but it floated upstream. Everyone found this strange and believed that he had attained the Dao and used the technique of corpse liberation to leave the world and become an immortal.

Xu Jian

Xu Jian, courtesy name Jieshi, was from Lujiang. Some said he was descended from Xu Mu, a chief administrator of the Jin dynasty. He had unusual features and stood over seven feet tall. He wore a headcloth and straw sandals, with a robe that reached only to his calves, and carried no luggage apart from a cloth bag on his back. By nature, he loved drinking and was skilled at writing prose, especially poetry. He once brought his policy essays to present to the ruler of Southern Tang, and also offered poems to the Secretariat Gentleman Xu Xuan, but later he left in a huff.

In every season, summer and winter alike, he carried a large fan and called himself “a countryman of Jiangnan.” On the fan he wrote this quatrain:

“I chant only to give form to the subtle delight within my heart;

With wine, I can forget the fame I leave behind.

I wish only for a long life of leisure, with poetry and wine;

The breeze and moon over one stream, shared in serenity.”

He also inscribed a poem at Jianji Monastery, a Daoist temple:

“I have long lamented that the true breeze lay hidden for a thousand years;

Now, at last, I roam freely in the grotto-heavens.

Pines and Chinese catalpas bear the air of antiquity; the altar grounds are still.

No phoenixes or cranes arrive, and the Milky Way seems especially clear.

The Mao family well has grown cold; the immortal elixir within has long since vanished.

The Xuanzong stele is broken, and my dreaming soul is troubled by it.

The way to long life lies plainly before us;

There is no need to dwell in the dusty world and lament in vain that our hair has turned white.”

During the Qiande era of Emperor Taizu of Song, his collected works circulated widely. He was quiet and sparing of words, and made no effort to seek fame. He had no fixed home and often went to Jianji Monastery or White Deer Grotto, though no one knew where he was headed. When he needed to bathe, he went to the stream without even loosening his belt. After bathing, he came out and spread his clothes on a rock to dry. A large rock in the ravine at Jianji Monastery is still said to be the one on which Xu Jian once dried his clothes.

Xu Jian owned a cauldron with a capacity of three sheng. Whenever he obtained fish, he did not remove their scales or entrails.

They sometimes boiled their food and sometimes roasted it. They used no vinegar or salt, and ate it as soon as it was cooked. They made no distinction between meat and vegetables, eating whatever food was available.

Fan Shan, a personal name, crossed south from the north and, during the Taiping Xingguo era of the Great Song, met Jian, also a personal name, while traveling along the Jiangnan grain transport route. Fan Shan urged Jian to stay and cultivate at Jianji Abbey, but Jian only furrowed his brow and said nothing. Fan Shan then took out three hundred strings of his stipend money for wine and handed Jian a voucher for the amount. Jian merely acknowledged it, without thanking him. Half a year passed, and he never mentioned the matter. When someone spoke to Jian on Fan Shan’s behalf to ask about the money, Jian went to buy fish and wine. When he had drunk happily, he even got up and danced in a drunken state.

Someone took the voucher to the authorities to borrow money for wine, and Fan Shan went along with him. Later, when Fan Shan was about to leave office, he asked Jian to return the voucher. Only then did he discover that it had long since disappeared without a trace. This was more or less what Jian was like: broad-minded and unconstrained, following his own nature with carefree ease.

Later, Jian would sometimes go to Maoshan and sometimes to Jiuhua Mountain, going wherever his inclination took him. Those around him could never guess where he might be. No one ever saw him light a fire to cook. Once, when he had arrived in Yangxian, he crossed Xijin one day and suddenly strode across the surface of the water. Everyone was astonished and thought he must be a true immortal. At the end of the Jingde era under Emperor Zhenzong, he died in Jinling. More than a year later, Chen Jing, a vice director in the Ministry of War, moored his boat by the Qinhuai River and said that he had seen Jian come to visit him at Hongjing two days earlier. The visiting card Jian had left at the door was still there. When people opened Jian’s tomb, however, his body was nowhere to be seen. They therefore believed that he had undergone corpse liberation, a Daoist tradition in which a cultivator’s body disappears as he sheds his mortal form and becomes an immortal.

Shen Lin

Shen Lin, whose courtesy name was Tingrui, was from Junyang. He was the second son of Shen Bin, a director in the Tang dynasty Ministry of Personnel. From childhood, Shen Lin’s conduct was unusual. He was fond of the Daoist principles of quietude and Wuwei (non-action). Naturally devoted to his parents, he built a hut beside his father’s grave after his death and observed mourning there for three years. At the time, black crows gathered at the gravesite.

