《歷世真仙體道通鑑》Vol. 55

Master Lin Lingsu, surnamed Lin, personal name Lingsu, courtesy name Tongsou, was a native of Yongjia in Wenzhou.

His family was poor. One night, when his mother returned home late, she felt a red cloud settle over her body, and she soon became pregnant. The fetus remained in her womb for twenty-four months. One night she dreamed that sunlight filled the house, and a divine being in a green robe, with a jade belt and eyes that shone like the sun, held a brush and said to her, "Tomorrow I will stay here as a guest." The next day dark clouds gathered, thunder sounded three times, and the master was born. Golden light filled the room, and the child's appearance was extraordinary.

At the age of five, the master still could not speak. On the fifth day of the fifth month of that year, wind and rain rose suddenly, and a Daoist wearing a green jade crown and a robe of rosy clouds entered without announcing himself. When he saw the boy, he said with delight, "Before long we will meet again, and I have come specially to visit you." The two then looked at each other and laughed, clapping their hands. After the Daoist left, people chased after him but could not catch up. From that time on, the master could speak, and his words were well grounded; he never spoke like a child.

At the age of seven, the master began his studies and could already read poetry and prose with a basic understanding. He could memorize ten thousand characters a day. Su Shi came to visit and showed him an almanac. After reading it once, the master remembered all of it without a single error. Su Shi was astonished and said, "Your intelligence surpasses mine. Wealth and high office are within easy reach for you." The master smiled and replied, "My aspirations differ from those of my teacher." Su Shi asked what his aspirations were. The master said, "To be enfeoffed as a marquis while alive, or to be honored with a shrine after death, are not things I consider worthy. A marquisate is only an empty title, and receiving sacrifices in a temple still leaves one among the ranks of ghosts and spirits. I wish to cultivate myself into an immortal (xian). That is my aspiration."

When the master was nearly thirty, he had broadly mastered the Confucian and Daoist classics. He admired the Way of tranquil emptiness (qingjing xuwu), and his manner of speech was lofty and detached, unlike that of ordinary people.

At first, while the master was travelling in Xiluo, he met a Daoist surnamed Zhao, and the two associated for several years. One day the Daoist suddenly said, "My allotted span is nearly over, so I will take my leave of you for now. I hope you will take charge of my affairs after I am gone." Seven days later, the Daoist indeed passed away at a guesthouse. The master personally bathed and buried him. The Daoist left twenty-five strings of cash (guan), and by the time the master had finished the funeral arrangements, the money had been exactly used up, neither more nor less. In the bag of clothes he left behind were three volumes of writing, the characters so fine they looked like pearls, and interspersed among them were celestial seal script (tianzhuan) that people of the world could not recognize. The texts were divided into nineteen chapters, wrapped in red gauze, with an inscription stating that they were to be given to a man named Lin. The volumes bore the title Shenxiao Tiantan Yushu (Jade Book of the Shenxiao Celestial Altar), and their contents concerned the methods by which immortals transform themselves, as well as summoning clouds and bringing rain, drawing talismans and chanting incantations, and commanding...

The master then received the jade book in person and at once awakened to understanding. He grasped the spirit-ways, could perceive ghosts and spirits, and recited incantations and drew talismans (fulu) to command thunder and lightning and to pursue evil demons. For people who were ill or suffering, he performed restraints and cures that took effect immediately, and in dispelling plagues and attacking illicit shrines and demonic temples, nothing failed to respond.

The following year, the master went to a wine shop in Yueyang and again met the Daoist Zhao. Zhao said, "I am Zhao Sheng, a disciple of the Han Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling. You must cultivate carefully the Five Thunder Jade Book I passed to you earlier and must not divulge it lightly. Today I have become the Lord of the Shenxiao (Divine Empyrean) teaching, the Great Judge of Thunder, and the Eastern Florescence Lord. If you encounter difficulty, I will do my utmost to save you."

On the night of the mid-autumn festival in the fifth year of the Chongning era (1106), Emperor Huizong dreamed that he traveled through the Shenxiao Palace. In response to a summons from the Jade Emperor, he rode in a carriage, with his escort lined up in solemn order, and ascended into the sky. In the distance he saw the gate of the Golden Gate Tower, guarded by immortal officials, jade youths, and armored gold-clad guardians. Then he saw a man wearing a starry crown and ceremonial robes, holding a jade tablet, who led the way and brought the emperor through the gate of the tower. Above the gate hung a red plaque inscribed in gold characters, "Gate of the Shenxiao Jade Tower." Further west stood a gate hall with a plaque reading "Hall of Blue Mist," where golden light shone from the hall like the sun, so that one could not look up directly. They then passed a small courtyard whose gate was studded with gold nails and lacquered red, titled "Jade Pivot Court," within which offices were arranged in order and the officials were grave and dignified. A red-robed official came forward to greet them, bowed, and said, "This was your Lordship's former residence. Please sit in the eastern seat and wait a moment."

Before long, a jade youth led the emperor into an audience with the Jade Emperor. The emperor bowed repeatedly, and from within the golden light came the decree: "You are to set the affairs of state in order, remove the treacherous ministers, appoint the loyal and virtuous, and guard the ancestral temples and the altars of soil and grain." After bowing twice more, the emperor withdrew. The red-robed official escorted him out through the golden gate and, with a chariot adorned with seven treasures and an escort of attendants and officials, saw him down from the celestial gate.

They descended for more than a hundred paces, when they saw a Daoist clad in blue, with a blue cloth wrapped around his head, riding a blue ox upward. His attendants all wore demon masks, and two of those masked figures had four eyes apiece; they carried banners and marched ahead, bearing swords and halberds, and the procession was very orderly. When they reached the emperor's imperial carriage, the Daoist cracked his whip and called out "Long live the emperor!" The emperor hastily halted the carriage and asked him who he was. The Daoist replied, "To be permitted today to behold Your Majesty's countenance is a great good fortune for this minister." Having said this, he drove his blue ox upward and ascended from the celestial gate.

When the emperor awoke, he recorded what he had seen in the dream. In the fourth month of the second year of the Daguan era (1108), he issued an edict seeking out men of the Way throughout the realm.

The Maoshan master Liu Hunkang (Liu Hunkang) memorialized, "Your humble servant is ignorant and unable to assist Your Majesty's intentions. However, there is an immortal in the world named Lin Lingsu (Lin Lingsu), who lives in Yongjia. Why has Your Majesty not summoned him sooner?"

The emperor immediately dispatched envoys to invite him, but Lin Lingsu did not respond to the summons. In the tenth month of the sixth year of Zhenghe (1116), the emperor visited the Eastern Palace of Taiyi (Taiyi Donggong) and ordered the Daolu (Daolu, Registrar of the Daoist Office) Xu Zhichang (Xu Zhichang) to report on the Wenzhou Daoist Lin Lingsu. The memorial stated that Lin Lingsu lived in a Daoist monastery and that his speech and conduct were out of the ordinary. He often spoke of matters concerning the Shenxiao (Shenxiao, Divine Empyrean) heavens, which others could not understand. He had once written a poem titled "Shenxiao Song" (Shenxiao Yao), inscribed on a wall, and it was now copied out and presented.

