《雲笈七籤》Vol. 107

Tao Hongjing, courtesy name Tongming, was a native of Danyang. From youth his aspirations were uncommon; he was intelligent and eager to learn, broad in knowledge, and thoroughly studied the Five Classics as well as the various masters and historical works. He excelled at calligraphy and fully grasped the standards of ancient and modern calligraphic method. He had no wish to establish a household or take office; since the family’s means were not yet fully arranged, he went out for a time and first took a modest post, serving as Reader-in-Waiting to the Prince of Yidu.

In his twenties, he began to practice the method of ingesting medicinal substances and cultivated according to the essential instructions of the Daoist tradition. The talismanic texts (Fulu) and wondrous methods he obtained were all traces left by immortals. Thereafter, as his cultivation and Daoist practice gradually advanced, he resigned from office and lived in reclusion on Mount Mao.

In appearance he was clear and refined, handsome; his gaze was animated and his spirit bright. He was slender and tall, with a long, thin neck, and his ears seemed especially finely formed and distinctive, plainly setting him apart from others.

Record of the Origins of the Huayang Recluse

Written by Tao Hongjing’s nephew Tao Yi, courtesy name Muyu.

In the tenth year of Yongming (492), after Xie Yue—who had served as Zhanshi, Chief of the Crown Prince’s Household—returned from Wuxing, he heard that Tao Hongjing had renounced the world and entered the mountains, and he was deeply moved and full of admiration. On the road he wrote the preceding short biography of Tao Hongjing. That biography was not detailed or complete; it only broadly recounted the main deeds, somewhat in the manner of Wang Xizhi’s biography of Mr. Xu.

Tao Yi was the nephew of the Recluse Mr. Tao Hongjing. The gentleman’s name was Hongjing, courtesy name Tongming, and he was a native of Danyang. The Tao family residence stood east of the southern hillock at Baiyang Lane. When household registers and administrative boundaries were fixed in the early Liu-Song, this area was still assigned to Tongxia Village in the Western Township of Moling County, and the Tao family still lives there to this day.

The Tao clan was originally from Pingyang in Jizhou and were descendants of Emperor Yao of the Taotang clan. When Yao governed Jizhou, he established his seat at Pingyang, and so the Tao clan settled there. After the Han dynasty was founded, a man named Tao She served as Right Sima to Emperor Gaozu; his son Tao Qing rose to the office of Chancellor. Tao Hongjing’s thirteenth-generation ancestor Tao Chao crossed the Yangtze in the late Eastern Han and first settled in Danyang.

Tao Hongjing’s seventh-generation ancestor Tao Jun was the younger brother of Tao Huang, Inspector of Jiaozhou. He served the state of Wu as General Who Guards the South and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jurong with a fief of two thousand households. Later, he surrendered to the Jin together with Sun Hao and was appointed to posts including Yilang (Gentleman Consultant), Sanqi Changshi (Regular Attendant of the Cavalier), and Shangshu (Minister).

Tao Hongjing’s sixth-generation ancestor Tao Mo was the third son of Tao Jun. During the Yongjia era, he served as Sima to Sima Yue, Prince of Donghai, and concurrently commanded garrison troops, accompanying Sima Yue to Xuchang. After a military defeat, he crossed the Yangtze back to the south and became a military adviser to Wang Dun, General-in-Chief. After Wang Dun became Chancellor, Tao Mo was transferred to the post of Military Consultant Libationer. Later, he again followed Wang Dun southward...

Because he feared that a disaster would implicate him, he submitted a petition requesting that his name be separated from the clan register; afterward he was barred from office for many years. Only in old age was he appointed Army Advisor in the Office of the Chancellor and General of Chariots and Cavalry, a staff post in the Chancellor’s office, but he did not take up the position. He died in the fourth year of Shengping and was first buried separately on the ridge of Baishi Mountain.

His great-great-grandfather Pi was rich in insight and ability and outstanding in character. Because of an affair connected with letters, he was demoted, and thereafter was unwilling to enter official service; when the province and commandery summoned him, he did not comply. Later the court granted him the post of Senior Assistant of Nan’an, but he still did not assume office. He died in the third year of Long’an.

