《歷世真仙體道通鑑》Vol. 5

Huang Chuping was a native of Danxi (some records write "Lanxi"). When he was fifteen, his family sent him out to tend sheep. A Daoist who saw that he was kind and careful took him into a stone chamber on Mount Jinhua. For more than forty years, Huang Chuping lived at ease and never once thought of his family again.

His elder brother, Huang Chuqi, searched for him far and wide, but for many years there was no word of him. Eventually, in a marketplace, Chuqi met a Daoist skilled in divination and asked him: "My younger brother went out to herd sheep and vanished more than forty years ago. I do not know whether he is alive or dead. Please divine this for me." The Daoist replied: "Long ago, in the mountains of Jinhua, I met a man named Huang Chuping. Could he be your younger brother?" Chuqi, both startled and delighted, followed the Daoist to find him, and indeed the two brothers met.

Overcome with joy and grief at once, the brothers talked at length. Then Chuqi asked, "Where are the sheep?" Chuping answered, "They are on the east side of the mountain." Chuqi went to look and saw nothing, only white stones piled up here and there. He said to his brother, "There are no sheep on the east side of the mountain." Chuping said, "The sheep are right there, but you cannot see them, Elder Brother." The two went together to look. Chuping gave a sharp shout, and all the white stones rose up and became tens of thousands of sheep.

Chuqi said, "My younger brother has attained the Way of the immortals alone. Could I learn it too?" Chuping replied, "So long as you sincerely love the Dao, you can accomplish it." Chuqi then left his wife and children behind and stayed to follow his younger brother. Together they took pine resin and poria (medicinal substances used in Daoist cultivation and also in traditional medicine). It is said that after fifty thousand days of this practice, they could conceal their forms whether sitting or standing, cast no shadow even at noon, and their faces still looked like those of children. Later the two brothers returned together to their hometown, found that nearly all their relatives had already died, and so they departed once more.

When they were about to leave, Huang Chuping passed his method of cultivation on to Nan Bofeng. Nan Bofeng changed his surname to Chisongzi (Red Pine Master). Huang Chuqi changed his style name to Lu Ban, and Huang Chuping changed his to Songzi (Pine Master). From then on, dozens of people who took this preparation became immortals. Mount Jinhua now belongs to Wuzhou, and stone sheep remain on the mountain. Another account holds that Huang Chuping lived on Mount Yunyang in Chaling, known as Chisongzi, and cultivated on the sunny side of the Southern Peak; this is the place referred to, and there stands a pine tree ten thousand zhang tall.

Shen Jian

Shen Jian was a native of Danyang. His family had for generations served as local officials, but Shen Jian alone devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Dao and refused to take office. He studied daoyin (breathing and bodily exercises for nourishing life), fushi (the ingestion of elixirs and herbal preparations), and methods for prolonging life and returning to youthful vigor. He was also skilled at healing, and patients, whether gravely or lightly ill, were cured upon seeing him. Thousands of households revered him.

Each time Jian set out on a long journey, they would entrust three to five servants, a donkey, and several dozen sheep to someone else's care, giving each servant and each animal a pill. They told the host, "Just clear out some rooms to house them. There is no need to trouble yourself with providing food." Having said this, Jian took their leave.

The host was greatly astonished and thought, "This gentleman has entrusted me with more than fifteen servants and animals, yet has left not a single coin. What am I to do?" After Jian had gone, the host brought meals to the servants, but as soon as they caught the smell of the food, the servants felt nauseated and vomited, not even glancing at it. The host then offered grass to the donkey and sheep, but they shied away and would not eat, and some even tried to butt people. Only then did the host grow alarmed.

More than a hundred days later, the servants' bodies had become glossy and sleek, quite unlike how they had looked when they were eating. The donkey and sheep had also grown plump and healthy. After three years, Jian returned. They gave each servant, the donkey, and each sheep a pill, and these creatures began to eat and drink as they had before. From then on, Jian gave up grain and no longer took food. They could rise into the air and fly, coming and going at intervals. After more than three hundred years, Jian vanished without a trace, and no one knew where they had gone.

Hua Ziqi

Hua Ziqi was a native of Huainan and had studied under Master Luli. The techniques (fangshu) they obtained included the Shanyin Lingbao Formulas, and some say also the Yiluo Feigui Zhi, the Baiyu Zhengji, the Pingheng An He, and other formulas. After taking the preparations according to these formulas, Hua Ziqi regained a youthful appearance, could travel five hundred li in a day, and could lift a thousand jin. Within a single year, they shed their skin ten times. Later, they attained the Dao and departed as an immortal. The place where they lived was called Ziqi Mountain, which now lies within Jianning Prefecture.

Wang Yuan

Wang Yuan, courtesy name Fangping, was a native of Donghai. Recommended for filial conduct and integrity, they were appointed Gentleman of the Palace and gradually rose to the rank of Grand Master of the Court. They were broadly learned in the Five Classics and also skilled in astronomy and prophetic texts (tuchen). They were thoroughly familiar with the essentials of the Hetu and Luoshu, and could foresee the turning points of the rise and fall of the realm, as well as the auspicious and inauspicious fortunes of the Nine Provinces.

When Emperor Huan of the Han heard of them, the emperor summoned them many times, but Wang Yuan refused to take office. The court sent men to forcibly escort them from the commandery to the capital. Wang Yuan lowered their head and closed their mouth, refusing to respond to the imperial summons. They also wrote more than four hundred characters on the panels of the palace gate, recording events yet to come. The emperor, disgusted by these words, ordered them scraped away. But as soon as the surface characters were removed, the characters beneath reappeared, and the ink even sank deep into the wood. Fangping never returned after that.

Their descendants and fellow villagers passed down their deeds for generations. Chen Dan, Grand Commandant from the same commandery, built a Daoist chamber for Fangping and visited it morning and evening, seeking only their blessings and hoping to learn the arts of the Dao from them. Fangping lived in Chen Dan's household for more than thirty years. The Chen family suffered no illness or mourning, the servants all remained unharmed, the domestic livestock multiplied and thrived, and the yields of their fields and silkworm harvests increased several-fold. Chen Dan's official rank rose steadily. Later...