After reading the poem, the emperor found its lines filled with the wondrous words of immortals. He was delighted and ordered Xu Zhichang to bring Lin Lingsu to the palace for an audience. The emperor asked, "What arts do you possess, Master?" Lin Lingsu replied, "Your servant knows the affairs of Heaven above, the affairs of humanity in the middle, and the affairs of the underworld below."

The emperor looked at his appearance and felt it matched the man he had seen before, so he asked, "Have you held office in the past? Have you ever seen me before?" Lin Lingsu answered, "In the middle autumn of past years, your servant paid respects at the court of the Jade Emperor (Yudi) and saw Your Majesty's imperial countenance from afar, and I also offered my greetings to the imperial procession." The emperor said, "Now I remember. I recall you riding a green ox. Where is that ox now?" Lin Lingsu replied, "The green ox is being boarded in a foreign land and will return before long." The emperor was greatly astonished by this.

The emperor personally changed his name to "Lingsu" (Lingsu) and bestowed upon him the title "Master Who Penetrates the True and Attains the Numinous" (Tongzhen Daling Xiansheng). The emperor often summoned him to the palace on short notice and had him revise matters concerning Daoist history, scriptural registers (jinglu), and Daoist altar regulations, and he honored him as he would a teacher. The emperor also had the Tongzhen Palace (Tongzhen Gong) built as his residence, and then the Baolu Palace (Baolu Gong) and the Renji Pavilion (Renji Ting), where talismans and medicines were used to aid the common people. Later, the Shenxiao altar (Shenxiao Lu Tan) was opened, and the Shenxiao Palace (Shenxiao Gong) was completed.

When the Shenxiao Palace was finished, the emperor led Cai Jing (Cai Jing) and other ministers there to offer congratulations and conducted a zhai ritual (zhai yi). The zhai ritual is a Daoist rite of prayer and supplication for blessings. After the ritual ended, the emperor took his officials on a tour and said, "The Xuande Five Gates (Xuande Wu Men) welcome the myriad nations." Cai Jing and the others thought for a long time and could not give a reply. The emperor turned to Lin Lingsu and asked, "Master, can you answer?" Lin Lingsu immediately replied, "One Shenxiao Palace governs all the heavens." The emperor was very pleased.

By imperial decree, Lin Lingsu revised the keyi (keyi, liturgical procedures) for the Zhengyi Huanglu Qingjiao (Zhengyi Huanglu Qingjiao), namely the ritual regulations used when Daoists set up altars to offer prayers. He also arranged the sacred ranks of the Three Realms (sanjie) and collated alchemical classics (danjing) and the works of the masters. On the seventh day of each month he ascended the altar to expound the scriptures, and princes, palace nobles, and civil and military officials all came to hear him lecture on the scriptures of the Three Caverns (sandong). Sometimes the emperor himself came and sat below the platform to listen. From then on, the common people of the eastern capital began to understand and practice Daoism.

The Huangchao Tongjian records that in the seventh year of the Zhenghe reign, the Daoist Lin Lingsu of the Zhejiang region came to the capital. In the second month, the emperor summoned him to the Shangqing Baolu Palace and ordered the Tongzhen Xiansheng (Master of Penetrating Truth) Lin Lingsu to expound the Daoist scriptures and the Yuqing Shenxiao Wang Jiangsheng Ji (Record of the Descent of the Jade Clarity Shenxiao King). At that time, several thousand cranes flew in and called out for a long while.

Lin Lingsu gathered the dragon-seal scripts and phoenix-seal characters from the Jiutian Mishu (Secret Writings of the Nine Heavens), together with the nine grades of thunder rites, and compiled them into the Yupian (Jade Compendium), which he presented to the emperor. In the past, the Han-dynasty Celestial Masters (Tianshi) had held the Shenxiao Leishu (Shenxiao Thunder Book) in twenty juan, along with six octagonal thunder seals of the Tianbu Tingsi (Thunder Office of the Celestial Department). By the eighth Celestial Master, only ten juan of the thunder books remained, though the inscriptions on all six seals were intact. There were also fire-mark inscriptions left from the Jin dynasty. In the early Song, Zhang Shouzhen met the Perfected Lord Yisheng (Yisheng Zhenjun), who bestowed upon him five juan of thunder books.

The emperor wished to obtain the complete thunder books and the golden scriptures for inclusion in the Daozang (Daoist Canon), and sent men to search far and wide, but they could not find them. One night, Lin Lingsu sat in quiet meditation and then roamed in spirit to the Jade Flower Heavenly Venerable (Yuhua Tianzun). There he petitioned the Supreme Thearch (Shangdi), requesting permission to view the thunder writings and the seals of the Tingsi. The Supreme Thearch sent the Six Ding Jade Maidens to hand him the seals. These included the Jade Seal of the Heavenly Altar (Tiantan Yuyin), the Seal of the Shenxiao Master of Heirship, the Seal of the Thunder Duke's Chief Administration, and the Seal of the Tianbu Tingsi. All were as hard as stone and iron, being neither gold nor jade. The Supreme Thearch further granted Lin Lingsu a view of the five juan of thunder books. Lin Lingsu bowed in thanks and returned with the seals, copied out the thunder books, and presented them to the emperor, and so at last the complete thunder books were obtained.

In the seventh month of the seventh year of Zhenghe, the Kingdom of Goryeo did indeed present a blue ox, which was delivered to the capital. The emperor was greatly delighted, and the officials offered him their congratulations. The emperor granted Lin Lingsu permission to ride the blue ox to court. Lin Lingsu then composed the "Qingniu Ge" (Song of the Blue Ox), which opens with the lines: "Zhenghe dingyou xifeng qiu, tianzi ci yi qi qingniu" ("In the autumn of the dingyou year of Zhenghe, the west wind blows; the Son of Heaven bestowed upon me a blue ox to ride"). When he finished it and presented it, the emperor was very pleased.

In the eighth month, Lin Lingsu also wrote the Mingdian Gangji Lu (Record of the Outline of Luminous Points) and presented it, and the emperor ordered it carved for printing. In the first year of the Chonghe era, when construction began on the Sanqing Hall (Hall of the Three Pure Ones) on Mount Hua, a volume of thunder-writing ritual texts was found in a large stone box beneath the hall's foundation, written on golden cocoon paper. The volume was delivered before the throne, and it matched, word for word, the thunder book Lin Lingsu had presented the previous year. The emperor exclaimed happily: "Lin Lingsu is truly so divine and clever, to recall it all so accurately!" The emperor then personally wrote a qingci (petition to Heaven, a Daoist prayer document) within the palace, sealed it, and presented it in secret. The next day, he summoned Lin Lingsu and asked: "You once said you could know affairs of Heaven. Did the qingci I submitted last night reach its destination?" Lin Lingsu replied: "The qingci did not arrive, because one character was written incorrectly..."

These writings were received by the Numinous Official (Lingguan), a divine clerk in Daoist belief who handled the delivery of memorials, and were read aloud to the Emperor word for word. The Emperor stroked Master Lin's back and said, "The Perfected is clever. He is truly an immortal." He then decreed the title "Jade Perfected Master of the Mystery" and had Lin attend him at the Shenxiao Palace.