His great-grandfather Xinggong was versatile and accomplished, but he was not good at managing the family estate. He was recommended as Commandery Merit Officer and was also nominated on account of a reputation for filial piety and integrity, receiving appointment as Magistrate of Guangjin County. He died in the second year of Yixi.

His grandfather Long was seven chi five cun tall, handsome in appearance, and full of physical strength. He was skilled at riding and archery and also enjoyed reading. He was good at writing and understood the properties of medicines, and he often took helping others as his own duty. He once served as Army Advisor to the General of the South Conquest and accompanied Emperor Xiaowu of Song in suppressing rebels; for his merit he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jin’an. Later he was offered the post of Senior Assistant, which he firmly declined. Yan Jun, relying on imperial favor, asked him for his residence, wishing to expand it into a Buddhist temple, but he refused. He then resigned, was afterward slandered, had his title stripped, and was moved to Guangzhou. Later, by grace, he was appointed Magistrate of Youping in Nanhai and also supervised Xinhui Commandery. In the fifth year of Daming, he died there.

His father was named Zhenbao, courtesy name Guozhong. Liu Xiuren, Prince Jian’an and Minister over the Masses, summoned him to serve as Attendant Gentleman; he was later promoted to Censor of the Southern Terrace and was also appointed Chancellor of Xiaochang in Jiangxia. He too was skilled at riding and archery and was accomplished in cursive and clerical scripts. His family was poor, and he made a living by copying scriptures, earning a fee worth forty cash per sheet. In calligraphy he modeled himself on Yang Xin and Xiao Sihua; he deeply understood pharmacology, broadly read philosophical works and histories, enjoyed writing, and was also fine in appearance and bearing. He often associated with Xiao Sihua, Wang Zhao, and Liu Bing and was appreciated by many powerful people.

In the winter of the fourth year of Yuanhui, he was ordered to go as a censor on a mission to a neighboring state, promoting friendly exchanges, and was much praised. After returning to the capital in the first year of Shengping, he wrote a detailed account of his travels and observations, composed poems of several thousand characters, and left other writings as well. Liu Bing once asked for these works to read; later, when the Shitoucheng affair occurred, the manuscripts were scattered and lost, and since there was no duplicate copy, they could not be transmitted to later generations. In the third year of Jianyuan, he died at his post, and his coffin was transported back to the old tomb for burial.

His mother was Lady Hao of Donghai, named Zhizhan, who devoted herself to the practice of Buddhism; when she died, miraculous signs appeared. Earlier, Zhenbao had taken his family and followed Lady Xiao to Yingzhou. In the second year of Xiaojian, Lady Xiao died; in the ninth month of that same year, his mother realized that she was pregnant and then dreamed that a small azure dragon suddenly flew out from her body and headed straight toward the east…

After the dragon rose into the sky, he followed it with his gaze but could not see its tail. After waking, he quietly told the dream to a bhikshuni (Buddhist nun), saying, “I will certainly have a boy in the future, and he will become an extraordinary person; I only worry that I myself will have no heir.” The bhikshuni asked why he said this, and he told her the dream. The bhikshuni said, “In the future you will leave the householder’s life.” He replied, “If that is truly so, it exactly accords with my wish.”

At that time he was twenty-five. That winter, he followed Xiao’s troops back to the capital and stayed in the staff officers’ quarters in front of the archery hall of the Eastern Mansion. In the third year of Xiaojian (the bing-shen year), on the night of the thirtieth day of the fourth month, a jiaxu day, at midnight, the Master was born. That year had an intercalary third month; the next day was exactly the new moon (the first day of the lunar month) and also the summer solstice. His mother bathed and rose, and her body was left with no discomfort.

At four or five, the Master already loved reading; calligraphy he wrote at six is still preserved, and the sheet was already quite substantial. At nine and ten he read the Record of Rites, the Book of Documents, the Zhou Changes, the Spring and Autumn Annals, and other classics and miscellaneous books, and he also greatly enjoyed writing compositions. At eleven he became the Boshi (Erudite) of Wang Hao, son of Wang Zhao, Left Chief Clerk to the Minister over the Masses. At thirteen, when his father sold their residence, he followed Liu Bing, Minister of Personnel, to Huainan Commandery. At fifteen he returned to the capital and lodged behind the residence of his cousin Xu Zhou; later he built another house and never returned to the old residence.

