《張三丰先生全集》Vol. 5

The Complete Works of Mr. Zhang Sanfeng, Volume One (Excerpt): A Plain-Language Interpretation

Edition Information

This book is a reprinted edition of the Daozang Jiyao (Essentials of the Daoist Canon). Volume One of The Complete Works of Mr. Zhang Sanfeng was recompiled by the recluse Li Xiyue of Hanjia (present-day Ya’an area, Sichuan); respectfully transcribed by Zhang Daoyuan (courtesy name Zishen); respectfully published by Zhu Daosheng of Langzhong (style name Wanchengzi); jointly collated by his nephew Ying (Chuncheng) and Zhu Zan (Suyuan); and assisted by his son Huang (Panxi).

Conferral Edict of Emperor Tianshun of the Ming

By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: We hold that immortal bearing and Daoist bone receive the true primordial (zhenyuan) of heaven and earth; secret classics and numinous writings gather the orthodox Qi (vital energy) of Yin-Yang. Those who can live long and endure, transcend the ordinary and enter sagehood, are rarely met in a generation. The Zhenren (Perfected Person) Zhang Sanfeng has an extraordinary disposition and lofty aspirations and integrity; he obtained immortal registers and secret formulas and partook of the numinous paste of the golden cauldron. He comes and goes in an instant, truly holding the mechanism of creation; he hides and appears in the subtle and indistinct, matching the marvels of Qian and Kun. We therefore specially confer on him the title Zhenren of Penetrating Subtlety and Manifest Transformation (Tongwei Xianhua Zhenren), and bestow this edict to show our praise and honor. It is still hoped that he will set a time to teach and transform and bestow blessings on future generations.

Baogao I

A famous scholar of the Yuan dynasty and a descendant of the Celestial Master (Tianshi); crane-like bones slender and graceful, dragon beard flowing. He was not merely a talent for a hundred-li district: having obtained one official post, he bravely withdrew. He left Liaodong to seek the Dao and entered Zhongnan, where he met his master. His bamboo hat was worn through and his robe tattered, yet cold and heat could not invade him; when the fruit ripened and the elixir was complete, he moved freely in all directions. He used songs and lyrics to discuss the Dao, and their sound rang through the clouds; he hid his true nature amid dust and dirt, and people called him Lata (the Sloppy One). When the Jade Pivot proclaimed the edict, he flew up in the golden hall; his mystery and wonder have no fixed form, and his hiding or appearing cannot be fathomed. Greatly loyal and greatly filial, greatly compassionate and greatly merciful; leader of the assembled immortals at the South Pole Assembly, the Perfected Lord Who Mystically Expounds the Orthodox and Continues the Martial Tradition at Wudang (Xuanxuan Yanzheng Wudang Jiwu Zhenjun).

Baogao II

The one Qi of Initial Azure spread his teaching through the ten directions; he accumulated merit in the Great Ming and saved beings in the marketplaces. Meeting the Fire Dragon, he carefully investigated the ultimate Dao; entering Wudang, he cultivated and nourished the Valley Spirit. Blending with the world and harmonizing his light, he wove through five years; entering the mountains and facing a wall, he was tested for nine years. At the great court, before the imperial carriage, he visibly ascended; in famous mountains and ancient grottoes he left immortal traces. In every region he opened transformation, and everywhere he established altars; he expounded the golden precepts to transmit them for ten thousand generations, and verified the Golden Elixir to save later students to the end. Greatly compassionate and greatly vowed, greatly merciful and greatly benevolent; supremely numinous and supremely sage, supremely just and supremely clear; First Ancestor of the One Origin of the Assembled Perfected, Perfected Lord of Vast Compassion and Universal Salvation, Celestial Worthy of Penetrating Subtlety and Manifest Transformation.

Note: The original is written in the genres of Ming-Qing court edicts and Daoist baogao (laudatory texts), with many allusions and linked honorific titles; the plain-language rendering retains honorific proper names as far as possible for comparison with the original.

The following is a plain-language interpretation of three “Treasure Proclamations” and the closing passage “Paying Homage to the Tathagata” from The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng, phrased to stay as close as possible to the original tone and Daoist and Buddhist terminology.