Wang Fangping told Cai Dan, "My time has come, and I must leave; I will not stay any longer. I will set out at noon tomorrow."

At the appointed hour, Fangping died. Cai Dan knew that he had transformed and departed, so he did not dare to lay the body on the ground. He could only weep in grief and sigh, saying, "The master has left me behind. Whom can I rely on from now on?" He prepared a coffin and other necessities, burned incense, and went to the bedside to dress Fangping in his clothing. After three days and three nights, Fangping suddenly vanished. His sash was still tied, and what remained had the shape of a snake's shed skin.

More than a hundred days after Fangping left, Cai Dan died. Some said that Cai Dan had obtained Fangping's Way and, too, transformed and became an immortal. Others said that Fangping, knowing Cai Dan was about to die, had left him first.

Fangping traveled east into Mount Kuocang, passed through the land of Wu, and arrived at the home of Cai Jing at Xumen. After Wang Fangping attained the Way, he took his place as Perfected of the Western Pole, Western City, commanding fifteen thousand immortal retainers and guarding the Nine Immortal Treasure Chamber Heaven of Mount Qingcheng. The Zhongzhou Tujing records that in front of the Jingde Monastery at the Temple of Yu there is a mountain where Wang Fangping attained the Way; its former name was Xianду Palace (Palace of the Immortal Capital). In the first year of the Xianping reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song, [the court] bestowed upon it one hundred and twenty scrolls of imperial calligraphy by Emperor Taizong; in the first year of the Jingde reign, it was further granted the plaque that hangs there today.

Cai Jing

Cai Jing was an ordinary commoner, yet his appearance and bone structure revealed the roots of one destined for immortality. Fangping knew this and went to his home. The Pingjiang Fu Zhi records the residence of Cai Jing. Fangping said to Cai Jing, "Your fate is destined for transcendence beyond the mundane world, so I have come to receive you and enroll you among the ranks of the immortal officials. It is regrettable that you did not cultivate the Way in your youth; now your qi is scant and your flesh abundant, so you cannot ascend directly to Heaven. You must instead employ shijie (liberation through a corpse, the method by which one departs the mundane world and becomes an immortal by leaving behind a physical form). You will soon depart as swiftly as one passing through a dog's hole. Once I have told you the essential matters, I will leave."

Not long after Fangping departed, Cai Jing suddenly felt a fever through his entire body, as though burned by fire, longing to be drenched with water, like scorched earth meeting rain. After three days of this, his body gradually wasted away until even the bones were gone. He then entered the house, covered himself with a quilt, and suddenly vanished. When they examined the quilt, they found within it a shell of skin, head and feet intact, like the shed skin of a cicada.

More than ten years after his departure, Cai Jing suddenly returned home. He had been old when he left, but upon his return he had regained youthful vigor and strength, and his hair had turned completely black. He told his family, "On the seventh day of the seventh month, Lord Wang will come here. On that day, prepare several hundred hu of wine for his retinue to drink." Having said this, he departed again.

Following his words, the family borrowed many wine jars and brewed several hundred hu of wine, setting it out in the courtyard to await the visit. On that day, Fangping indeed arrived. Before he reached Cai Jing's house, people simultaneously heard the sounds of gold drums and bamboo pipes.

As the sound gradually drew nearer, the family grew astonished and could not tell what it was. Only when Wang Fangping's procession arrived did the Cai household finally see it. Wang Fangping wore a Yuanyou crown (Yuanyou guan), a vermilion robe, a tiger-head-shaped sachet and five-colored cords at his waist, and carried a yellow sword. His yellow beard was sparse, and his stature was neither tall nor short. He rode in a five-canopied carriage pulled by five dragons of different colors. Banners, ceremonial guards, and attendants marched before and behind him, and his majesty was like that of a great general on campaign.

The retinue formed twelve units totaling five hundred soldiers, and each of them had their mouths sealed with beeswax. A musical band rode on qilin and descended from the heavens, gathering above the Cai residence rather than walking on the ground. Once Wang Fangping arrived, his attendants all vanished, and only he was seen sitting alone. After a while he summoned Cai Jing's father and brothers, then sent someone to greet Ma Gu. The Cai family did not know what kind of immortal Ma Gu was.

Wang Fangping had a message relayed: "I have not come to the human world for a long time, and today I happen to be here. I imagine Ma Gu might be able to come and talk with me for a while. I wonder whether it would be convenient for her?" Before long, the messenger returned. Only a voice was heard relaying words, and the messenger himself could not be seen. The messenger conveyed Ma Gu's reply: "Ma Gu bows twice. I have only considered that we have been separated by more than five hundred years, and given the proper order of seniority and rank, I dare not presume to come and pay my respects. Learning that you are here, I am delighted, and I have long wished to see you. I should go in person, but I have just received an imperial summons to inspect Penglai, the immortal mountain in the sea. I am about to set out, and once the task is done I shall return and pay my respects in person. I hope you will not leave for the time being."

About two shichen (roughly four hours) later, Ma Gu indeed arrived. As before, the sound of horses and men was heard first. Her attendants numbered about half those of Wang Fangping. As soon as Ma Gu arrived, the whole Cai family saw her: she was a beautiful woman who appeared to be about eighteen years old, with her hair coiled atop her head and the rest flowing down to her waist. Her garments bore patterns. They were not brocade, yet they gleamed dazzlingly, and their weave and style were unlike anything in the world.

Ma Gu entered and paid her respects to Wang Fangping, who rose to greet her. After the two were seated, each set out a banquet. The plates were of gold and the cups of jade, and most of the dishes were various flowers, whose fragrance filled the rooms and spilled out beyond them. During the feast, someone served out meat that smelled like meat smoked over roasting cypress wood. Some said it was qilin flesh.