At seventeen he underwent the capping ceremony (the male coming-of-age rite) and often followed Liu Bing to Danyang Commandery. He was able to serve under Liu Bing’s command, ordinarily eating and lodging in the headquarters, and when going out or coming in he rode horses from the stable. Liu Bing’s second son, Liu Yu, was young and famous and was then serving as Libationer to the Minister over the Masses. He had always loved literature, and he and the Master searched for books day and night; the two often ate together and rode out in the same carriage. Liu Yu, together with Jiang Xiao, Chu Xuan, and others, were called Emperor Shun’s “Four Friends,” and he was especially renowned for his talent and learning. Liu Yu’s Songde Song and Lianzhu Seven were called unsurpassed works of the time. After Liu Yu died, his writings all scattered and were lost. The Master wanted to compile them for him but in the end could not find them.

That year was the winter of the first year of Shengming, when the Master was twenty-two. He followed Liu of Danyang into Stone City and joined Yuan Can, taking part in planning affairs; together with Han Ben and Mi Dan he was responsible for drafting documents. After the affair failed and the city fell, he managed to escape. Liu Yu and his younger brother Gai both shaved their heads and became monks, hoping to escape by this means, but they were captured and died in the Jiankang prison. Others did not dare go to see them; the Master personally laid them in coffins and buried them, and completed the funeral at the old tomb at Chaxing.

From then on, the Master left the dusty world and sought out mountains to dwell in. At the time of the Song-Qi transition, both the situation and people’s hearts were unsettled; since he had already associated with the Liu clan, he constantly harbored worry and fear. The original text breaks off here.

Thereupon, through the introduction of Ji Sengzhen, the Master sought an audience with Emperor Gao at Xinting and was at once permitted to enter the headquarters tent and take up a post. In the first month of the second year, when Shen Youzhi’s rebellion was pacified, the Master followed Emperor Gao back to Dongfu. Emperor Gao then sent him to serve Ye and Hao, the fifth and sixth sons of his younger brother, as attendant reader, and to assist in handling the household affairs.

The Master was then twenty-three and was appointed Aide to the Prince of Baling. The following year he accompanied Gaozu at his accession, returned to Taicheng, and lived within the palace; later he served as Aide to the Grand Commandant, the Prince of Yuzhang. The Master said, “At the change of dynasty I too had some slight merit; where is it that could not accommodate me in an office of two or three grades?” So he did not accept the appointment.

Another year later, the Master accompanied the Prince of Ancheng when he went out to garrison Shitou Fort. The next summer his father, Lord Xiaochang, died; the Master went to Ying to receive the coffin and returned to the capital in winter for the burial. After Shizu ascended the throne, the Master was summoned to office as General of Zhenwu and appointed attendant reader to the Prince of Yidu.

In the Qi dynasty, the attendant readers in the various princely establishments all concurrently managed the Record Office, an office in charge of documents and records. Appointment to this post required literary talent. The Master handled auspicious and inauspicious rites, internal and external ceremonies, memorials, as well as letters, reports, and documents, and his ability surpassed that of the others. The several princes’ clerical assistants and document clerks also followed his arrangements and took his practice as their standard. Other attendant readers were often ashamed and wary of this, and some even slandered and envied him; the Master did not take such things to heart.

When the Master was twenty-eight and his mourning period ended, he was recalled and appointed Palace General of the Left Guard. This appointment greatly disappointed people of the time, and the Master too was surprised and puzzled. He told Yu Daomin and asked him to appeal on his behalf against the unfair arrangement. Yu Daomin reported it directly to Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu said, “The late emperor personally appointed him to this office—do you not know that? What more is there to say?” Yu Daomin relayed these words to the Master. The Master sighed and said, “When I did not accept the office of Aide to the Prince of Yuzhang, five years have passed until now, and instead I have taken this office. Though a post horse is not a fine steed, I still wish to resolutely decline.”