Treasure Proclamation Three

The former magistrate who once served at Zhongshan has become an immortal who upholds the precepts of Shangqing (the Shangqing Heaven, one of the Three Pure Ones). His merit and practice have reached the number “three thousand,” and he has realized the “twelve perfect penetrations,” a Buddhist term for complete understanding and access. Skilled in wondrous transformations, he writes talismans with strokes that coil like dragons and serpents. His Dao is exalted and his De profound. He cultivates the Human Origin, the root of human nature and life, while also embracing the Earth Origin, the earth’s primordial Qi and one of the essentials of cultivation. He blends with the world while keeping his light concealed, carrying out the work of guiding and delivering beings amid the ordinary world. He seeks those of virtue so that all may be delivered; he plants trees without roots and sees every tree as empty, contemplating emptiness without clinging to appearances. He expounds the wondrous principles of the precelestial, building a bridge for later students to enter the Dao. Great in compassion and vows, great in holiness and mercy—Immortal Master of Wudang, Successor to the Teaching and Keeper of the Dharma; Perfected Man of Lingbao; Sovereign of Heavenly Thunder; Mysterious and Profound Expounder of the Dao, Flying Dragon who Aids the World; Heavenly Worthy Who Penetrates the Subtle and Manifests Transformations.

Treasure Proclamation Four

The utmost true Dao was transmitted from Taiqing. He was chosen among the immortals at Wudang, where he opened the teaching, and is the orthodox successor of the lineage of Wenshi, the Perfected Man said to be Zhang Sanfeng’s source in the Dao. As if entranced, he mingled traces of the immortals with Lichun, perhaps a reference to the human world. He taught filial devotion and loyalty, spreading the mysterious Daoist tradition throughout China. He delivered thirteen thousand people at Dianhai; wives and daughters ascended together, a figure for a whole family—and, by extension, all beings—attaining transcendence together. He continued the miraculous power of the Dragon and Tiger, symbols of their union in Neidan cultivation. Equipped with both Dao and magic, he became a precious raft for the ten directions, ferrying beings across. A master of the Three Teachings, great in compassion and vows, great in mercy and supreme benevolence, mysterious, supremely wondrous, extraordinary, and divine—First Minister of Donghua; Outer Servant of the Three Pure Ones; Divine Official of Thunder; Heavenly Master of Lingbao; Primordial Ancestor of the One Qi of Taihe; True Lord Whose Dao Reaches Far Through Culture; Heavenly Worthy Who Penetrates the Subtle and Manifests Transformations.

Treasure Proclamation Five

High Minister of Yuxu, exalted Perfected One of the Golden Palace; his De shines among humans and spirits, and his scriptures circulate through the constellations Jing and Gui, among the twenty-eight lunar mansions, signifying their reach throughout heaven and earth. In the past he attained perfection on Yuanyue, a northern sacred mountain such as Hengshan, or sacred mountains in general; now he continues the work of Xuantian, the northern heavenly emperor of the Xuantian and Zhenwu traditions, and spreads its teaching. He supports the orthodox teaching without faction or bias and exposes heterodox paths openly and decisively. He rebukes and destroys the sorcerers who mislead and disorder the cosmos, restoring the Dao’s moral tradition. Pointing to the precelestial as he faces the moon, he calls those who come after him to ascend among the clouds, guiding later students toward the Dao and upward progress. The Dao’s mystery has no fixed form; its subtlety is unfathomable. Supremely numinous and holy, supremely great and exalted; his being accords with nature, and his spirit is settled in prajna, the wisdom of clear contemplation, blending Buddhist language with Daoist thought. True sovereign of the Three Teachings, arbiter of the One Qi—Heavenly Master Who Participates in the Dharma; Emperor of the Dongxuan Cavern; Sixth Patriarch of the “Old Dragon”; Hidden Immortal Manifesting Transformations; Heavenly Worthy Who Is Subtle, Empty, and All-Delivering.

Paying Homage to the Tathagata: Proclaiming the Bestowed Buddhist Name and Offering Praise

He pays homage to the Tathagata, the Buddha, proclaims the Buddhist name bestowed upon him, and offers this praise: divine light shines forth, and the sea of nature is clear and still. He lives amid the world yet rises beyond it, remaining hidden while delivering the world. He appears in the form of the Medicine King to aid those in danger and distress; through verses sung to the assembly, he expounds the Dao and transmits the scriptures. His attainment is that of a great Luo Golden Immortal, and his Dao may be compared to the Venerable Bodhidharma. Great in benevolence and vows—this is praise of the patriarch, who embraces all three teachings and delivers beings everywhere.

Note: Treasure Proclamations are hymns recited in ritual liturgy. They often use repeated phrasing, honorific titles, and allusions, and should not be read word for word as historical fact. Terms such as Human Origin, Earth Origin, precelestial, and Dragon and Tiger belong to the language of Neidan and Daoist cultivation; “twelve perfect penetrations,” “trees without roots,” and prajna clearly incorporate Buddhist ideas.