The Emperor sighed, "I often think of the Empress's departed spirit and wonder where she now dwells. I have heard that during the Tang, Emperor Minghuang had the master Ye Fashan summon Consort Yang. Could you also bring the Empress here to see me?"

Master Lin replied, "I respectfully obey your Majesty's edict." That night he performed a jiao (a Daoist ritual of purification and offering, through which the gods are invited) and issued talismans (fulu) to summon her. He then reported, "The Empress is now feasting with the Queen Mother of the West in the Jade Flower Palace. Upon hearing the summons, she will arrive on a blue phoenix in an instant." Before long, a rare fragrance filled the air, heavenly flowers drifted down in profusion, and celestial music resounded through the sky. The Empress indeed arrived.

The Emperor looked at her closely and found that she appeared no different from when she was alive, except that the clothes and shoes of the immortals differed from those of the human world. When the Empress saw the Emperor, she said, "In the past, I held an office as an immortal official in the celestial realm. Because I was stirred by mortal desire during a meeting at the Shenxiao, I was punished and banished to the human world. Now that my karmic ties in the mortal realm have ended, I am allowed to resume my former post. Having received Your Majester's summons, I have come at once. I hope Your Majesty will understand that turmoil will arise in the bingwu year. If you follow the Great Dao, cast away ostentation, appoint loyal and upright officials, eliminate treacherous factions, cultivate virtue, and execute Tong Guan and Cai Jing, this calamity can be averted. In the future we may meet again in the Jade Mansion; otherwise, great disaster will descend. If you persist in complacency and delay, you will sink into ruin and defeat, and I am truly anxious on Your Majesty's behalf."

The Emperor asked, "What office did you hold among the immortal ranks?"

The Empress answered, "I was the yin spirit of the Perfected Lord of the Purple Void, and Your Majesty is the Lord of the Eastern Brilliance."

The Emperor asked further, "What are the origins of the people within the palace and of the ministers at court? Do not conceal anything."

She replied, "Mingjie is the Purple Void Mysterious Numinous Lady. Empress Wang is the Bodhisattva Who Offers Flowers. The Crown Prince is the Venerable Arhat of Tortoise Mountain. Cai Jing is the second Great Demon Chief of the Six Caves of the Northern Capital. Tong Guan is the Great Ghost Mother of Flying Heaven. Master Lin is the Teacher of the Numinous Shen and also the Great Judge of Thunder. Xu Zhichang is the giant toad spirit of the Eastern Sea."

The Emperor then asked what the fortunes of the state would be. The Empress remained silent and did not answer for a long time, until at last she said, "Heaven's mandate has its set limits, and I dare not linger." With these words, her figure gradually faded away.

Master Lin once traveled with the Emperor in spirit to the Qinghua Palace and then ascended to the Moon Mansion, visiting every blessed land and cave-heaven. Whenever he conducted a jiao to petition the gods, colorful clouds and cranes would often appear. When drought called for prayers for rain and the averting of calamity, he would summon wind and thunder and stir up clouds and rain. In the fifth month, the Emperor bestowed upon him the golden gate...

Master Tongzhen Daling Yuanmiao, of the Feathered Guests, was appointed Attendant Grand Master. In the ninth month he was specially granted the rank of Perfected Official and exempted from the audience protocol. In the tenth month, three days before the Tianning festival, he held a grand Zhaijiao (purification ritual) for the Emperor's longevity and petitioned to invite the Imperial presence. At the third watch, the assembly saw the Yaotai of Yuluo, the celestial platform of legend, descend with the heavenly immortals and Perfected Beings, who attended the Supreme Lord Daojun (Taishang Daojun) in order to add years to His Majesty's life.

When the Emperor heard of this, he fasted and bathed, then viewed the spectacle with the chief ministers of the Three Halls and Nine Palaces and with the princes. That night the sky was free of cloud, the moon was bright, and a gentle breeze blew. At first a heavenly fragrance drifted over the banquet. Cranes flew overhead, and multicolored clouds gathered from all four directions and rose upward. Celestial music sounded, and the chime of jade pendants rang clear. In the air more than five zhang (about fifteen meters) above the ground, pavilions and halls appeared. Heavenly Guardians and Jade Maidens and Golden Boys, holding banners and bearing incense, circled the platform. On the platform hung a jade plaque inscribed in gold characters reading "Yaotai of Yuluo." No one else could see it; only the Emperor and the Daoist Zhang Xujing (Zhang Xujing) could. The Emperor offered incense, bowed twice, and summoned the Crown Prince to look. After a long while the Prince said, "This is the precious pagoda of the Great Sage of Sizhou." The Emperor was enraged, ordered attendants to remove him, and decreed that the Crown Prince was no longer to take part in the Shenxiao jiao assemblies (rituals of the Divine Empyrean lineage).

The Emperor said to the Master, "The Crown Prince was originally the Venerable of Guishan, also called a Sage. How can he not understand the orthodox Way?" The Master replied, "The arhat, in a former life, upheld the precepts, fasted, and cultivated through patience. Having been reborn among mortals, he should rightly become a person of rank. But he possesses only filial and compassionate feelings and does not understand the profound essentials. I beg Your Majesty not to blame the Crown Prince." In the eleventh month, the Master was granted the post of Attendant Gentleman of the Hall of Harmony and Tranquility (Chonghe Dian). In the twelfth month, he received the order to build the Hall of Protection by the Sage (Youshengdian).

The Emperor said, "I wish to see the sacred image of Zhenwu." The Master said, "Allow me to petition together with Celestial Master Xujing." The two then remained in the hall, fasting for the night. At midday, black clouds covered the sun and thunder roared. In the firelight appeared a dark tortoise and a serpent, blocking the space beneath the hall. The Emperor burned incense, bowed twice, and prayed, "I hope to see the Perfected Lord; I beg You to descend and look upon us." After one thunderclap, the tortoise and serpent vanished, and only a giant foot was seen blocking the space beneath the Emperor's hall. The Emperor again offered incense and bowed twice, saying, "I beg the Xuanyuan Sage Ancestor to manifest in compassion. Now that You have descended and I have seen Your modest form, I am beyond measure fortunate." A moment later, Zhenwu (Zhenwu) appeared. He stood over one zhang tall, with a dignified and wondrous countenance. His hair was unbound, and he wore a black robe trailing to the ground, golden armor, wide sleeves, and a jade belt. A sword hung at his wrist, he was barefoot, and atop his head...

A round light hovered for a long time, with what looked like ribbons flying around it. The Emperor, who could himself render the likeness of a deity, ordered the Imperial Painting Academy (Xuanhua Yuan) to copy it. Halfway through the painting, the divine image suddenly vanished.

The next day, an altar was set up and a jiao ritual (jiaoyi, an offering rite of thanksgiving) was held to honor the deity. Cai Jing memorialized: "Your servant fears that the Perfected Lord will not easily descend to the human world. In former times, Emperor Taizong ordered Zhang Shouzhen to invite the Perfected Lord down, and a painting was left behind. It was sealed in a case and kept in the pavilion, and none of the ministers were allowed to view it. Please retrieve it and compare it with the image before us, and the true from the false can be distinguished."