Yu Daomin urged him, saying, “Since the Taiyuan era, this office has consistently been held by sons of prominent families. Pei Songzhi transferred from this post to become a Supernumerary Gentleman. So long as talent is valued, what is improper about appointing someone to office? If you decline, I fear it will ruin my plans.” Yu Daomin was then in favor and in charge of the affairs of the princely establishments. The Master had no choice but to accept the appointment.

When the Master was twenty-nine, the Qingxi Palace was newly completed, and Emperor Wu held a banquet and amusements. The Master submitted a memorial and presented a eulogy, and Fu Manrong also presented a rhapsody. The emperor then ordered Liu Xi, an official of the Zhongshu Sheng, to read out the imperial decree praising them, and commanded that a metal-and-stone musical assembly be held in the old palace. At that time the emperor intended to have the Master’s eulogy carved on a stone stele, and Wang Jian...

At that time, discussion of his promotion was blocked, and the matter came to a halt. Among the five men who submitted rhapsodies, everyone considered the Master’s work the best. Just as they were about to promote him, his mother died, and he left his post to observe mourning. Before long he was appointed General Zhenwu; when he was summoned to office, he was specially granted wine and food. As arranged, he accompanied the Prince of Yidu to the capital.

The emperor wished to go to Wujin Palace, and the Master composed another laudatory ode. After the ode was finished, the emperor’s excursion was canceled, and the piece could not be presented. Some said that the form and structure of this ode were lucid and transcendent, much superior to his earlier work.

Three years later, the Master returned to the capital and only then was appointed Fengchaoqing (a sinecure court post). After receiving the appointment, he was deeply unhappy. He wrote to his elder male cousin, saying: “When I first entered office, I once planned that, if my health held up, by around forty I must become a Gentleman of the Secretariat, and then be posted out to a county in eastern Zhejiang with a good reputation. As long as I could roughly take in its landscape, I would resign and retire. In recent years I have always felt this ambition close at hand. Now I am thirty-six, yet I have only become Fengchaoqing. My prospects are easy to imagine. Better to leave early than to suffer humiliation and toil for nothing.”

In May of the following year, he submitted a memorial requesting release from office, wishing to entrust himself to the mountains and forests. From this time his intention to retire to the mountains and forests and pursue lofty aspirations truly began. That year was the eleventh year of Yongming, a renshen year.

When the Master first went into reclusion, he did not wish formally to take leave of the court. After leaving the office, he took off his court robes and hung them at Shenhu Gate, put on a deer-skin headcloth, and went straight out through Dongting. He first instructed his attendants, saying, “Do not let anyone else know.” Then he went to take leave of Wang Yan. Wang Yan said, “The emperor is extremely strict and does not allow people to make lofty and extraordinary gestures. If by chance this offends his will and brings blame, I fear it would obstruct your resolve. Can you really do this?”

The Master was silent for a long time in thought, then replied, “I am acting in accordance with my own aspiration, not seeking fame. If I still worried about such things, why would I do this?” So he did not go to the office to bid farewell but submitted a memorial directly to state his intentions. The emperor issued an edict granting him ten bolts of silk and twenty candles, and separately ordered that he be supplied monthly with five jin of superior Poria and two dou of white honey for his consumption and health regimen.

Since the Master had resolved to leave, he readied a boat and set out east. All the guests held a farewell banquet for him at Zhenglu Pavilion, raising their cups and waving him off, all saying, “In recent times there has been no such event in Jiangdong; only today have we seen one.”

Later the Master lived on Mount Juqu in Jurong. He said, “This mountain is the Jintan Grotto Palace, one hundred fifty li in circumference, named the Heaven of Huayang; it is the seat of the Three Mao Directors of Destiny.” Therefore this mountain is called Mount Mao. He called himself “Huayang Recluse,” just as Shi’an called himself “Xuan Yan” and Zhichuan called himself “Baopu.” In all letters written to worldly people, he used this title in place of his own name.

From childhood he was skilled in textual research on ancient books and in expounding the meaning of the classics; he was thoroughly familiar with the general purport of the Seven Classics and could fully elucidate their contents, yet he did not like to establish new doctrines of his own, nor was he eager to debate as Confucians of earlier generations had done. He mainly put his views down on paper and seldom discussed them face to face.