Ma Gu said, "Since I began serving the perfected immortals, I have personally witnessed the Eastern Sea turn into mulberry fields three times. Recently I went to Penglai and found the sea shallower than before, its volume reduced by about half. Will that place turn back into high land once more?" Wang Fangping laughed and replied, "The sages all say that dust will rise from the sea again."

Ma Gu wished to see Cai Jing's mother and wife, but Cai Jing's wife had just...

The female immortal Magu saw that Cai Jing had already been in labor for several dozen days and understood his condition. “Ah, stop now. Don’t go any farther,” she said. She asked for a little rice and casually scattered it. The grains fell to the ground and all turned into cinnabar, the bright red mineral of Daoist legend, often regarded as a substance used in alchemy.

Wang Fangping laughed and said, “Magu has deliberately taken the form of a young person to make a joke. I’m old now and no longer enjoy these tricks of transformation.” Then he said to Cai Jing and his family, “I’d like to give you some wine. It comes from the Heavenly Kitchen, where the immortals’ food is prepared. It is rich and potent, and unsuitable for mortals to drink; it might harm your stomach and intestines. I’ll dilute it with water. Don’t take offense.” He took a dou of water, mixed in a sheng of wine, stirred it well, and gave it to Cai Jing’s family. They drank about a dou’s worth and remained drunk for a long time. When the wine was gone, Wang Fangping said to those around him, “That’s not enough. Go and get some more.” He gave someone a string of coins and sent them to buy wine from the Old Woman of Yuhang. Soon, the messenger returned with an oilskin flask containing about five dou of wine and relayed the old woman’s words: “I fear earthly wine is not good enough for an immortal to drink.”

Magu’s fingernails were unlike a person’s; they resembled a bird’s claws. Cai Jing thought to himself, “When my back itches, it would be nice to have those claws scratch it.” Wang Fangping already knew what Cai Jing was thinking. He had Cai Jing dragged away and beaten with a whip, then rebuked him: “Magu is a divine being, and you actually want her to scratch your back with her claws?” Cai Jing felt the blows landing on his back but could not see who was holding the whip. Wang Fangping told him, “Do you think my whip is something you can get just anywhere?”

A neighbor surnamed Chen lived next door to Cai Jing’s family. He had once served as a county commandant. Hearing that immortals had come to Cai Jing’s house, he went there, bowed, and asked to meet them. Wang Fangping called him over and spoke with him. Chen then asked to stay by Wang Fangping’s side and serve him, as Cai Jing did. Wang Fangping said, “Just stand facing the sun.” He looked at Chen from behind and said, “Alas, your heart and conduct are not upright. I cannot teach you the Way of the immortals. I should give you a position in the human world instead.” As he was leaving, he put a talisman and a document into a small case and handed it to Chen. “These will not free you from the human world, but they can prolong your life. Your allotted lifespan should reach one hundred years. You can use them to ward off calamities and cure illnesses: if a sick person’s allotted lifespan has not run out and they have committed no offense, take the talisman to their home and their illness will be cured. If an evil ghost that feeds on sacrificial offerings of blood is causing harm, take this talisman and order the officials who arrest evil ghosts to seize it and carry it away.”

The Ghost Ruler must also know the gravity of the matter. When a specific situation arises, he may handle it as circumstances require. Chen Wei once used this talisman to treat illness, and it proved effective. Hundreds of households believed in it and used it. Chen Wei lived to the age of one hundred and ten before he died. After his death, his descendants continued to use the talisman, but it never worked again.

After Wang Fangping left, several hundred hu of wine that had been brewed in Chen Wei’s home and set out in the courtyard all disappeared. Yet no one saw anyone drink it. Chen Wei’s parents asked him privately, “Where is Lord Wang usually?” Chen Wei replied, “He often oversees affairs at Kunlun and travels between Mount Luofu and Mount Guancang. Each of these three mountains has palaces. Lord Wang is often occupied with the affairs of the Celestial Bureau, traveling between Heaven and Earth dozens of times in a single day. Matters of life and death on the Five Sacred Peaks are also first reported to Lord Wang.”

When Lord Wang traveled, he rode a single yellow qilin, accompanied by a solemn and orderly procession. Wherever he went, the spirits of the mountains and seas came out to welcome and pay their respects. People also stopped him along the way to report matters.

Several decades later, Chen Wei returned home for another visit. Wang Fangping wrote him a letter in large, widely spaced characters that were irregular in form. Before then, people had not known how far Wang Fangping’s renown had spread; only at this point did they learn of it. Chen Wei’s family still keeps Lord Wang’s handwritten letter and the talisman passed down with it, stored in a small box. They have been handed down for four generations.

She Zheng

She Zheng, whose courtesy name was Xuanzhen, was from Badong. He spoke of events from the time of the First Emperor of Qin with such clarity that it seemed he had witnessed them himself. Near the end of the Han dynasty, he entered the region of Wu with twenty disciples. She Zheng kept his eyes closed so often that he would not open them even while walking. His disciples followed him for twenty years and never saw him open his eyes. Later, one disciple pleaded with him persistently, and She Zheng finally opened them. As he did, a sound like thunder rang out, and his gaze shone like lightning. The disciples were so shaken that they fell prostrate on the ground and could not rise for a long time. She Zheng then closed his eyes again.

She Zheng had succeeded in cultivating the Dao. No one saw what he ate or how he practiced. The methods he taught his disciples, however, included circulating Qi through regulated breathing, abstaining from sexual relations, and taking small pills made from stone essence. It is said that Li Babai called She Zheng “the four-hundred-year-old child.”

I, Dao Yi, say: The Dao De Jing says, “The five colors make people blind,” and also, “The sage acts for the belly, not for the eyes.” The immortals of old also said, “The Hun resides in the liver, not in the eyes,” and, “Close your eyes and see your own eyes.” This means keeping one’s spirit-mind within, undisturbed by external things. In this way, even if Mount Tai stands before you, the eyes will neither be drawn to it nor moved by its sight.