The Emperor issued an edict to fetch the painting Taizong had sealed. When it was opened, it proved to be exactly identical to the image that had just appeared, without the slightest difference, and the Emperor was even more delighted.

The Emperor then asked the Seven Perfected of the Northern Dipper (Beidou Qizhen) to descend. Two envoys came riding on a golden bridge, but this scene was not painted. While the Emperor reverently worshipped, he heard the Seven Perfected speak from within the Dipper: "I hope you will quickly avoid calamity and stop pursuing extravagance. In all matters, make wise and clear decisions, and do not listen to treacherous men, or ruin will follow." When they had finished speaking, the divine beings gradually rose and departed.

That evening, the Emperor, in high spirits, invited Master Xujing to feast with him. When the banquet ended, the two strolled through the palace and came to a pavilion, beneath which they saw a stele inscribed with the words "Stele of the Yuanyou Treacherous Faction." The Master and Xujing both bowed their heads in respect after reading it, and then asked for brush and paper to compose a poem:

Su and Huang would not be writers' guests,

while Tong and Cai became the state's own ministers.

For thirty years there has been no settled verdict;

I do not know who the treacherous faction really was.

Here "Su and Huang" refer to Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, and "Tong and Cai" refer to Tong Guan and Cai Jing. The next day, the Emperor showed the poem to Grand Preceptor Cai Jing. Cai was terrified beyond measure, had no place to hide his shame, and asked to be allowed to leave. The Emperor did not consent.

The Master had a room with a window in front and a wall behind it, where he practiced jing (quiet retreat and fasting, a form of Daoist self-cultivation). The room held only two chairs and was always kept sealed, and no one was permitted to enter. Even when the Emperor visited, the Master did not take him into this room.

Cai Jing grew suspicious and sent the Baxiang (the palace guard bureaus) to investigate secretly. They reported seeing yellow silk curtains hung inside, embroidered with golden dragons, along with a dragon bed and vermilion tables and chairs. They then memorialized the Emperor: "Lord Lin harbors an intent to usurp. Your Majesty should go there in person. Your servant is willing to accompany the imperial procession and point it out. If there is a single false word, your servant will gladly accept ten thousand deaths."

The Emperor immediately went to Tongzhen Palace. The Master greeted the imperial procession and inquired after the Emperor's health. The Emperor and Cai Jing walked straight into the room, broke the seals, and looked inside, but saw only whitewashed walls, bright windows, and two chairs, with nothing else at all. Cai Jing, trembling in fright, kowtowed and begged for pardon.

The Master asked the reason, and the Emperor said, "Cai Jing deserves death." The Master memorialized requesting that he be pardoned, and then pointed to the wall inside the room and invited the Emperor to come closer and look. The Emperor examined it carefully and discovered a small talisman on the wall, shaped like a golden pavilion and jade hall……

A yellow canopy was painted beneath the talisman (fu), about the size of a copper coin, with the words "Throne of the Heavenly Venerable" written on it in small characters. Mr. Lin said, "I often invite the Jade Flower Heavenly Venerable (a revered Daoist deity) to descend and sit here. How would I dare to falsely claim the title of Heavenly Venerable myself?" The emperor smiled and said, "Your words are clever, my good minister."

The emperor then said, "I have heard that Emperor Wu of the Han once invited the Queen Mother of the West to appear and meet him. I too wish to see the Queen Mother. Could you summon her, my good minister?" Mr. Lin replied, "I respectfully obey Your Majesty's decree." He then burned a talisman over the incense burner. After a while, the Queen Mother appeared, descending on clouds and accompanied by many Jade Maidens. She looked no different from an ordinary person, and she sat down opposite the emperor.

The Queen Mother looked at Mr. Lin and asked, "Why have you summoned me especially today?" Mr. Lin replied, "Today, the Son of Heaven admires the Daoist arts and hopes to see the Perfected Lady (an honorific for a female immortal)." The emperor immediately rose and offered incense in reverence. The Queen Mother said, "The Lord Donghua need not bow." The emperor said, "To see your immortal countenance today is truly a rare honor, one that comes only once in ten thousand kalpas and a thousand lifetimes. If you would deign to instruct me, I beg the immortal in her compassion to do so." The Queen Mother said, "On all matters you may consult the Attendant Minister Lin. Celestial Master Zhang Xujing (a Daoist Celestial Master) will be able to help you escape great calamity."

The emperor said, "Since the Perfected Lady has descended, would you not leave some instruction for me?" The Queen Mother then taught the emperor the method of using the divine elixir to nourish the body, and said, "You must discern treacherous ministers clearly and move the capital to Chang'an. In your conduct, emulate Your Majesty's imperial ancestors, Taizu and Taizong. If you do so, even when you meet with minor disasters, they will not grow into great catastrophes. Otherwise, regret will come too late." When she had finished speaking, she departed.

One day, the Crown Prince came before the throne and reported, "Lin Lingsu practices baleful sorcery, and I beg Your Majesty to have him executed. I think about this matter every day, and I also know that his arts are vast and difficult to fathom. If Your Majesty does not believe this, please summon the Daoist masters. They are all in the capital, and they may compete in contests of magic with Lin Lingsu, so that the orthodox and heterodox nature of the arts can be distinguished."

At that time, fourteen men had gathered in the Hall of Concentrated Spirit. The emperor had the Crown Prince, the princes, and the assembled ministers all watch together. Mr. Lin blew a mouthful of water into the air, and the water turned into clouds of five colors. Within the clouds were several hundred cranes that circled and danced in front of the hall, and among the clouds were golden dragons and lions. The fourteen men reported, "This is not real. These are merely dragons and cranes made of paper. We beg permission to recite the Great Divine Incantation. Once we finish reciting it, the dragons and cranes will fall to the ground and turn back into paper."

The Crown Prince was pleased upon hearing this and said, "If this is truly so, then Lin Lingsu's arts are false, and he should be beheaded." As they were about to recite the incantation, only two of the fourteen men were able to recite it. The rest were unable to utter a single word, and their faces were as pale as corpses. The Crown Prince rebuked Mr. Lin, saying, "If these men should die, then I will have you..."

After the incantation was completed, cranes and dragons appeared by the hundreds and thousands, blotting out the sky and the sun. The Emperor said, "This technique has had no effect. What other arts do you have?" The twelve men all lay prostrate on the ground, trembling violently and terrified.

Two of them then memorialized: "We are able to chant incantations that make water boil." After they chanted, the water indeed came to a boil. The Crown Prince carried a basin of water before the Emperor and said, "Master, please take a look." The Master drew in a breath and blew it into the water. At once the water turned cool, and it even froze into ice.

The Emperor rebuked them: "The court has treated you with the utmost generosity, and yet you dare to deceive us!" The Master memorialized: "Please have one thousand catties of charcoal burned to build a fire cavern, with its interior and exterior glowing red-hot. This humble servant is willing to enter it together with these two men and submit to the test."