He was especially versed in the Five Phases, Yin-Yang, wind divination (fengjiao, judging auspiciousness and inauspiciousness from wind direction), climatic portents, Taiyi, Dunjia (a method of numerology and military omen-reading), astrology and calendrical calculation, and arithmetic. He was also familiar with the geography of mountains and rivers, local products, medical formulas, the compounding of aromatic medicines, and the names and classification of insects, birds, grasses, and trees. He excelled in clerical script; his strokes did not follow the common format but formed a style of his own, vigorous yet refined. He also understood the qin zither and chess, horseback riding, and archery.

He often said that his mind was always like a bright mirror: when it came into contact with things, nothing obstructed him inwardly. He was a man of few worries and free of envy and contention; sorrow and joy were plain and mild, and anger and delight were not intense. Occasionally emotion would show in his words or bearing, and he would say that this was only to make a matter clear and alert others; inwardly there was in fact neither joy nor anger.

During the three years Jiazi, Yichou, and Bingyin, the Master went to Xingshi Abbey and consulted the abbot Sun Youyue of Dongyang on Daoist Fulu (talismans and registers), charts and texts, and scriptural methods. Although what was transmitted consisted of ancient editions, some had passed through repeated copying, and he found them unsatisfactory; he therefore made broad inquiries after materials in various places in order to collate and correct them.

In the Wuchen year he first went to Mount Mao, where he obtained the original handwriting of Yang Xi and Xu Mi, and was delighted and moved. In the Gengwu year he again requested permission to travel east, going to various places in Zhejiang and Yue to seek traces of the numinous and marvelous. He visited the layman Lou Huiming at Mount Dahong in Kuaiji, and the layman Du Jingchan at Mount Taiping in Yuyao; he also went to Mount □ in Shining to visit the Master Zhong Yishan, and to Mount Tiantai in Shifeng to visit Sengbiao and others. He also called on senior Daoists in various places, from whom he obtained more than ten scrolls of remnants left by Perfected Ones.

He traveled through mountains and waters for more than two hundred days before returning. After that, he visited all the famous mountains one by one—Mount Chang in Dongyang, Mount Tianmu in Wuxing, Yuqian, Linhai, Angu, and others. He was naturally light and agile, and climbing mountains cost him no effort; moreover, he cared for the poor and reclusive, rescued people in danger, and diagnosed and treated the sick, never slackening morning or evening. He also performed many good deeds and bestowed kindnesses in secret, of which others were unaware.

He treasured books. Even when he found errors in a book, he would arrange and collate it so that it might be transmitted in the world. He wrote a great deal, but not all of it has been preserved. Here I respectfully list one by one the titles of the Master’s writings concerning the way of the world:

Xueyuan, ten bundles and one hundred scrolls. The Master often said that because the many books were mixed and miscellaneous, when one wanted to look up a single matter one often could not examine all the classics and records; therefore he copied and compiled useful content ancient and modern by category and made this work.

(The above works, taken together, total one hundred fifty pian and are titled Xueyuan; they may be compared with the Huanglan.)

(I originally intended to compile all these books thoroughly, but recently I have been entangled in affairs and have had no time to continue. You may carry on and complete them.)

(If this book is completed, students and scholars will be able to consult it and will no longer need to laboriously search elsewhere.)

The collected commentaries on the Classic of Filial Piety and the Analects, together with the author’s own views, were combined into one set (a collective designation for the three books), totaling twelve juan. There is also the Preface to the Rites in one juan, with the author’s own commentary appended; the annotations to the Preface to the Book of Documents and the Preface to the Mao Shi are combined into one juan.

The Zuo Tradition already has annotations by Liu Shi and He Daoyang; the Lueli of the Changes is simply the Preface to the Changes, so it need not be annotated again.

The Collected Commentaries on the Laozi, Inner and Outer, in four juan, with the author’s own views appended; the Eulogistic Account of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, in one juan; the Commentary on the Baopuzi, in twenty juan; the Missing Characters in the Shiyu, in two juan, supplying characters according to Lu Wen’s text and filling in the missing content of the Shiyu according to the sense of the text.