The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng · Biography (Vernacular Explanation)

This piece is a biography of Zhang Sanfeng, taken from the edition of The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng in the Daozang Jiyao (Essentials of the Daoist Canon), recompiled by Li Xiyue in the Qing dynasty. The preceding few lines give the honorific titles, book title, and editorial information; the main text begins with “Zhang Sanfeng was a native of Yizhou in Liaodong.”

Honorific Titles and Book Title

“Greatly Compassionate and Greatly Merciful True Master Sanfeng, Heavenly Worthy Who Saves from Distress; the Slipshod Jingguang Buddha, Bodhisattva Mahasattva”—these are honorific titles bestowed on Zhang Sanfeng by later generations.

The book is titled The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng and is included in the Daozang Jiyao. Li Xiyue, the Changyi Mountain Man of Hanjia, recompiled it; Zhang Daoyuan, courtesy name Zishen, respectfully transcribed it; Zhu Daosheng, courtesy name Wanchengzi, of Langzhong published it; his nephews Ying Chuncheng and Zhu Zan Suyuan jointly collated the text; and his son Huang Panxi participated in the work.

Main Text of the Biography

Zhang Sanfeng was a native of Yizhou in Liaodong. His given name was Quanyi, and he was also named Junshi; “Sanfeng” was his sobriquet. Because he did not attend to his appearance and dressed casually, people also called him “Zhang Lata” (Zhang the Slipshod). He was tall and stalwart, with a back like a turtle and a form like a crane; large ears, round eyes, and a beard thick as halberds. In cold and heat alike he wore only one patched robe and a straw cape. At one meal he could eat a dou of grain; sometimes he went several days without food, sometimes several months. He never forgot a book after one reading. His whereabouts were unpredictable; it was said he could travel a thousand li in a day. He loved joking and acted as if no one else were present. Once he wandered among the cliffs and valleys of Wudang and told people: “This mountain will surely flourish greatly in the future.” At that time the halls and buildings at Wulong, Nanyan, Zixiao, and other places had all been destroyed by war. Zhang Sanfeng and his disciples cleared the thorny brush, removed the rubble, built thatched huts to live in, and soon left again.

The Taizu emperor (Hongwu of the Ming) had long heard of his reputation. In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, he sent envoys to seek him but did not find him. Later Zhang Sanfeng lived at the Jintai Abbey in Baoji. One day he said he was about to die, left a verse, and passed away. The county people prepared a coffin and enshrined and buried him; when they were about to bury him, they heard a sound from inside the coffin. They opened it and looked, and he had come back to life, so he went wandering again. He entered Sichuan and saw the Prince Xian of Shu, then entered Wudang again, traveled through the Xiang and Han regions, and his traces became ever more strange and wondrous.

During the Yongle era, the Chengzu emperor sent the Supervising Secretary Hu Ying, accompanied by the eunuch Zhu Xiang, bearing imperial letters, incense, and gifts to seek him. They traveled throughout the remote borderlands, but for years did not encounter him. The emperor then ordered Vice Minister of Works Guo Jin, the Marquis of Longping Zhang Xin, and others to supervise more than three hundred thousand laborers in a great construction of the Wudang palaces and monasteries; the expenditure was counted in the millions. When it was completed, the mountain was granted the names Taihe Shan and Taiyue Shan, and officials were appointed and seals cast to guard it—which in the end matched what Sanfeng had said long before. Some say Sanfeng was a man of the Jin period and that in the early Yuan he studied with the same teacher as Liu Bingzhong, and later studied the Dao at the Shangqing Palace in Luyi, but none of this can be verified.

In the third year of Tianshun, Emperor Yingzong issued a patent conferring on him the title “Tongwei Xianhua Zhenren” (Perfected Person of Penetrating Subtlety and Manifest Transformation). In the end, no one could fathom whether he was alive or not.

Background Notes for Reading the Biography

Yizhou was a frontier region of Liaodong; in the Ming dynasty it belonged to the Liaodong Regional Military Commission area. Its exact modern location is disputed among scholars, but it is generally connected with present-day Liaoning.

Wudang refers to Mount Wudang in Shiyan, Hubei, a famous Daoist mountain; Wulong, Nanyan, and Zixiao mentioned in the text are the names of famous palaces and monasteries on the mountain.

Jintai Abbey is a Daoist temple in Baoji, Shaanxi, traditionally said to be the place where Zhang Sanfeng manifested transformations and left a verse.

Tongwei Xianhua Zhenren is the title conferred on Zhang Sanfeng by the Ming court; Zhenren (Perfected Person) is a Daoist honorific for an eminent Daoist, associated with legends of Neidan (internal alchemy) and manifesting transformations to save the world.