After a long time, the fire cavern was completed. The Master said, "This servant asks to go in first, and then have them follow." The Master walked into the fire cavern, yet the fire did not burn the Master's robes. The others lay prostrate, wailing and begging for mercy, and said to the Crown Prince, "Please save our lives! We are willing to don caps, hold the official registers, and await orders to serve." The Crown Prince came down from the hall, bowed, and requested that the registers they offered be accepted as atonement for their crimes. The Emperor issued an edict pardoning their offenses. However, Daojian and the other man were Chinese subjects who should not have deceived their sovereign, so they were handed over to the Kaifeng Prefecture, tattooed on the face, and exiled to garrison duty.

On the eighth day of the first month of the first year of the Xuanhe era, the Emperor issued an edict that all monks throughout the realm be uniformly renamed "Deshi" (Virtuous Scholars). The Master memorialized: "This servant was originally a scholar of the mountains and forests, and was mistakenly favored by Your Majesty's grace. If monks are to be renamed, it will surely bring the resentment of the multitude. I request permission to return to being a commoner and go home to my native place." The Emperor refused the request and ordered that the Master not submit any further petitions.

In the fifth month, floodwaters reached the capital, and the Emperor ordered the Master to govern the disaster. The Master memorialized: "This flood is difficult to control; it is Heaven's means of warning Your Majesty. Moreover, the flood arose because of the Crown Prince, and this servant dares not divulge heavenly secrets. Simply let the Crown Prince pay obeisance to the flood, and this can be verified." Accordingly, the Crown Prince was ordered to ascend the city wall, burn incense (offering incense to the gods), and bow four times. The water level dropped by one zhang (about ten feet), and by nightfall the floodwaters had entirely receded. The people of the capital all said this was due to the De (Virtue) of the Crown Prince.

The Master memorialized: "This servant originally came in response to Heaven's mandate, to drive out yin demons and suppress aberrant portents on Your Majesty's behalf, to establish the Shenxiao (Divine Empyrean), to set up the Baolu (Treasured Registers), to honor the Dao (the Way) and assist loyal worthies. Now Cai Jing is the chief villain of the state, yet Your Majesty entrusts him with great authority. Tong Guan is a scourge upon the state, yet Your Majesty has him command the troops. State affairs lie neglected, and luxury has grown excessive. When the comet appeared, Your Majesty did not accumulate good deeds to dispel the calamity; the Taiyi (Supreme One) Lipalace..."

If the lowest of plans, relocating the capital to escape calamity, cannot be adopted, then the human heart is the dwelling place of Heaven. August Heaven is lofty and distant, yet the human heart responds to it readily. Therefore, by ordering human affairs one can answer the heart of Heaven. As for the claim that the great numbers of Heaven's mandate cannot be evaded, how could one know that the calendar's calculations also have a time when they expire?

Your minister now intends to take leave of Your Majesty for a time and will no longer gaze upon the Imperial countenance. Remember well: in the years bingwu and dingwei, armored troops will come sweeping in a long march, a thousand li of land will run with blood, and the two palaces that Heaven's mandate has favored will be unable to remain whole. Has Your Majesty not read Yuan Tiangang's Tuibei Tu (Back-to-Back Diagrams)? One of its verses reads: "Two dynasties' sons of Heaven smile with delight, / Leading their ministers across the Mengjin Ford. / Clasping hands, they cannot naturally advance or retreat; / Wanting to leave yet not leaving, the sorrow kills people."

Lin Lingsu, now beset by illness, requested to resign his office and return home. The emperor again issued an edict to retain him and would not permit his departure. In the winter, officials of the Censorate and the Secretariat memorialized that Lin had recklessly discussed relocating the capital, deluded the sovereign's hearing with monstrous words, pushed for the reform and abolition of Buddhism, and slandered the great ministers. Upon hearing this, the Master laughed aloud. He summoned his disciples and the palace officials in charge of court affairs and said: "The rewards bestowed upon me, before and after, amount to some three hundred dan. Since last year, I have numbered and sealed them with the characters of the Thousand Character Classic, and the accounts are perfectly clear. Now I have no use for any of them, and they may be returned to the palace." He then had only one boy carry his clothing and bedding, and walked out through the city gate. The emperor ordered him to return to Wenzhou. (The Dongdu Shilüe (Essentials of the Eastern Capital) records that on the day yimao of the eleventh month of the first year of Xuanhe, the emperor performed the sacrifice to August Lord Heaven (Haotian Shangdi) at the national altar, granted a general amnesty throughout the realm, and sent Lin Lingsu back to his mountain.)

Earlier, while the Master was in the capital, even when chancellors, members of the Privy Council, and princes came to call, he would not converse with them or receive their visitors. Only when the Celestial Master Xujing (Xujing Tianshi) arrived did he open his door to greet him, and the two would talk through the day and night. Apart from this, the only one who was close to him was Zhang Ruhui, Eastern and Western Palace Attendant. Zhang had once served at the Tongzhen Palace, and when he went out he walked beside the Master, and when he sat he shared the Master's mat. Of the Master's teachings and methods, Zhang Ruhui alone grasped their hidden essentials.

After the Master returned to his home district, he lived in Yongjia together with Zhang Ruhui. On a day in the eighth month of the first year of Xuanhe, he took a memorial to the prefect and asked the prefect to forward it on his behalf. He also bade farewell to officials of other prefectures, to his kin, and to his neighbors, saying: "One should not linger long in the mortal world, and now that great calamity is about to arrive, I must take my leave."

On the fifteenth day, under the full moon, he instructed Zhang Ruhui: "I have already entrusted the methods of our school to you. The Six Seals and Nine Talismans, together with the marvelous mechanisms of the Six Ding (Liuding) spirits, are all handed over to you as well. Pass them down to only one person in each generation, and do not divulge them lightly." He then gave Zhang a string of seven-treasure plain beads, saying: "It is like ……"

"Earlier, when you were at court, His Majesty entrusted this matter to you and charged you to be loyal and upright in serving the court from then on. Now we part for a while, and we will meet again in Shenxiao." When he had finished speaking, he asked for paper and brush and wrote a hymn:

"For forty-five years I have toiled through this life. My empty name has spread through the world, and I have known every kind of rise and fall. I remember only the old road to Shenxiao: on a Mid-Autumn night, the moon climbs past the third watch."

After he finished writing, he lit a stick of incense. It was the third watch, the moonlight was bright, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Suddenly came a clap of thunder, and the master sat upright and departed through yuhua (feathered ascension, the Daoist term for a adept's passing from the mortal world).

He had already marked the site of his tomb outside the city walls, and he instructed Master Zhang and his disciples: "Dig five chi deeper beneath the main grave. If you see a tortoise or a snake, you may lower the coffin. If you see five-colored clouds rising, do not wait to cover the grave but run a hundred paces away at once." The disciples did as he had said, and indeed they saw the mountain collapse and the rocks split. From then on, no one knew where he had gone.

When the emperor heard of this, he was struck with wonder and wept with grief. He personally composed a funeral oration and issued an edict:

"Alas! The living only borrow their forms for a time, and the dead return to their true nature. Those who resolve to seek the Dao are men of understanding, yet those who mourn the dead do not necessarily grasp this principle. He came suddenly and departed in a flash. He did not regard his body as a burden, nor did he treasure rank and glory. This is the way of transcending life and death and understanding the principle of transformation, which only a xianqing (immortal minister) could achieve!