A continuation of The Shishuo of Prince Kang of Linchuan, in two juan; the Brief Commentary on the Books of the Grand Duke and Sun Wu, in two juan; the Record of Provinces and Commanderies Past and Present, in three juan, with a Map of the Western Regions; the Imperial Chronological Calendar, in five juan, beginning with the Three Sovereigns and taking the Jizhong bamboo books (bamboo documents discovered in an ancient tomb) as the basis, checking the similarities and differences in calendrical records among fifty historical works before compiling it.

The Collection of True Ceremonial Forms, in three juan; the Record of the Jade Casket, in three juan, dealing with famous mountains and blessed lands; the New and Old Methods of the Seven Luminaries, in two juan; the Essential Summary of Divination, in one juan, containing thirteen methods of divination; the Essentials of Divination on Wind, Rain, Flood, Drought, Famine, and Epidemic, in one juan, containing ten divination methods; Miscellaneous Matters of Calculation and Technical Arts, in one juan; the Calendar of Auspicious and Inauspicious Times for All Undertakings, in one juan.

The Commentary on the Classic of Materia Medica, in seven juan; One Hundred and One Prescriptions Kept in the Sleeve, in three juan, supplementing Ge Hong’s proven prescriptions; Prescriptions of Proven Efficacy for Application, in five juan.

The above twenty-four works are all catalogues compiled from practical books in common circulation at the time. The collection also includes the Preface to the Book of Physiognomy, the Preface to the Record of Strange Things, and similar prefaces, all of which have been included in the collection.

Secret Instructions for Ascending to Perfection, in three sets, totaling twenty-four juan. It records the essential teachings of Daoist scriptures and the secretly transmitted methods required for cultivation to attain the Dao and become an exalted Perfected; these contents are not disclosed to outsiders.

Declarations of the Perfected, in one set, totaling seven juan. This book records the traces of the various Perfected descending to teach during the Xingning era of the Jin and personally written down by Yang and Xu. The layman Gu had already compiled it, but it contained many omissions and errors, so it was reorganized and arranged anew.

(There was also a one-volume Record of Dreams, recounting the Master’s dream omens and reflections; its contents were not transmitted outside, nor was anyone else allowed to hear them.) There were also one-volume works: Various Methods and Regulations for Compounding Elixir Drugs; Collected Essential Formulas for Golden Elixir Drugs; Methods for Ingesting Mica and Various Mineral Drugs and Digesting the Thirty-Six Waters; Methods for Ingesting Herbal and Woody Miscellaneous Drugs; Secret Formulas for Grain Avoidance; Secret Profundities of Numinous Formulas; Essential Methods for Eliminating the Three Corpses (sanshi); Compiled Methods for Ingesting Qi and Daoyin; and Collected Methods for Averting Disasters and Calamities in the Human World.

These nine categories of books were all Daoist texts compiled and collected by the Master. Most of the books he compiled were bulky, with many volumes and fine script; when a large volume was to be copied in large characters, it often had to be divided into as many as four volumes. The books also contained many illustrations and miscellaneous records, which I was unable to learn about or see one by one.

The Master also made an armillary sphere about three chi tall, with the earth placed at the center; the celestial bodies revolved while the earth remained still. It marked the degrees of the twenty-eight lunar mansions, the paths of the seven luminaries (the sun, moon, and five planets), and the appearance and disappearance of the culminating stars at dusk and dawn, as well as morning and evening times. Through a mechanism it rotated in correspondence with celestial phenomena. It was said that this was needed for cultivating the Dao, not merely for the use of official historians.

The Master also wanted to use flowing water to make a naturally running clepsydra, so that the twelve double-hours would cycle without anyone having to watch it. But the water of mountain streams easily produced moss and grime, and its flow was also unstable, so in the end it was not made.

The Master was slender and tall, seven chi two cun in height, with a waist circumference of only two chi six cun. His skin was thin, his sinews and bones visible, and his complexion pale. He had a long head, widely spaced brows and eyes, a small, straight nose, a high forehead, and protruding ears. Inside his left ear there was a black mole the size of a bean, and in each ear opening there were more than ten long hairs extending two or three cun beyond the ear. His chin was square, his temple hair was sparse and balding, his forehead was exposed, and his beard and hair were both scant.