One who has entered the right path now often keeps his eyes closed; even when walking, he does not open them. Does this not mean that “the sage values the inner and does not pursue outward appearances”? The spirits use this to teach their disciples and open their wisdom. Can later generations who study the Dao also accord with this and gain insight from it?

Sun Bo

Sun Bo was from Hedong. Clear-minded and quick-witted, he excelled at writing, composed a hundred poems, and could recite tens of thousands of characters from the scriptures. In his later years, he began to study the Dao and learned the arts of Mozi (here referring to legendary occult techniques). He could make plants, trees, and metals shine with fire, lighting up dozens of miles. He could also transform himself into fire and breathe flames from his mouth. When he pointed at a tree, its leaves were instantly scorched and withered; with another gesture, the tree returned to its original state. He could also transform each of the soldiers in an army into a ball of fire.

Once, someone in the army hid a servant. After the servant escaped, people searched for several days but could not find him. Sun Bo said to the servant’s owner, “I’ll set fire to the barracks for you, and the servant is sure to come out. Keep watch and catch him.” Sun Bo then tossed a red pellet into the camp. Before long, flames soared into the sky, and the servant ran out, just as Sun Bo had predicted, and was caught. Sun Bo tossed down a blue pellet, and the fire went out. The charred buildings and belongings all returned to their original state.

After Sun Bo used his arts to start a fire, no one else could put it out, even with water; only he could make the flames die down. He could walk through deep water without getting wet, and keep those accompanying him dry as well. He could also spread mats across the surface of the water and bring people there to sit, drink, eat, and make music. They could even dance on the water. The group could feast together all day without sinking or getting wet.

When sick people came to Sun Bo for treatment, he did nothing more than point at them with his finger and speak, and they would recover. He could also enter the stone walls of mountains and the great boulders on the ground. At first, his back and both ears could still be seen sticking out of the stone; after a while, his whole body disappeared inside it. He could swallow dozens of swords and knives, and pass in and out through a wall as if it had a hole. He could draw a mirror into the shape of a sword, or bend a sword into a mirror. These transformations could last for a long time; only when Sun Bo pointed again would the objects return to their original forms. Later, he went into the mountains to gather herbs and refine divine elixirs, and in the end became an immortal and departed.

Ban Meng

Ban Meng’s place of origin is unknown. Some say she was a woman. She could fly all day, sit in the air and talk with people, and enter the ground.

He first sank into the ground from his feet, then up to his waist and chest, until gradually only the crown and headcloth on his head remained aboveground. After a long time, these too sank completely, and he disappeared. He then pierced the ground with his finger, and a spring well appeared at once, providing water to draw and drink. He could also draw up roof tiles and send them flying into other people’s homes. He gathered up the thousands of mulberry and fruit trees in those homes and piled them together like a mountain. After more than ten days, he blew on them, and everything returned to its original place, as though nothing had happened.

He could also set out ink and spread paper, chew the ink, and spray it onto the paper. Words would appear across the sheet, each with its own meaning. Later, he took wine and elixirs and lived to the age of four hundred. His appearance grew younger still, and in the end he entered Mount Daye and departed as an immortal.

Wang Gang

Tianmenzi, a Daoist name, had the surname Wang and given name Gang. He was especially skilled in methods of nourishment and restoration. His book says:

Yang Qi arises during the hour of Yin (roughly three to five in the morning) and belongs to the pure essence of Wood. Yin Qi arises during the hour of Shen (roughly three to five in the afternoon) and belongs to the pure essence of Metal. When Wood encounters Metal, it is always harmed; thus Yin can weaken Yang. Women apply powder to their faces to take on the whiteness associated with Metal. For this reason, perfected beings and Daoist practitioners all take care to observe and devote themselves to this Way, carefully grasping its subtle workings and examining the waxing and waning of Yin and Yang.

We set the Azure Dragon (symbolizing the East and Wood) in motion, while the other party sets the White Tiger (symbolizing the West and Metal) in motion. We take the other party’s Vermilion Bird (symbolizing the South and Fire) at the front, and place our own Black Tortoise (symbolizing the North and Water) at the rear. This is the Way to long life and deathlessness.

A woman’s disposition may at times be eager for Yang, yet outwardly restrained and self-controlled, unwilling to ask directly for Yang Qi. This shows Metal refusing to yield to Wood. A man’s disposition, by contrast, is often hard and impatient, with a laxity of resolve and integrity. Yet when feasting and spending time together, he speaks gently and compliantly and adopts a humble manner. This shows Wood fearing Metal.

Tianmenzi mastered these principles and lived to the age of two hundred and eighty, still looking like a young girl. Later, he took pearl-brew (an immortal elixir or wine), attained the Dao, and departed for Xuanzhou, a legendary realm of immortals.

Huang Hua

Jiulingzi, a Daoist name, had the surname Huang and given name Hua. He mastered the essentials of restoring youth, fetal breathing (a method of cultivation through regulated breathing and nourishing Qi), and inner observation (quietly observing changes in the Qi within the body), and was also versed in the Five Phases. His book says:

This technique can ward off injury from weapons and drive away tigers and wolves. It protects the practitioner and safeguards the household, keeping the children and grandchildren safe. It can also bring harmony within the family and with those outside it. People who see you will be glad, and those who do not will miss you. The method is suitable for military service and beneficial for traveling to trade. If others plot against you, their plans will dissolve and come to nothing. A thousand calamities and ten thousand misfortunes will lie dormant; the wicked will find no way to act, and demons and spirits no way to enter. If others direct curses or sorcery against you, the disasters will not come to pass.

Worthy people throughout the realm will come to join you, and the spirits will gladly assist you, winning you the people’s support. Crops and silkworm raising will yield abundant harvests, and the six kinds of domestic animals will multiply and thrive; the servants…

A maidservant in his household fell ill but later recovered. He was also involved in a lawsuit with a county official, and the case was judged fairly in his favor. Everything went smoothly. Those in the world who devoted themselves to practicing this art of the Dao could grasp its mysteries deeply. One person lived among people for more than five hundred years, and his appearance grew ever younger. Later, he refined elixirs and ultimately ascended to immortality.