"Alas! The life of a xianqing is not an ordinary life. He was a person briefly lent by Heaven, who assisted Heaven in transforming the world and aided the state and relieved the people. The death of a xianqing is not a true death, but a return to Heaven. The Great Dao has been put into practice, and many deluded people have awakened. Therefore his spirit was settled in purity and returned to its original truth. He also used the method of shijie (corpse liberation, the Daoist term for a way of leaving the body and ascending in transformation) to entrust himself to the allotted span of human life. He rode the clouds and the sun and moon, roamed the peaks of Penglai and Yingzhou, and walked on the jade steps of the Purple Void Palace. Such realms are truly beyond measure.

"Now, I, as a loyal subject, follow the rites of the human world and offer sacrifice before his coffin. If the spirit of the xianqing still lingers, may he enjoy this favor and this praise. Shangxiang (a funeral formula meaning: may you partake of the offerings)."

The emperor further decreed that the attendant Lin Gong should also ascend, and that the official Lüqiu E, serving as Yangshou Chen, should perform the sacrifice according to ritual. He ordered the attendant officials to choose a site for burial. He also had the gold vessels in the master's possession sold to fund a month-long Huanglu Dajiao (a great Daoist purification ritual, held to seek blessings, avert calamity, and deliver souls). If the money was insufficient, funds could be drawn from the provincial treasury, with the expenditure recorded and reported. No one was to delay or act perfunctorily; otherwise, other officials would be sent to investigate, so that this would accord with my will and with my constant regard for him.

The emperor conferred upon him a posthumous title of ninety-five characters and a precious patent of honor, and bestowed the name: "Gaoshang Shenxiao Yuqing Fu You Ji Xi Tai Xianqing Leiting Yushu Yuanming Puhua Tianshi" (Celestial Master of Universal Transformation, Original Brightness, and the Jade Pivot of Thunder and Lightning, Immortal Minister of the Western Terrace at the Right Pole of the Jade Clarity Prefecture of the Supreme Shenxiao).

Lin Lingsu, the Master of Dongming Wenyi Qiyuan Yingzhen Chuandao Fujiao Zongshi (Master Who Transmits the True Dao and Assists the Teaching, Clear Illumination, Hidden Scripture, Origin-Responsive Perfection), Jinmen Yuke (Feathered Guest of the Golden Gate), Attendant Grand Tutor of the Chonghe Hall, Special Advancement Grand Minister, Co-Chancellor with Equal Authority in the Secretariat and Chancellery, Pillar of the State, Duke of Lu, with a fief of 8,100 households and 3,000 households of actual revenue, and Master Tongzhen Daling Yuanmiao Huguo (Penetrating the True, Reaching the Numinous, Protector of the Nation), who was awarded a purple jade talisman, had the seven-treasure white beads taken by Emperor Qinzong of Song after he ascended the throne in the first year of the Jingkang era (1126). Later, the court sent an envoy to Wenzhou and ordered the prefect and the patrol officials to guard his tomb. For three days Lin Lingsu was nowhere to be found. The tomb grounds were seen to be strewn with tumbled stones, a black wind rose, rain poured down in torrents, and thunder and lightning struck together. Flames and thunderclaps shook the earth, so that no one could make out the faces of the people present. Strange beasts and giant serpents appeared one after another to guard the tomb. These events were faithfully recorded and reported to the court. When Emperor Qinzong heard of them, he was greatly astonished. He again dispatched an envoy with incense bestowed by the throne to Wenzhou, ordering the local officials to hold a grand jiao (zhaijiao) purification ritual, a solemn Daoist rite for seeking blessings and averting calamity, to enshrine the spirit and offer apologies. He also issued an edict conferring on Lin Lingsu the title Tongzhen Daling Zhenren (True Person Who Penetrates the True and Reaches the Numinous). The court further ordered that his portrait be painted and a shrine erected for him at the Tianqing Guan (Abbey of Heavenly Celebration), where it still stands today.

This biography was originally written by the Hanlin Academician Geng Yanxi. Its prose is ornate, and the stories it cites carry profound meanings that a reader without broad learning would find hard to follow. I now retell its events in plain language, hoping that adherents of the Dao and ordinary people alike may come to know the traces of the Master's immortality.

When I had not yet taken up my present post and was living in Xiluo, I once met the Master. He handed me a sealed booklet of writing and said: "In the future you should assist in the restoration of the dynasty. If you encounter the 'chuntou muhui zhi zei' (the thieves of the wood-assembly at the head of spring; the original text reads so, and what it refers to is unclear), you may then resign your office. Open my booklet and act according to the methods written in it, and you will escape great disaster and may even attain longevity. Otherwise, you will meet me at the old post station at Chaoyang, and by then regret will be too late."

At the time I did not believe him, and I did not commit his words to memory. Later I submitted a memorial denouncing a matter, and I indeed encountered the band of people the original text calls the "chuntou muhui zhi zei," and for this I was found guilty and exiled to an island. When I passed the post station at Chaoyang and had just arrived at the station pavilion, I saw a young man of elegant dress and ruddy complexion walk straight in. Looking closely, I saw that it was the Master. Smiling, he asked: "Did what I told you before turn out to be wrong?" Only then did I realize that the Master was truly an immortal. Therefore I have rewritten this biography to leave for later generations.

Respectfully recorded by Zhao Ding, former Left Vassal Minister of Works (Shangshu Zuo Puye) of the Secretariat.

Wang Wenqing

Master Wang, whose personal name was Wenqing and courtesy name Shudao, was a native of Nanfeng in Jianchang, Jiangyou (present-day Jiangxi). He was born at the Hai hour (roughly 9 to 11 p.m.) on the seventeenth day of the second month of the eighth year of the Yuanyou era of Emperor Zhezong of the Song (1093). From birth he seemed unlike ordinary children, and as he grew up he was clever and quick-witted. He once wrote a poem: "The wealth of the red dust holds no lingering attraction for me; among the true immortals of the Purple Mansion (Ziju, the immortal realm in Daoist belief), I resolve to seek them."

One day he suddenly told his father, "Last night I dreamed of a terrace and palace in a lofty, beautiful landscape, with a giant serpent coiled on the ground. I tried stepping on its head, and the serpent leapt up violently, nearly rising into the clouds." His father replied, "In the future you should inherit our family's immortal Way."

From then on, Master Wang's disposition grew ever more devoted to stillness and emptiness. He cultivated his nature and body wholeheartedly, did not covet fame or profit, and kept far from the toil of the mortal world. He often roamed leisurely through spiritually marvelous immortal realms and famous sites, wearing a plain cap and carrying a bamboo staff as he wandered in all directions.