Biography (see Weiyi lu)

Qiyuan Jushi

Zhang Lata, personal name Junshi, courtesy name Xuanyi, also styled Xuanxuan, was a native of Yizhou in Liaodong and the fifth son of Zhang Zhong’an.

He was tall and imposing, with a turtle-like back and a crane-like frame, large ears, round eyes, and a beard stiff as halberds. He wore his hair in a topknot and styled himself Baohé Róngrěn Sanfengzi, “Master Sanfeng of Preserving Harmony and Forbearance.” He constantly carried a knife and a ruler, and whether in cold or heat wore only a single patched robe. Sometimes he lived in isolated, impoverished places; sometimes he roamed the markets, calm and self-possessed as though no one were beside him. When people questioned him, he might remain silent all day; but if one discussed the scriptures of the Three Teachings with him, he spoke in an unending flow, all grounded in morality, loyalty, and filial piety. He often knew events in advance. Sometimes he ate only once every three or five days, or even once every two or three months, yet he climbed mountains as though walking on level ground. Sometimes in deep winter he lay in the snow, snoring like thunder; his contemporaries all marveled at this and therefore called him Zhang Lata.

At the end of the Yuan he lived at Jintai Abbey in Baoji. One day he took leave of the world and died; his followers placed him in a coffin for burial, but just before the burial, when the lid was opened, he came back to life. He then entered Shu, reached Qin, traveled through Xiang and Deng, went back and forth to Chang’an, and passed through Long, Min, Gansu, and other places. In the early Hongwu era he entered the Wudang Mountains, ascended Tianzhu Peak, and visited all the famous sites. He told his disciple Qiu Yuanjing to reside at Wulong, Lu Qiuyun at Nanyan, and Liu Guquan and Yang Shandeng at Zixiao; he himself built a thatched hut north of Zhanqi Peak and named it Yuzhen Gong, the Palace of Encountering the Perfected. He also built a thatched hermitage at Tucheng named Huixian Guan, the Hall of Meeting Immortals, and left his disciple Zhou Zhende to guard it. In the gengwu year of Hongwu (1390), he shook out his sleeves and departed for good; no one knew where he went.

The following year, Ming Taizu sent Daoists of the Three Mountains to invite him to court, but he was nowhere to be seen. Some said he was living in Yunmen Cave in Qingzhou. In the early Yongle era, Chengzu sent Supervising Secretary Hu Ying, Commander Yang Yongji, and others to search for him by his appearance, but they did not find him. In the second month of the tenth year, Chengzu wrote an edict and sent the Daoist Yuanxuzi to Wudang. At Xuanxuan’s former haunts he established a ritual site and burned the edict, hoping for some word of him, but obtained none. The emperor nonetheless composed a poem and bestowed it, including the line: “If you meet the true immortal Zhang Youdao, tell him I stand waiting in long longing.” In the late Tianshun era, he appeared and disappeared by turns; when this was reported to the court, he was conferred the title Tongwei Xianhua Zhenren, the Perfected Who Penetrates the Subtle and Manifests Transformation. Later he came and went at Heming Mountain; after half a year, no one knew his end.

Biography (see Qixiu leigao)

Lang Ying (Ming)

Biographical Excerpts from The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

First Section (Overview)

Zhang Sanfeng, whose given name was Junshi and whose courtesy name was Quanyi, was a native of Yizhou in Liaodong. His sobriquet was Xuanxuan; he was also known as Baohe Rongren Sanfengzi, and contemporaries called him Zhang Lata. In the third year of Tianshun he went to the capital to have an audience with the emperor. I, the author, have seen his portrait: his beard and temple hair bristled upward, he wore a topknot on the crown of his head, his long hair fell down his back, his complexion was purplish red, he was pot-bellied, and he held a bamboo hat in his hand. The court bestowed on him by edict the title “Great Perfected One Who Penetrates the Subtle and Manifests Transformation.”

Biographical Account (according to Huaihai Miscellaneous Records, by Lu Xixing of the Ming)

The old immortal Sanfeng was a descendant of the lineage of Mount Longhu. His ancestor Lord Yuxian was broadly learned and also versed in divination and astrology; he moved the whole family to Yizhou under the Jin dynasty and lived in seclusion among the people with his son Chang. After Yizhou was occupied by the Yuan, the Zhang family gradually became known by name, but Lord Chang had always roamed beyond the world. Lady Lin first gave birth to four sons in one pregnancy—Ao, You, Xiao, and Yao—all of whom died young; later she bore two more sons, Tong and Da. Tong was the old immortal. On the night of his birth, Lady Lin dreamed that Doumu Yuanjun beckoned to her and that a great crane landed on the roof and gave three long cries; she awoke and went into labor.