Yin Heng

Beiji Zi, whose surname was Yin and given name Heng. His scripture says: “The way to cultivate the body lies in cherishing the spirit and treating it as a treasure. The way to nourish one’s nature is to be able to bring it forth again after death. If you practice this constantly, you can live as long as Heaven and Earth. To pursue long life through life itself is true longevity. Refining iron with iron is what deserves to be called true; governing people by means of a person is what deserves to be called divine.” Later, he took a divine elixir and ascended to immortality.

Li Xiu

Dongzi, whose surname was Li and given name Xiu. His scripture says: “The soft and weak can overcome the hard and strong; Yin can suppress Yang. Always be as cautious as if facing a deep abyss or treading on dangerous ground, yet also be able to control a galloping horse: this is the way to long life.” He lived for more than four hundred years without growing old in appearance. He wrote forty works, collectively titled Daoyuan. Later, he took a returned elixir, a refined elixir, and ascended to Heaven.

Liu Rong

Nanjizi, whose surname was Liu and given name Rong. He could hold flour in his mouth, turn it into eggs, and spit out dozens of them. Boiled and eaten, they were indistinguishable from real eggs. A little flour, no bigger than a fingertip, remained in each yolk. He would take a cup and recite an incantation, whereupon the cup became a turtle. Once boiled, it could be eaten, complete with all its internal organs. After the flesh was removed, the turtle shell turned back into a cup.

He would take water and recite an incantation, and the water became sweet wine that could make one drunk. With a wave of his hand, he could produce a large tree. Someone once broke off a slender branch and used it to pierce a house; it remained there for several days. Only later did the branch gradually wither, just like real wood. After taking the Cloud Frost Elixir, he attained the Dao and became an immortal.

Ge Yue

Huanglu Zi, whose surname was Ge and given name Yue. He was highly skilled at treating illness. People could send him a patient’s name from a thousand li away, and he could treat the patient and bring about recovery without seeing them in person.

He excelled at the art of Qi restraint, using Qi and incantations to impose control. He could immobilize tigers, wolves, and all kinds of insects, and prevent birds from flying away. He could also make water flow backward for a distance of one li. He lived for two hundred and eighty years. He was strong enough to lift a weight of a thousand jun and walked so swiftly that he could keep pace with a galloping horse. A five-colored glow of Qi, more than a zhang high, constantly appeared above his head.

During a great drought, he could enter a deep abyss, summon a dragon, and urge it to rise into the sky and bring rain. This happened many times. One day, he bade farewell to his family and friends, mounted a dragon, and departed. He never returned.

Liu An

Liu An, the Prince of Huainan, was a grandson of Emperor Gaozu of Han. He was fond of Confucian learning and occult arts. He wrote…

Comprehensive Mirror of Immortals Through the Ages

The Eight Lords wrote twenty-one chapters of inner writings. They also authored the three-volume Hongbao for Ten Thousand Years, which discusses the Way of transformation.

When the Eight Lords arrived at the prince’s residence, the gate officials, thinking they had good reason, made things difficult for them. “The prince seeks the Way to prolong life and restore youth. A seeker of middling ambition wants to become a learned scholar, widely read and versed in principles. A lesser seeker wants to become a powerful warrior, able to lift a ceremonial cauldron and bold enough to roam unchecked. But all of you gentlemen are old. You have neither the ability to write commentaries nor the strength of Meng Ben and Xia Yu. How could you investigate such ancient works as the Three Tombs, the Five Canons, the Eight Cords, and the Nine Mounds, probe deeply into subtle and far-reaching truths, grasp the principles of things, and fully understand human nature? You meet none of these three qualifications. I dare not announce your arrival.”

The Eight Lords smiled and said, “We have heard that the prince respects worthy men and cherishes talent, and that he welcomes them tirelessly. Anyone with even one useful skill comes to him. The ancients valued all kinds of learning and were willing to recruit even people with a single skill, like those who could imitate a rooster’s crow or slip through a dog hole. The prince truly wishes to attract a thousand-mile horse by first acquiring its bones, and to draw worthy men from all under Heaven by making Guo Kui his example. Though we are unworthy and do not meet the qualifications you have named, we have traveled a long way simply to see the prince. Even if we cannot be of help, we will do no harm. Why stop us and judge us in advance? If the prince wants to see only young men, and you say that young men possess the Way while white-haired elders are mediocre, I fear that is no way to ‘strike stone to find jade or search the depths for pearls.’ Since you look down on us for being old, we can only say what young people like to hear.”

No sooner had they finished speaking than the Eight Lords transformed into fifteen-year-old youths, their hair tied up, their temples dark, and their faces rosy as peach blossoms. The gate officials were startled and hurried to report what had happened. When the prince heard, he rushed out barefoot, without even stopping to put on his shoes. He welcomed them and invited them up to the Terrace for Seeking Immortals. He spread out splendid silk curtains, set out an ivory couch, burned incense blended from many fragrant substances, and offered tables of gold and jade. Then he put on the shoes of a disciple, turned to face north, and bowed with his hands clasped.

“I, An, am of mediocre ability. Though I loved the Way and Virtue in my youth, I was bound by the affairs of worldly life and sank into the mundane world. I could not free myself from its burdens and live at ease in the mountains. Yet day and night I have longed for the Way of the spirits. I wished to wash away my impurities, sincerely reform my vanity and shallowness, and hold fast to a quiet and pure resolve, but I have never been able to reach it. It seemed as though we were separated by the distance between clouds and mud. I never imagined I would be so fortunate as to have the Daoist Lords descend in person. I suppose this is ordained by my allotted fortune and life span, allowing me to receive your favor and guidance. My heart is filled with joy and trepidation, and I do not know what to do. I ask only that the Daoist Lords take pity on me and teach me, so that, like a caterpillar borne aloft on the wings of a mud-dauber wasp, I may rise from the ground through the aid of others.” (The caterpillar and the mud-dauber wasp appear in an ancient metaphor; here they represent gaining the ability to ascend through another’s help.)