In the early Xuanhe reign of Emperor Huizong, as he was about to cross the Yangzi River, he met an extraordinary man. The man transmitted to him the method of "flying memorials to seek audience with the Emperor" (a technique of presenting reports to the Heavenly Thearch through talismanic memorials), along with a text for summoning wind and thunder. Afterward, Master Wang often burned memorials and prayed silently at chosen hours, paying homage to the Supreme Thearch and summoning thunder to pray for rain. Whenever he rebuked wind and cloud or sought clear skies after prolonged rain, the sky cleared at once; in deep winter, when he prayed for snow, snowflakes fell until they filled the sky. If a household was troubled by demonic afflictions, he would dispatch divine generals to expel them and restore the family's peace. He often lived in seclusion without seeking renown, amusing himself with poetry and wine, and ordinary people could not understand him.

Earlier, the Shichen (an attendant office in the Daoist court, shìchén) Lin Lingsu had reported to Emperor Huizong: "Master Wang is the Chief Scribe of the Three Heavens, an official in charge of documents, who was ordered to descend into the human world to assist in the teaching of the Way of wuwei (non-action)." The emperor issued edicts eighteen times to search for him, but no one knew where he was.

Later, the emperor's uncle, the Lianfang Shi (Circuit Inspector), while touring Gaoyou Military Prefecture, fell ill. Physicians failed to cure him, but he met Master Wang and obtained talisman water (fushui), which restored his health once he drank it. At first Master Wang concealed his name, and only when the official asked sincerely did he learn that the man was Wang Wenqing.

After the Circuit Inspector returned to the capital, he first reported Master Wang's immortal marvels to the court. In the seventh month of the fourth year of the Xuanhe era, Emperor Huizong personally issued an edict, delivered to Master Wang's residence, praising his De (virtue) and esteeming the Way of wuwei. The emperor also dispatched the Shichen Dong Zhongyun as Commissioner of Inquiry, who, together with the local supervisors and magistrates, prepared gifts to invite Master Wang and awaited his escort to court.

After Master Wang arrived in the capital, he presented the profound teachings and the great Way of wuwei to the emperor, who was greatly pleased and granted him residence in the Jiuyang Zongzhen Palace. Envoys from the court came one after another, bestowing gold saddles, imperial horses, dragon tea, jade wine, treasures, rare fruits, coins, and silk, but Master Wang submitted memorials declining every gift and would accept none. Later, Master Wang was ordered to enter Qing…

Following the imperial summons, the master brought the sword and bowl bestowed by the emperor into the palace. He purified the halls by sweeping and sprinkling, and had the palace servants hang up strings of gold coins. The coins were countless, and as the master left the palace gate he scattered them on the ground, saying, "This too is a Zhenren (perfected person)." The emperor then asked whether the palace harbored any malevolent spirits. The master replied, "There is a malignant presence at the southeast corner of the palace." When the emperor asked how it could be removed, the master said, "After I have drawn the talismans, have someone quickly carry them to the outside of the Houzai Gate and scatter them into the middle of the flowing water. Then listen for what happens there."

The emperor did as instructed. The messenger who returned reported that the talismans had no sooner entered the water than they seemed to have been taken away by someone. The master then said, "In a little while there will be thunder. Your Majesty should not be alarmed." Sure enough, lightning split a great cypress at the southeast corner of the palace. The tree was struck dead, and beneath it appeared a giant serpent several zhang long, cut in two. The emperor was greatly delighted.

Earlier, there had been a Fox King Temple in Jingkou, established and worshipped by Emperor Shizu. Many years later, the temple caught fire one day and burned to the ground, and the site was then turned into a grass field. Zhang Tianjue, who held the highest administrative post, promoted benevolent governance and had more than a thousand Fox King temples torn down. After Zhang Tianjue was dismissed from office, the fox spirits and ghosts gathered in a crowd and entered the palace to steal vessels and treasures and to bewitch the palace women. At times they climbed the mountains, and at other times they moved among the halls and pavilions, causing all manner of disturbance, which led to the deaths of a number of favored palace women.

When the master came to the court, the emperor first explained the matter to him. The master said, "Please, Your Majesty, remain silent and still, and allow me to subdue these malevolent spirits. I request that a three-story Thunder Altar be built inside the northeast gate of the capital, and that an iron urn (an iron vessel) be placed within the altar." On a bright moonlit night, the master mounted the altar with his sword in hand, waved the Fulu (talismans and registers), and shouted aloud. At once wind and thunder rose, and heaven and earth grew dark. At midnight, the Daoist officials all saw subordinate officers driving several ghosts bound before them, dressed in red robes, and all were led into the center of the altar. The master covered the mouth of the urn with a talisman, performed the rite, and then buried the urn in the ground, and the earth trembled for a while.

At dawn, the master entered the palace to report: "The fox monsters have been restrained and subdued, and from now on they will no longer cause harm. However, there is a black fish in the Yao Pool, which had already become a monster in the pool during the Liang dynasty of the Southern Dynasties. The fox spirits used it to transform into a dragon, which allowed them to come and go in the forbidden palace, frightening and harming the imperial consorts. Now that the black fish has been executed, please have eunuchs send it, together with the subdued ghosts, to the Ghost Gate for burial, so that the danger may be permanently eliminated."

The emperor personally went to the Yao Pool and indeed saw a dead fish more than one zhang long. He marveled and admired it for a long while. Afterward, the emperor had halls and a Daoist monastery built on the site of the Forbidden Fox Altar, enclosing the altar within them. He bestowed upon it the name "Office of the Director of Destiny" (Simingfu) and ordered the master to come and go to preside over it. The emperor further decreed that incense be offered at the altar every five days and that a jiao (Daoist offering ritual) be held there.

Later, the Master also presented twelve talismans (fulu), carved in copper, iron, and stone, which were placed in the twelve directions of the palace to expel and slay the demonic creatures born from flowers, grasses, and trees.

Afterward, Yangzhou suffered a prolonged drought, and the emperor ordered prayers for rain. The Master memorialized to request a sword and a water bowl, and the emperor issued an edict granting both. The Master took a mouthful of water, sprayed it, and intoned: "The Emperor of the Great Song has commanded this minister to pray for rain. Let the rain fall abundantly and the wind rise strong enough to uproot trees, so that all of Yangzhou within a thousand li is thoroughly soaked. Borrow three feet of the Yellow River's waters. Swiftly, as the statute commands!" A few days later, the prefect of Yangzhou reported that rain had fallen, but that it was all yellow and muddy. The emperor asked the Master, "Why is the sweet rain you summoned yellow and muddy?" The Master replied, "The Yangzi, the Huai, and the Ji are all under the restraint of the Supreme Lord. Only the waters of the Yellow River are not restrained, and that is why the rain is like this." Hearing this, the emperor was delighted and praised his numinous powers.

In the seventh month of the seventh year of the Xuanhe era (1125), the emperor issued an edict conferring on the Master the title "Master of Chongxu Miaodao" (Mysterious Way of Void and Emptiness). He was also specially appointed to several posts, including Grand Master of Plain Substance, Collator of Documents at the Hall of Concentrated Spirit, Gentleman Attending the Court, and Compiler of the Right Literary Bureau, so that he could take part in the court's confidential affairs. Soon after, he was made Attendant of the Palace at the Hall of Concentrated Spirit, and later was additionally given concurrent administration of the Jiuyang Zongzhen Palace and supervision of the Office of Destiny. The Master's father, Zhaoshi, was posthumously granted the rank of Chengshi Lang, and his mother, Lady Jiang, was posthumously granted the title of Grand Lady.