On his right shoulder there was a purple birthmark about the size of two coins, and on the inner side of his right thigh were several dozen tiny black moles, mostly arranged in the pattern of the Big Dipper, raised and square, like the feet of an iron spear. There was often a strange light in his eyes, but the left and right eyes looked different; he never said what it was like.

I have heard that from childhood his appearance was proper and clean, and after the age of fifteen he became even more handsome. Whenever he went out, passersby would often praise and admire him. Even when walking in winter, he always held a fan to shield himself.

At the age of twenty-nine, he suddenly fell ill in Shitoucheng and lost consciousness, ...

He took medicine and also stopped eating; only after seven days did his illness suddenly improve. Thereafter, he often said that he had seen many strange visions. Later, his appearance grew increasingly haggard and thin, and his speaking voice became uneven, slow, and halting; even in old age he never returned to normal.

His original voice was clear and proper, its volume suited to his build; he spoke directly and plainly, without ornament. His movements were brisk and his steps light. His face was gentle and bright, not severe; the old and the young alike delighted in drawing close to him, yet they naturally felt awe in his presence. When disciples followed and served him, their manner was respectful and solemn, as though they were attending a senior in a palace.

Even as a child he kept his distance from others, and after a few years he no longer shared bowls, chopsticks, food, or drink with anyone. After growing up, whether traveling, dwelling, or resting, he was accustomed to arranging things by himself. By nature he took no pleasure in worldly jokes and did not join in people’s banter; when others pressed him to do something, he would apply himself with single-minded attention. He walked alone at night and slept alone without any fear or doubt; in his whole life he never had nightmares. After entering the mountains to cultivate the Dao, he never once took off his headcloth and coarse Daoist robe.

Biography of Mr. Zhenbai of Maoshan in the Liang Dynasty (composed by Li Bo of the Tang Dynasty)

Tao Hongjing was the seventh-generation descendant of Tao Jun, the Jingmu of Wu Commandery. His courtesy name was Tongming, and he was a native of Moling in Danyang. When his mother was pregnant, she dreamed that the essence of sunlight entered her bosom, and that two heavenly beings descended holding incense burners. When she awoke, she told those around her that she was carrying a boy who was no ordinary person and that she feared he would leave no descendants.

Tao Hongjing seemed different from others from birth. In childhood he was intelligent and fond of learning, and when he grew up his knowledge was broad and penetrating. After reading the Biographies of Immortals, he set his resolve on riding clouds and dragons and pursuing the way of the immortals. At seventeen, he was known together with Jiang Xiao, Chu Xuan, and Liu Yu as the “Four Friends of Shengming” of the Liu Song dynasty.

After entering official service under the Qi dynasty, he successively served as reading companion to several princes and concurrently as chief secretary. The documents and memorials he wrote were refined and elegant, and were valued by people of the time. When Qingxi Palace was completed, he presented a panegyric and received commendation from the emperor; the emperor even wished to have the panegyric engraved in stone, but desisted only because Wang Jian raised objections.

In his twenties, Tao Hongjing began to cultivate the Dao. Later he went to Xingshi Abbey to ask Master Sun about Daoist scriptures and methods of practice, devoting himself to practicing the essentials of cultivation and coming close to comprehending the profound and mysterious principles. Afterward he again took up the post of Fengchaoqing, and immediately submitted a memorial requesting to resign. The emperor issued an edict of encouragement and bestowed generous gifts upon him. The ministers and high officials held a farewell banquet for him at Zhenglu Pavilion; the tents and arrangements were exceedingly grand, and all said that since the Qi dynasty there had never been such an honor.

Thereafter, Tao Hongjing entered Maoshan. Having obtained the authentic writings transmitted by Yang Xi and Xu Mi, he climbed the mountain crags and built a retreat for quiet cultivation, calling himself “Huayang Recluse.” His calligraphy and prose were also outstanding, like those of the renowned masters of the time. He was especially fond of the sound of wind in the pines, and planted pines throughout his courtyard; whenever he heard the waves of the pine wind, he was joyfully content. Later, Emperor Ming wished to invite him to Mount Jiang, and Tao Hongjing earnestly…

After he resigned from office, the court continued to issue edicts and bestow gifts, often leaving him unable to cope with them all. He therefore built a three-story tower: he himself lived on the upper floor, his disciples on the middle floor, and guests were received on the lower floor, with only a single young servant responsible for conveying messages between master and disciples. He lived in seclusion from the world, devoted himself to cultivation, and applied himself to the study of secret methods; his sincerity moved and communicated with distant immortals, so that one might call him a man of sympathetic resonance and penetrating understanding.