The Eight Lords immediately changed back into old men and said to the prince, “Our knowledge may be shallow, but at least we have some learning inherited from those who came before us. Knowing that the prince loves the Way, we have come to follow you. We simply do not yet know what your intentions truly are…” The original text ends here.

Whatever I wished to do, I could summon wind and rain all by myself, or raise clouds and mist at once. A line drawn on the ground could become a river; a handful of earth could become a mountain. I could make high peaks collapse and deep ravines fill up, command tigers and leopards, summon dragons and serpents, and put spirits and ghosts to work. I could make copies of myself and change my appearance. I could cause someone to die instantly just by sitting down, or conceal an entire army and turn day into night in an instant.

I could ride on emptiness and walk through the air, cross the sea and travel aloft, passing in and out without obstruction. With a single breath, I could reach a thousand li away. I could enter fire without being burned and water without getting wet; swords could not cut me, and arrows could not strike me. I could endure the winter cold without feeling cold, and the summer heat without sweating. I could change into a thousand forms and do whatever I pleased, make birds, beasts, plants, and trees appear at once, and move mountains, rivers, hills, and peaks.

I could dispel calamities and overcome misfortune, ward off evil and remove harm, prolong life, and live forever. I could refine mud into gold and forge lead into silver, use water to refine eight kinds of minerals, and make flowing elixir surge upward. I could also ride dragons and clouds, roam through the Great Clarity—the lofty celestial realm of Daoist belief—and fulfill anything a ruler might desire.

For this reason, Liu An, King of Huainan, paid homage to the Eight Masters morning and evening, personally presenting them with fruit and wine, and first asked them to demonstrate their arts. The Eight Masters performed transformations, summoning wind, rain, clouds, and mist; everything they did proved true. They then taught Liu An the Elixir Scripture, a classic on alchemical cultivation, along with prescriptions involving mercury and other substances in thirty-six formulas. Once the elixir was ready, Liu An had not yet had time to take it when he ascended safely to heaven.

Liu An had a son named Liu Qian, who loved swordsmanship and believed no one could equal him. When the court physician Lei Bei sparred with him, he accidentally wounded Liu Qian. Liu Qian flew into a rage, so Lei Bei asked to campaign against the Xiongnu as a way to atone for his mistake. Liu An refused. Afraid that Liu Qian would kill him, Lei Bei sent a memorial to the emperor denouncing Liu An. Han law at the time prescribed the death penalty for a prince who obstructed or attacked anyone setting out to campaign against the Xiongnu, so Liu An should have been executed. But Emperor Wu of Han had always respected Liu An and only took away two of his counties.

Lei Bei and Wu Bei had long been close. Wu Bei, too, had incurred Liu An’s displeasure by secretly committing an unlawful act. Liu An was angry with him, but had not yet acted against him. Afraid of being killed, Wu Bei falsely accused Liu An of rebellion. The emperor sent the Director of the Imperial Clan, an official responsible for the affairs of the royal family, bearing an imperial tally to investigate Liu An. The Eight Masters said to him, “You may leave now. Heaven is using this occasion to send you on your way. We hope you will not hesitate.” Liu An and the Eight Masters then climbed a mountain and performed a great sacrifice. They buried gold in the ground and immediately ascended to heaven in broad daylight.

It is said that the stones Liu An and the Eight Masters stepped on were left sunken, and that the footprints of people and horses can still be seen there today. The Record of Geography says that Mount Bagong lies north of the Fei River and south of the Huai River. The King of Huainan and the Eight Masters once lived there and ascended to heaven in broad daylight.

(Mount Bagong: a place name whose precise location is disputed. One account places it in Shouzhou, which belonged to Jiujiang Commandery during the Han dynasty; another places it southwest of Lai’an in Chuzhou; a third locates it west of Chaoxian in Wuwei Commandery.) The mountain has a resting place for the Eight Lords of Huainan and a temple to Liu An, the King of Huainan.

The Eight Lords said to Liu An, “Although Heaven arranged this, Wu Bei is a subject who has falsely accused his ruler and father. Anyone whose name appears in the registers of immortals will bring calamity upon those who plot against them, and ruin those who offend them. Wu Bei must now be executed.”

Before long, the Director of the Imperial Clan, an official responsible for the affairs of the royal family, came to Liu An’s residence but could find no trace of him. On inquiry, it was learned that the King of Huainan had become an immortal and departed. When Emperor Wu of Han heard this, he was troubled. He secretly prompted Zhang Tang, the Commandant of Justice, to submit a memorial stating that Wu Bei had plotted rebellion with Liu An during the day. As a result, Wu Bei’s entire clan was executed, just as the Eight Lords had said.

The Book of Han concealed this account, unwilling to mention immortals. It feared that later rulers would become preoccupied with seeking long life and neglect affairs of state, so it recorded that Liu An had taken his own life. Another account says that Liu An ascended to Heaven with the Eight Lords, leaving behind only the cauldron used to refine elixirs. The chickens and dogs licked the medicine in the cauldron and, their bodies made light, flew up as well. Thus chickens crowed among the clouds, and dogs barked in the sky. Yet another account says that Liu An obtained the Art of the Vast Treasure and Ten Thousand Years, became an immortal, and departed. He took his place among the Supreme Ultimate Perfected Ones, a title for a high-ranking Daoist deity.

Liu Tu

In the second year of Yongchu during the reign of Emperor An of Han (109 CE), on the yiyou day of the second month, the Old Lord, an honorific for the Most High Lord Lao, descended upon Mount Tai. He sent the Mount Tai emissary Yu to summon Liu Tu, a virtuous man from Jiangxia, by carriage and horses. The Old Lord wanted him to examine and correct the registers of names throughout the world.

When Liu Tu arrived, he saw the Old Lord seated facing south in the hall. The Lord of Mount Tai sat to the east, facing west; the Celestial Lord of the Nine Heavens sat to the south, facing north; and the Celestial Lord of the Eight Directions sat to the west, facing east. The Old Lord ordered Liu Tu and his officials to examine and correct the registers of names throughout the world. They completed the task three days later.