The Master submitted a memorial requesting to return to the mountains, where he could cultivate himself in a quiet chamber, devote himself to the Way of uniting with the "Unity of the One" (Di Yi), and recite the Great Scripture of the Dongzhen Cavern (Dongzhen, Dadong Zhenjing) to pray for the emperor's blessings and longevity. The emperor did not allow him to leave. Instead, he decreed that the Master wear the Golden Square Talisman and enter various halls of the palace once every five days, empowering water with incantations, cleansing impurities, expelling evil, healing illness, and expounding the principles of De (Virtue).

The emperor also sent the eunuch Huang Yao to order the Master to proceed to the Guangde Palace and perform the "Great Rite of the Nanchang Receiving and Refining Office," a Daoist ritual for delivering the dead. That same night, the Master dispatched flying talismans to seize the palace women who had been killed by fox spirits and ghosts, and their forms appeared one by one. He then issued the "Treasure Register of Living Heaven" (Shengtian Baolu), a Daoist register used to deliver the souls of the dead, and the spirits were released. The emperor was deeply astonished by these marvels.

In the eleventh month, the court held a sacrifice at the Mingtang, but continuous overcast and rainy weather set in. The emperor summoned the Master and said, "Whenever sacrifices are held at the Mingtang, rain, snow, and freezing come, damaging the guards and the ritual vessels. For this Mingtang sacrifice, I have entrusted the Immortal Minister to pray for clear skies at the Jiuyang Zongzhen Palace." The Master accepted the charge. From the day the rite began until the sacrifice was completed, the skies indeed remained clear.

On the following day, the emperor received the Master at the Qinghua Hall and said to his chief ministers, "Now..." The original text ends here.

Afterward, the Mingtang was clear and bright, which was credited to Wang Wenqing's ritual work. The emperor then issued an edict, in accordance with the earlier arrangements, bestowing on him the titles Grand Master of Pure Simplicity (Taisu Dafu) and Attendant of the Hall of Concentrated Spirit (Ningshen Dian Shichen). He was also appointed Attendant of the Two Bureaus (Liangfu Shichen) and Master of Profound Penetration and Void Harmony (Chongxu Tongmiao Xiansheng), and was further granted the rank of Vice Grand Master of the Central Court (Shi Taizhong Dafu) and the post of Advanced Scholar Awaiting Imperial Summons at the Huiyou Pavilion (Tejin Huiyou Ge Daizhi), with responsibility for Daoist affairs. His father was again posthumously honored as Gentleman for Recommendation (Chengyi Lang), his mother was enfeoffed as Grand Lady (Tai Lingren), and his wife, née Ping, was granted the title Lady of Propriety (Yiren). His uncle Wang Shen received the rank of Gentleman of Faithful Service (Chengxin Lang), and his younger brother Ciqing was granted the rank of Gentleman of Meritorious Service (Digong Lang) and permitted to take office as an assistant manager of the affairs of the southern suburban sacrifice.

Wang Wenqing then submitted a memorial saying, "I request that the court appoint virtuous and wise generals in advance to guard against the baleful forces in the northwest, and I request permission to return to the mountains to live out my years." The emperor replied in the margin, "A Jade Court immortal minister, how can you speak of retiring into seclusion? Your request is denied."

The Jin forces grew fierce and the Song armies suffered defeat, fulfilling Wang Wenqing's earlier prophecy. The emperor then ordered him to take twenty boxes of incense and travel to various places to pray for the protection of the state and the altars of soil and grain. After Wang Wenqing returned to the palace with the incense, the emperor sent the eunuch Huang Yao with imperial incense and a sealed vermilion memorial, instructing him to go to the Jade Emperor Hall of the Jiuyang Zongzhen Palace and burn them. Afterward, the emperor specially summoned him to the palace and asked when the matters reported in the vermilion memorial would come to pass. Wang Wenqing responded with tears in his eyes, "Your Majesty prayed in the memorial that a ruler of the Way might govern the realm, and offered my own person in atonement." He added that the reply he had heard was, "Transformation brings no regret." When the emperor pressed him on the meaning of this, Wang Wenqing explained it in private, and the emperor, upon hearing it, deeply agreed.

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth month, the emperor yielded the throne to the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. Wang Wenqing entered the palace to offer congratulations. A few days later, he was ordered to leave the capital carrying the imperial incense. In the first year of the Jingkang era of Emperor Qinzong (1126), Wang Wenqing again came to court and requested to return home to care for his mother. His words were sincere, and the emperor granted the request. In the thirteenth year of the Shaoxing era (1143), Emperor Gaozong issued an edict summoning him to court, but he did not respond.

One day, Xu Dexiu, Prefect of Shaowu, visited Wang Wenqing in the locality. Wang Wenqing said, "When Shaowu suffered a severe drought earlier, I quietly went to the place where the Heavenly Emperor resides and paid my respects. There I saw the deity Huiying Shen, and I knelt before the jade steps and pleaded earnestly on behalf of the people. The Heavenly Emperor told me that this was the result of fate. Huiying Shen, however, said that Shaowu Prefecture was poor and barren and that its people could not go a single day without grain. His words were very earnest, and in the end he obtained the Heavenly Emperor's consent, and that year the crops were abundant." After Xu Dexiu returned to his office and recounted this matter, the local scholars and commoners unanimously contributed funds to enlarge and renovate the temple, and they worshipped Huiying Shen with even greater devotion.

The Record of Sacrifices and Blessings (Sihui Ying Lu) gives a detailed account of these events. In the twenty-second year of the Shaoxing era, the Master told his disciple Zhu Zhiqing one day, "I am about to withdraw from the world." He then personally carried his Daoist scriptures (fashu) and seals to a stone cave on Junfeng, hid them there, and ordered the local earth deities (dishen) to guard them until a person of genuine cultivation came to retrieve them.

On the twenty-first day of the eighth month of the twenty-third year of Shaoxing (the guiyou year), the Master took leave of the county magistrate and bid farewell to his friends. On the morning of the twenty-third, he rose and wrote a ji (a short verse used by cultivators to express their intent) on his coffin: "This body of mine is illusory, and the pine coffin boards are not truly durable; I break free from the bonds of worldly sight and leap beyond the red dust." After writing it, he transformed and departed at the Qingdu Abbey (Qingdu Guan) in the county, a place where Xu Jingyang once refined his elixirs. That same day, a single peal of thunder sounded, and the Master passed away.

His disciples, including Hermit Xiong, Ping Jingzong, and Yuan Tingzhi, buried him at Turtle Ridge (Wugui Gang). In the third month of the following year, the Daoist Guo of Longhu Mountain arrived in the area and said that on the night of the Upper Primordial Festival (the fifteenth day of the first lunar month), he had been serving as Chen (a Daoist ecclesiastical title) at the Zoulu ritual platform, where registers of ordination are presented, and that he had stayed in the palace for three days before leaving. Later, a traveler returning from Chengdu Prefecture reported that he had met the Master on the road to Shu; others also claimed to have encountered him and received Daoist techniques from him.

Lishi Zhenxian Tidao Tongjian, Volume 53