Later, Shen Lin left his wife and went to cultivate the Dao at Magu Mountain; another account says he did so at Yusi Mountain. He wore only a coarse cloth tunic throughout the year, never changing it even in wind and snow. When people gave him new clothes, he would often pass them on to the poor, and sometimes simply throw them away. He enjoyed drinking and was also skilled at writing poetry. People of his time called him “Daoist Shen.”

He would often walk straight into the prefectural or county offices and sit down on the steps. One day, while the county magistrate was hearing a case, Shen Lin arrived drunk. The magistrate teased him, asking, “Daoist Shen, when will you attain the Dao?” Shen Lin immediately wrote this poem on the table:

“Why ask when I shall attain the Dao?

My appointed time in the Purple Palace and Pure Capital is already set.

I gather the medicinal plants with my own hands, yet people do not recognize them;

My body bears immortal bones—how could ordinary people know?

When I write Fulu, dragons and serpents race about;

When I hold a ritual seal, I can move seas and mountains.

Who will one day accompany me as I ascend to the blue heavens?

The azure youth will drive my carriage, and purple clouds will follow me.”

The “Purple Palace and Pure Capital” in the poem refer to the Daoist realms of the immortals. Fulu and ritual seals are written charms and seals used in Daoist rites and practices.

Shen Lin went barefoot and could walk hundreds of miles in a day, traveling back and forth to Yusi Mountain. He made his home among floating clouds or stayed in the wilderness. During the Baoda era of the Southern Tang, he went to the Jing Si Academy on Yusi Mountain to register as a Daoist. He donned a Daoist cap and robes and cultivated his breath in his room, where outsiders rarely saw him. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song…

On the day of the Shangyuan Festival in the second year of Yongxi (985), near noon, he arranged his clothes and cap, closed the door, burned incense, and sat quietly with his hands clasped in a meditative Daoist gesture. He then passed away. His fellow practitioners buried his body west of Qunyu Peak and east of Tiezhu Ridge.

On the twentieth day of the following month, the Daoist Zeng Zhaoying of Heshan came to visit. On the way to Yusi Mountain, he encountered the Daoist and asked, “Where are you going?” The Daoist replied, “For a time, I am going to Xuandu, the Daoist realm of the immortals. Before long, I will enter Mount Lu.” He left Zeng Zhaoying two scrolls of the Scripture of Salvation and a poem:

“North, south, east, or west—will we meet again in this human world?

I once lived on Yusi Mountain; now I am returning to Xuandu.

Clouds drift far away with the sky; spring sounds fall among lonely rocks.

I have an appointment with those in the Cinnabar Heavens,

to gather stone calamus.”

Zeng Zhaoying thought his words extraordinary. He asked at the palace and learned from the Daoist’s disciples that their master had already ascended to immortality and departed. Zeng produced the scriptures and poem; everyone recognized the handwriting as his and was greatly astonished.

Zeng Zhaoying and his younger brother went to inspect the grave. Beside it, they found a sheet of paper bearing these words:

“Though you buried me in vain before Jade Mountain,

who knew I had shed my form, like a cicada leaving its shell?

Surely my original spirit has returned to the Purple Palace,

and beneath the Yellow Springs no corpse has been left behind.

In my medicine pouch remain only the instructions for refining the elixir;

in the human world, an essay on awakening to the Dao is all that remains.

How lamentable are the fleeting affairs of life, from ancient times to the present;

beneath Be Mang Mountain, the plants and trees still flourish.”

When they examined his grave, they found a passage more than a foot wide leading to the left. Opening the tomb, they found only an empty coffin. Some believed that he had departed through corpse liberation, a Daoist means of escaping the body and attaining immortality.

Many people in the south knew him. He once sent a poem to his old friend Chen Zhizhou:

“Since we parted,

there has been little hope of meeting again.

The red sun melts in the Golden Cauldron;

in the Dantian, purple fungi are cultivated.

I cannot make an appointment to visit you;

when you think of me, surely you have a poem to send?

Do not envy the world’s splendor:

how long can a hundred years of life last?”

Chen Zhizhou later passed the Presented Scholar examination during the Duangong era and was appointed magistrate of Hengyang. He remained in office until the fall of Southern Tang.

The Biographies of the Southern Tang record that Shen Bin’s second son, Tingrui, understood Daoist arts. He was fond of wine and ate no grain. In both cold and heat, he wore only a coarse hemp robe, never changing it for decades. He often walked barefoot and could travel hundreds of li in a day. He lived in the mountains and forests, sleeping outdoors, and spent most of his time around Yusi and Fuyun Mountains. Even in old age he showed no sign of weakness. Later, no one knew what became of him.

Huang Wanhufu

Huang Wanhufu, a Daoist of Wushan, often used Fulu and medicines to help people. When the ruler of Shu, Wang Jian, summoned him, he spread a straw mat on the water and rode upstream, reaching Chengdu in a single day.