The Old Lord wanted Liu Tu to witness the retribution that follows good and evil, so he ordered Yu to take him to Heaven. Liu Tu saw that the Taiqing Palace had golden terraces and jade halls, where music sounded of its own accord. Many immortals and perfected beings wore blue robes, held golden tablets, and chanted scriptures. After Liu Tu had seen everything, he was sent back to the human world. He attained the Dao, became a Daoist, and later became an immortal and departed.

Jie Yan

No one knows where Jie Yan was from. He went to Fang Mountain in Jian’an and became a disciple of Lord White Ram, receiving the “Way of the Mysterious One,” a Daoist method of cultivation. He could transform himself and become invisible, and often accompanied his master on travels.

On one occasion, Jie Yan accompanied his master into the Eastern Sea. Their route took them briefly through the land of Wu. Sun Quan, ruler of Wu, received Jie Yan with courtesy and had a quiet hall built for him…

Sun Yan often sent people to inquire after his well-being. At times he appeared as a young boy, at times as an old man, and he would not eat the food others brought him. The King of Wu wanted to learn his Daoist arts, but Sun Yan refused to transmit the Dao because the king was obsessed with the women of his palace. The ruler of Wu flew into a rage and ordered Sun Yan bound to the shaft of a chariot and shot with crossbow bolts. After the bolts were loosed, the ropes remained, but Sun Yan had vanished.

The commentator Chen Daoyi says: “The Dao resides in a person’s heart, manifesting as stillness, emptiness, calm, and simplicity. Sounds and sights cannot shake such a person’s resolve; fame and profit cannot disturb his inner life. How could a man like the ruler of Wu be worthy of a discussion of the Dao? By this time, Jie Yan—that is, Sun Yan, mentioned earlier—had already perfected his Daoist arts. He could transform himself and become invisible, and could also restore himself from old age to youth. One might say he had reached the state of entering the ranks of an army without fear of blades or weapons. The ruler of Wu wanted to kill him in a moment of anger: how shallow! The Dao De Jing says, ‘Weapons find no place to display their sharp edges.’ Why? Because there is no place where such a person can be put to death. Those who cultivate the Dao should reflect on this.”

Long Shu

Long Shu’s origins are unknown. At Mount Jin, he obtained a divine mushroom about the size of a parasol-tree seed, made it into medicine, and took it. After taking one dose each day for two years, he attained the Dao and became an immortal. He left his corpse behind and departed; this is called “corpse liberation.”

The Zhen’gao says that Long Bogao lived in the Eastern Han. Ma Yuan, the Han general who campaigned against the south, once wrote to admonish his nephews, praising Long Bogao as someone worthy of emulation. Long Bogao was Long Shu. Later, Long Bogao followed the immortal Diao Daolin and learned methods of ingesting substances and fetal breathing. He also regularly took a medicine called the “Qingxun Formula.” Later, he feigned death from drunkenness and went into seclusion. The Fangtai Shidinglu Jun records and comments: Bogao’s given name was Shu, and he was from Jingzhao. During the Jianwu era of the Eastern Han, he served as magistrate of Shandu County and was later promoted to Grand Administrator of Lingling.

When Ma Yuan campaigned in the south, he once wrote to his nephew Ma Yan: “Long Bogao is earnest and careful, and never speaks inappropriately. He is modest and frugal, upright and fair, and commands respect. I admire him and hope you will take him as your model. Even if you fail to become like Long Bogao, you will still become careful and upright. It is like carving a swan and failing: at least you will have made something like a duck.”

Zhao Bing

Zhao Bing was from Dongyang in the Eastern Han. While traveling and practicing the Dao, he met an old acquaintance. He turned water into wine and shaved a piece from an oar to serve as dried meat. The two ate their fill and drank until they were drunk.

Once, when he reached a ferry crossing and could find no boat, he spread a mat on the water, sat on it, and crossed with the wind. He also once recited an incantation before a withered tree, and flowers and leaves immediately sprouted from it.

Zhe Xiang

Zhe Xiang, whose courtesy name was Boxi, was from Guanghan. In his youth, he was fond of the teachings of Huang-Lao. Later, he took a master…

Yu Shuya of Dongping was also a person who had attained the Dao. He devoted himself to the cultivation of health, and was quiet and sparing with words. His family was wealthy, but he believed that keeping too much wealth would only bring loss and no benefit, so he gave a thousand gold pieces to aid the poor. When someone tried to dissuade him, he said, “Douxu Ziwen once said that I give away my possessions to ward off calamity, not to escape the troubles of the age.” Everyone who knew him admired him deeply. When he knew his death was near, he departed by means of corpse liberation, leaving behind a body like the shed skin of a snake.

Wang Yao

Wang Yao, courtesy name Boliáo, was from Poyang. He had a wife but no children, and was skilled at treating illness; everyone he treated recovered. He neither performed sacrifices nor used talisman water, acupuncture, or medicine. To treat a patient, he would spread an eight-foot length of cloth on the ground and sit on it, without eating or drinking. After a while, the patient would recover, and Wang Yao would get up and leave.

If someone was being tormented by an evil spirit, Wang Yao would draw a prison on the ground and summon the spirit. Those nearby could all see the shapes of the demons: among those locked in the prison were foxes, soft-shelled turtles, snakes, and the like. Wang Yao would then behead and burn them, and the patient would recover.

Wang Yao had a bamboo basket several feet long. Once, a boy surnamed Qian carried it outside on a nine-jointed bamboo staff. It rained along the way, yet neither Wang Yao nor his disciples got wet. At dusk, two torches often went ahead to light their way. That night they traveled about thirty li, climbed a small hill, and entered a stone chamber. Two people were already inside. When Wang Yao arrived, he had his disciple set down the basket and open it. Inside were five bamboo reeds. He played one himself and gave one each to the two people in the chamber, and they played together for a long time.