From childhood he had extraordinary endowments, and when he grew up his talents and learning were outstanding. He once traveled to Yanjing, where his old acquaintance Liu Bingzhong marveled upon seeing him and said, “He is truly immortal talent.” Liu secretly supported and advanced him for a long time. Later he obtained the post of county magistrate in a place called Zhongshan, a region of bitter cold. After returning home for mourning leave because of the death of his parents, he never again took office. He often said that wealth and honor are like a lamp in the wind or dew on grass, and that time is like rain and lightning or floating bubbles; therefore he resolved to seek the Dao, went to the Zhongnan Mountains to seek a teacher, and received the wondrous truth from Huolong Zhenren. Gradually he feigned madness and covered himself in grime, so that people could not recognize him. Throughout his life he often first drafted poems and prose on tree bark, moss, tea broth, and chopsticks; after decades he could still recite them, yet he never copied them out to show others. Thus almost no one in Yuan literary circles knew his name.

Among his disciples was Daoyi; among his descendants were Mingluan and Minghe. Luan entered the early Ming and moved to Huaiyang. Huagu Daoren, a sixth-generation descendant and Luan’s legitimate grandson, was my friend beyond the mundane world, and his family possessed fine gardens and woods. The old immortal had once come to his home. I asked him about anecdotes of those years, and Huagu then wrote down several poems on cloud wandering, several chapters of precious hymns, and a packet of elixir instructions, ordering them to be kept at Huagu. Huagu often told me about them, stirring endless reverie.

Brief Explanations of Proper Nouns (for reading the main text)

The Complete Works of Mr. Zhang Sanfeng · Original Biography of Mr. Sanfeng (Vernacular Interpretation)

Original Biography of Mr. Sanfeng (respectfully narrated by Wang Xiling)

Mr. Sanfeng's surname was Zhang, given name Tong, courtesy name Junshi. His ancestors were originally Daoist cultivators from the Dragon-Tiger Mountain area of Jiangxi, so he often called himself a descendant of the Celestial Master (Tianshi, the title for the lineage of Zhang Daoling, patriarch of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) school of Daoism). His grandfather, Mr. Yuxian, was well versed in astrology and calendrical calculations. In the late Southern Song, he perceived that the realm's royal qi would arise from the north, so he moved this branch of the family to Yizhou in Liaodong. His son was named Juren, also named Chang, courtesy name Zi'an (or Zhong'an), sobriquet Baishan—he was the gentleman's father. In his youth, he possessed extraordinary capacity. When Taizong of the Yuan dynasty recruited talent and selected scholars in three categories, Zi'an took the examination in the policy discourse category and was selected. However, his temperament had always been placid and detached; he had no desire for officialdom and remained in seclusion his entire life.

In the summer of the Dingwei year of Dingzong's reign (1247), the gentleman's mother, Lady Lin, dreamed of a black crane flying from the sea and sky, and thereupon gave birth to the gentleman. The time was the zi hour on the ninth day of the fourth month. The gentleman's appearance was extraordinary: a turtle-shaped body with crane-like bones, large ears, and round eyes. At age five, he contracted a strange illness, and his eyesight gradually deteriorated. At that time there was a certain Zhang Yun'an, an extraordinary person outside the worldly realm, abbot of the Biluo Palace, who called himself the White Cloud Zen Elder. Seeing the gentleman's unusual nature, he said: "This child has the bearing of an immortal and the bones of a Daoist sage; he is certainly no ordinary vessel. It is only that his eyes have encountered a demonic obstruction. He must take me as his master before he can shed the dust and obscurity and let the pearl of wisdom shine again." He then sent him back to Lady Lin, who consented, and the gentleman became a disciple of Zhang Yun'an. After half a year of quiet cultivation, his eyes gradually became clear. The Zen Elder taught him to read Daoist scriptures, and he could understand them at a glance. In his spare time he also read Confucian and Buddhist texts; casually flipping through them, he could grasp the general meaning. Suddenly seven years had passed. Lady Lin missed her son, and Zhang Yun'an did not insist on keeping him. The gentleman took his leave and returned home, where he devoted himself to the study of Confucianism.