He was seven chi and eight cun tall, open-minded by nature, modest and cautious, and his mind was like a bright mirror, responding whenever it encountered things. He seldom worried, and he did not envy or compete with others; joy, anger, sorrow, and delight were all met with equanimity. When emotion occasionally showed in his speech and conduct, it was to make principles clear and to awaken the world. He greatly admired the character of Zhang Liang, and his actions were free and relaxed, often giving people the impression of being ethereal and detached from the dust, as though he were among the clouds.

What he cultivated and studied he mostly grasped through his own understanding, and it was not something ordinary people could reach. He was especially good at distinguishing the true from the false and correcting errors, and he was also proficient in geography, calendrical astronomy, and arithmetic. He never wrote empty words in his essays, and once he had written something he would practice it himself. He made an armillary sphere, an instrument simulating the movements of the heavenly bodies; when the instrument was rotated, the celestial phenomena corresponded with it. He compiled and annotated works such as Zhengao, Yinjue, and Laozi, amounting to more than two hundred juan.

By the second year of Yongyuan, he lived in deep seclusion and seldom went out. When Emperor Wu of Liang, founder of the Liang dynasty, replaced the previous dynasty, the dynastic name had not yet been decided; he cited various prophetic records, texts foretelling fortune and misfortune, to explain that the character “Liang” accorded with Heaven’s mandate, and he also selected the dates for the suburban sacrifices and the Shan sacrifice, and the auspicious responses he spoke of later all manifested. The emperor sent envoys into the mountains to convey his intentions and express thanks. Emperor Wu of Liang had associated with him since early years, and thereafter, before any undertaking, he would always first inform him.

After the Master obtained the secret method, he believed that the divine elixir could be refined, but he was always troubled by a lack of medicinal ingredients, and the emperor supplied them all to him. The emperor also wrote personal letters to greet him and seek his advice. The Master painted two oxen: one grazing freely among water and grass, while the other wore a golden halter, with someone leading it by a rope and driving it with a stick. The emperor laughed and said, “This man seeks nothing; he wishes to imitate the turtle dragging its tail in the mud. How could he possibly be invited to come?”

Whenever the state had major affairs, he would always submit memorials beforehand, and so his contemporaries called him the “Chancellor in the Mountains.” In the early Datong era, he presented two knives, one named Shansheng and one named Chengsheng, both precious treasures. Emperor Wu of Liang said in Jinlouzi that among recluses he valued Tao Zhenbai, and among scholar-officials he valued Zhou Hongzheng. Tao Zhenbai was profound in principle and inexhaustible in learning, and he was also a famous scholar of the time.

The Master once wrote a poem: “Wang Yifu, that is Wang Yan, indulged his nature and let himself go; He Yan, courtesy name Ping Shu, sat in empty talk. If court military preparations are not stressed, Chaoyang Hall will in the end become a palace of the Xiongnu.” People of the time vied in discussing metaphysical principles but did not practice military preparedness. Later, when the Hou Jing rebellion occurred, circumstances were indeed as his poem had said. In the second year of Datong, he died.

He was eighty-five at the time, yet his appearance and complexion showed no decline, and he could bend and stretch his body as freely as ever. The fragrance in his room did not disperse for days. The court issued an edict posthumously conferring on him the office of Zhongsan Dafu, bestowing the posthumous title Mr. Zhenbai, and sending a Sheren to supervise and manage the funeral affairs. (According to Ma Shu’s Record of Attaining the Dao, he had once transmitted the method of the Penglai immortals.)

Among the dozens of disciples he instructed, only Wang Yuanzhi and Lu Yichong were called the most outstanding.

Yunji Qiqian, juan 107