When it was time to leave, Wang Yao put all three reeds back in the basket and had the boy Qian carry it. The two people from the chamber escorted him out and said, “You should have come back sooner. Why have you lingered so long in the mortal world?” Wang Yao replied, “Haven’t I come back now?”

A little over a hundred days after Wang Yao returned home, it rained again one night. He lit a lamp and packed his things. Wang Yao had a single-layer hemp robe and a hemp headcloth that he had not worn for more than fifty years; this time, he took them out and put them on. His wife asked him, “Are you leaving me?” Wang Yao said, “I’m only going away for a little while.” His wife wept and said, “Stay a little longer after daybreak.” Wang Yao replied, “All right. I’ll come back then.”

More than thirty years later, his disciples saw Wang Yao again in the mountains of Majishan. He looked younger than before; presumably, by then he had become an immortal.

Chen Yongbo

Chen Yongbo was from Nanyang. After obtaining the recipe for the Seven-Star Powder from the King of Huainan, he tried it out…

On the twenty-first day of taking the medicine called “He,” he suddenly vanished without a trace. Yongbo You’s nephew, named Zengzu, was seventeen and had taken the medicine too. His father tied up his feet and locked him in a secret room, with people keeping watch day and night. On the twenty-eighth day, he also disappeared, and no one knew where he had gone. The original recipe said that after thirty days of taking it, one would become an immortal. Chen’s two sons vanished before they had taken the medicine for thirty days. After that, people no longer dared to take it. It was said that when they departed, immortal officials must have come to welcome them, though no one else could see them.

Liu Zheng

Liu Zheng was from Pei Commandery. Exceptionally gifted and widely read, he had studied every field of learning. He understood that the honors and riches people sought in this world were fleeting, and that cultivating the Dao to attain long life was preferable. So he gave up the pursuit of an official career and turned to methods for nourishing his nature. He diligently sought out unusual stories and remarkable events, and did not shrink from traveling a thousand miles to find them. Whenever someone had something to teach him, even if that person was a servant, he would make them his teacher and treat them with respect.

Later, Liu Zheng studied the Mozi Record of the Five Phases and took vermilion essence pills, a Daoist elixir. He lived to be more than 180 years old, yet still looked like a boy. He was skilled at transformation and concealment. He could turn one person into a hundred, then a hundred into a thousand or ten thousand. He could also make an entire army disappear, or transform people into a forest. He could turn birds and beasts into human forms, and take other people’s belongings without their noticing. He could plant five kinds of fruit trees and make them flower and bear fruit; he could then gather the fruit at once and serve it to people. By sitting down, he could summon a traveling kitchen to provide food and drink for several hundred people.

Liu Zheng could blow out a wind that stirred up sand and dust and sent stones flying. When he pointed at houses, forests, mountains, or vessels, they seemed about to topple or break apart; with another point, he restored them to their original state. He could transform into a beautiful woman or a wooden figure, and travel thousands of miles in a single day. He could blow water into clouds, raise mist with a wave of his hand, gather earth into a mountain, and pierce the ground to make an abyss. His appearance could suddenly grow old or young, and his body could suddenly become large or small. He could enter water without getting his clothes wet and walk across its surface. When he summoned the fish, turtles, dragons, and alligators of rivers and seas, they would all come ashore. He could also breathe five-colored Qi from his mouth, spreading it over ten miles and sending it straight into the sky. He could rise and descend through the air, hundreds of feet above the ground. Later, no one knew where he had gone.

Wang Qiao

Wang Qiao was from Wuyang County in Qianwei Commandery. In Wuyang County stood Beiping Mountain, 147 li south of Yizhou and 1,300 zhang high. On the mountain lived a kind of white toad, known as “flesh lingzhi,” a spirit creature resembling lingzhi fungus and believed to prolong life. It was said that eating one could bring immortality, but only those with an affinity for the immortals and an extraordinary natural constitution could find it.

Wang Qiao loved the arts of the Dao. For more than ten years, he often went up into the mountains to pay his respects. Later, while climbing a mountain, he felt a connection with the immortals and received food from one of them. After eating it, his body felt light, his strength increased many times over, and he walked as swiftly as a galloping horse. He later became magistrate of Bairen County and ultimately attained the Dao and became an immortal on Mount Dongquan. Today, Wuyang still has a shrine to the immortal Wang Qiao.

There were three immortals named Wang Qiao, all with the same name: Prince Jin, Wang Qiao; Wang Qiao, magistrate of Ye County; and Wang Qiao, who attained the Dao by eating a flesh-like lingzhi. The Wang Qiao discussed here is an immortal from Shu.

Cheng Junping

Cheng Junping was from Changsha Commandery. When he was fifteen, his older brother asked him to tend the family’s geese and sheep. He suddenly encountered an old immortal and followed him into Mount Donghua. His brother later went into the mountain looking for him. When he found Junping, he asked where the geese and sheep he had been tending were. Junping pointed to some white stones and said, “These are them.” He then made the stones move, and they followed his brother away.

Ten days later, Junping returned to the foot of the mountain. The geese and sheep turned into stones again, and they remain there to this day. For this reason, the mountain is called Mount Goose and Sheep. It lies twenty li north of Changsha County and was originally called Mount Donghua; it is also known as Mount Stone Treasure. On the mountain are an immortal’s altar and an alchemical furnace.

Bi Tian wrote this poem:

No one knows in what year the immortal practiced alchemy here;
the empty furnace remains among the lofty peaks.
In the clouds, a chicken immortal seems to linger;
below the mountain, the stone geese and sheep have grown hard and still.
No one knows how many times the Xiang River has seen the seas change;
in Liaocheng, Lingwei is never seen returning.
Who knows when the immortal will come here again,
leading the people to ascend through the ninefold gates of Heaven?

Ding Yue

The extraordinary man Ding Yue lived in seclusion among the soldiers. Wei Ziwei became his disciple. One day, Ding Yue took his leave and said to Ziwei, “My lord, two layers of worldly dust still stand between you and the Dao.” In other words, Ziwei still had two obstacles to pass before attaining the Dao.