In the first year of Zhongtong (1260), he was recommended as an outstanding talent of exceptional rank. In the second year, his literary talent and knowledge were reported to the throne, and he was slated for promotion—but this was not the gentleman's true intention. It was only to honor his parents, emulating the ancients Mao Sui and Jiang Ge, who took up proclamations and joined the army. In the autumn of the Jiazi year of the Zhiyuan era (1264), he traveled to Yanjing. At that time the court had just established its capital at Yan and issued an edict that those previously listed for literary talent and knowledge were to await appointment. The gentleman lingered in the markets of Yan, and his reputation grew daily. It was then that he became acquainted with Lian Xixian, the Pingzhang Zhengshi (a prime ministerial post in the Yuan dynasty). Admiring his talent, Lord Lian memorialized to appoint him as magistrate of Boling in Zhongshan, and the gentleman accordingly took up the post. In his spare time from official duties, he visited Mount Gehong, which was said to be the place where Ge Zhichuan (Ge Hong, a Daoist of the Eastern Jin) cultivated himself. The gentleman thus reflected: "A solitary official post, yet neighboring an immortal mountain."

He is said to have resembled the cultivators around Goulou and to have asked himself whether he could not emulate Ge Hong (the famous Eastern Jin Daoist and physician, style name Zhichuan). Unexpectedly, the next year his father died; several months later the mourning period ended. From then on Zhang no longer wished to hold office. Observing mourning rites, he returned to Liaoyang, where he was worn away by grief all day long. He found a high, secluded, and pure mountain site to bury his father; just after the funeral, he continued mourning for several years, daily reciting Dongjing (Dongxuan-category Daoist scriptures).

Suddenly a Daoist named Qiu visited and discoursed at length on profound principles. A pure wind filled the room, arousing in one a longing to transcend the dusty world. After the Daoist left, Zhang packed his belongings and set out traveling. He handed all his fields and property to his clansmen, entrusting them with sweeping and sacrificing at the ancestral graves, and took two boy attendants with him. North he went to Yan and Zhao, east to Qi and Lu, south through Han and Wei, coming and going among famous mountains and ancient temples, chanting poems and viewing scenery, traveling and stopping as he pleased. Nearly thirty years passed this way, yet he still never encountered an enlightened teacher.

He therefore went west to Qin and Long, drawing in the Qi of Mount Hua and absorbing the wondrousness of Taibai. Passing through the Baoxie Road and crossing Chencang, he saw that the mountains and waters of Baoji were deep, secluded, clear, and moist, and so he settled there. Nearby was Sanjian Mountain, whose three peaks were elegant and towering, green and delightful; he thus styled himself “Layman Sanfeng.”

In the first year of Yanyou (1314), at age sixty-seven, he first entered the Zhongnan Mountains and met Huolong Zhenren, who transmitted the Great Dao to him. He changed his name to Xuansu, also called Xuanhua, and combined these as the style Xuanxuanzi, with the alternate style Kunyang. After four years living in the mountains, his cultivation seemed to show no marked result. He had heard that seekers of the Dao often must use both “method and wealth” — that is, they need both a true teacher’s method and the resources to support the teacher and carry out Daoist practice. Having wandered in clouds all his life and often done good deeds, his purse was nearly empty, and he wept without realizing it. Huolong Zhenren found this strange and asked why. After Zhang explained, the Perfected One transmitted to him the essential formulas of cinnabar transmutation (Waidan, or a symbolic art of transformation) and ordered him to leave the mountains to cultivate.

Zhang again humbly acknowledged his teacher’s kindness and, hiding his brilliance, mingled with the ordinary world for several years. In the spring of the jiazi year of Taiding (1324), he went south to Wudang, where he disciplined his Shen (spirit) for nine years, and only then was his Daoist cultivation accomplished. Thereafter, for more than ten years, he wandered in hiding and appearing among Xiang, Yun, Ba, and Yu.

In the early Zhizheng era he returned from Chu to Liaoyang to sweep the graves. After the matter was completed, he went again to Yanjing; most of his old friends among the nobles and officials had died, so he went to the Western Hills. There he met the Daoist Qiu from former days once more. They talked heart to heart and discussed the Dao, sitting knee to knee in close inquiry, and only then did he realize that the other was Fuyangzi, a disciple of Changchun Zhenren (Qiu Chuji). After they parted, he went again to Qin and Shu, passed through Jing and Chu into Wu and Yue, and sojourned in Jinling. There he met Shen Wansan and transmitted Neidan to him (around the nineteenth year of Zhizheng, 1359). At parting, Zhang foresaw that Shen Wansan would suffer the calamity of exile to the frontier and instructed him, saying: “The royal Qi of the southeast is now flourishing; another day we shall meet again in the southwest.” He then returned to the Qin region and lived in Baoji.

Note: The original is a biographical narrative of Zhang Sanfeng, involving Yuan dynasty reign titles, place names, and traditional Neidan and Waidan terminology; this vernacular rendering strives to stay close to the tone of historical biography, without adding or deleting any plot elements.

This passage comes from The Complete Works of Mr. Zhang Sanfeng and recounts anecdotes about Zhang Sanfeng’s life as found in popular and court traditions. Its meaning is explained below in plain language.

Vernacular Interpretation

At Jijintai Abbey, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, Zhang Sanfeng’s yangshen (yang spirit)—at a certain stage of cultivation, the yuanshen, or original spirit, can temporarily leave the body and travel—went out. A local man named Yang Guishan thought the Master had died and bought a coffin to encoffin him. Just as he was about to be buried, a thunderous sound suddenly came from the coffin; when it was opened, the man was alive again. It had only been the yang spirit traveling abroad, while others thought he was dead. Later Zhang Sanfeng left together with Yang Guishan.

Two more years passed, and the world changed greatly: the Yuan dynasty ended, the Ming arose, and the realm changed hands. Zhang Sanfeng built a thatched hut in the Taihe area of Wudang Mountain, feigned madness and foolishness, and people called him the “Madman” and also the “Untidy Daoist.” The Daoist Qiu Yuanjing had a quiet and likable nature, and Zhang Sanfeng secretly took him as a disciple. One day he went to Chengdu and urged the Prince of Shu to enter Daoist cultivation; the prince did not listen, so he withdrew to the Xiang and Deng region, and from then on his movements became even harder to trace.

In the seventeenth year of Hongwu (1384), because Chinese and barbarian lands had all submitted, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to seek Zhang Sanfeng, but the Master did not answer the summons. In the eighteenth year he again forcibly ordered Shen Wansan (a wealthy Ming merchant said in legend to have associated with Zhang Sanfeng) to invite him, but he still refused to go. In his view, emperors have their own way of governing the realm, and one cannot take cultivation achievements such as the Golden Elixir and Golden Liquid to flatter a ruler; historically, adepts brought disaster upon themselves, often beginning with “wandering immortals entering the court”; those who truly attain the realm of sage and true would never imitate Ye Fashan of the Tang or Lin Lingsu of the Song in attaching themselves to the court. The overturned cart ahead is a warning.

In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu he fled into Yunnan. It happened that the court had moved Shen Wansan to the coast, so Zhang Sanfeng went as agreed to meet him, and together they cultivated great medicines of the Tianyuan ingestion type. The next year he arrived at Fuquan Mountain in Pingyue, Guizhou, paid homage to the True and performed Dipper rituals, and awaited the summons to ascend.

In the first year of Jianwen, Wanpuzi went to Wudang to visit him. The Master had just returned from Pingyue, and the two found conversation very congenial.

In the fourth year of Yongle, Hu Guang, Academician and Reader-in-Waiting, memorialized that Zhang Sanfeng deeply possessed Daoist methods and great spiritual powers. In the fifth year of Yongle, a dinghai year, Chengzu ordered Hu Ying and others to travel throughout the realm in search of him. In the tenth year, a renchen year, he again ordered Sun Biyun to build a palace at Wudang, wait upon the Master, and send a letter inviting him. Even by the fourteenth year, no definite trace was heard. Chengzu became angry and said to Hu Guang, “You said Zhang Sanfeng harbors profound mysteries; why does he not dare come see me?” He berated Hu Guang and sent him to find the man. Hu Guang was terrified; he rushed to Wudang by night, burned incense, wept, and prayed.

On the first day of the fifth month that year, the Old Lord of Longevity of the Southern Pole (a high Daoist deity) ordered the immortals to assemble on schedule. Zhang Sanfeng was also among those summoned, and so he rode the qi alongside the deities subordinate to Xuantian Shangdi. Hu Guang happened to meet the Master at this moment… (the text continues in the original).

Proper nouns such as Jijintai Abbey, Fuquan Mountain, Wanpuzi, Sun Biyun, and Xuantian Shangdi are retained according to common readings in Daoist literature and have not been altered into modern place-name identifications.

Vernacular Interpretation of The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

Hu Guang earnestly invited him, and Zhang Sanfeng agreed to ride a cloud chariot to court for an audience. Soon after entering court, however, he obeyed a command from Shangqing (one of the Three Pure Ones—Sanqing—who presides over the pure realm) and departed ethereally. The following year Hu Ying and the others returned to court, but in the end they never saw the Master again. O my Master, my Master—was he an immortal who hid from the world? A god among immortals? Or one who, from being an immortal, attained the rank of celestial immortal?

Later he again received a jade edict (a document sent down by the Heavenly Emperor) and held a great assembly with the assembled true immortals. He was ranked in the Dui Palace (the Dui position of the Bagua—Eight Trigrams—often associated with the west, metal, the youngest daughter, and similar images), and his body became a Qian body (pure yang, the body of heavenly virtue, a Neidan—internal alchemy—term); thus he could perform spiritual transformations and save the world and ferry others. In all directions, above and below, and throughout empty space, phoenix carriages (immortal conveyances) arrived. Of the saying “deeply harboring great vows and a vast gateway of teachings,” after Lü Dongbin (Ancestor Lü) perhaps only the Master alone deserves it.

Xiling was originally a dusty, worldly official who had nearly forgotten his root. Moreover, as Guancha in Jiannan (present-day Sichuan), he governed with little benevolence, undeservedly enjoying a generous salary and betraying imperial grace. For two years, Tianfu had little rain and frequent floods. Xiling therefore went barefoot, pared his nails, and prayed devoutly to the spirits of Meishan (the Mount Emei region); he burned incense for seven days, whereupon the sky released clear light, and distant vistas opened wide. Amid extraordinary peaks and wondrous waters, he was fortunate to meet the Master, who recognized his humble sincerity, called him into the Dao, and revealed to him one chapter of secret alchemical scripture and two fascicles of the Jieyao pian (Essential Summary). Practicing according to the method, he first came to understand the mysterious work, and for this reason regretted entering the official career and set his heart on mountains and waters. Recently he has of his own accord withdrawn into pure Daoist practice and built a hut at Lingyun; he does not know on what year or day he may slip from the dusty net like a cicada, gather jade flowers, and present peach fruits in reverent offering to the Master.

Xiling served the Master for a long time and came to know the Master’s origins in full detail. He therefore washed his heart and purified his thoughts, respectfully composed this record and biography, and entrusted it to those who would arise later in our lineage.

Biography of Master Sanfeng (composed by Yuanqiao Waishi)

The Master was a native of Yizhou in Liaoyang. His names and styles changed repeatedly, and he wandered without fixed abode, so that people generally could not fathom his whereabouts. Liu Bingzhong once studied under the same teacher (as a fellow disciple in the Dao), and Lian Xixian once recommended him later. During the Zhiyuan era he retired from office as a governing official; in the early Hongwu era, Taizu repeatedly issued summons, but he never came forth. He evidently used the pretext of immortality to flee far away in order to preserve intact his integrity as one who had served the Yuan; hence he once called himself a “surviving elder of the Great Yuan” and once praised himself as a “gentleman-recluse of the Great Yuan.” Later generations have deeply lamented that his great fame as an immortal came to obscure his solitary loyalty.

Throughout his life he sought the Dao and endured every hardship. After meeting his teacher in the Zhongnan Mountains, he sought companions and sought lead (a Neidan metaphor for finding companions, gathering prenatal Qi—vital energy—and refining Jing—essence—into Qi).

Master Zhang Sanfeng traveled throughout the land before ultimately attaining the Great Dao (Da Dao) at Wudang Mountain. Remarkably, even before his birth, the sacred site at Wudang had already been prepared for him. When the venerable Chen Tuan (also known as Xi Yi) was wandering on Hua Mountain, he encountered an extraordinary man named Sun Jun who prophesied: "The secluded Nine Chamber Cliff of Wudang Mountain is perfect for spiritual cultivation. In the future, your spiritual descendant will flourish there." This shows that the master of this sacred mountain and inheritor of the Great Dao had been predestined—is this not truly marvelous?

A similar case occurred when Zhongli Quan (also called Yunfang) heard the prophecy from True Lord Bitter Bamboo: "In the future, someone whose name contains two 'mouths' will become your disciple." This later came true when he met Lü Dongbin (whose surname Lü contains two "mouth" radicals). Could it be that before these enlightened masters descended into the mortal world, their birth details, origins, and names had already been arranged in the celestial realm? Otherwise, how could the prophecies be so precise? Even Zhang Sanfeng's disciple, Perfected Being Yuantong, couldn't fathom these mysteries.

Historical records about Zhang Sanfeng are remarkably detailed, with various immortal biographies and Daoist texts corroborating each other. Thus, we know his birthplace, life story, cultivation journey, and enlightenment process are all clearly documented.

Regarding the lineage of the Daoist tradition: The transmission of the Great Dao began with Laozi, passed to the first-generation inheritor Yin Xi (also called Wenshi), and by the fifth generation reached Zhang Sanfeng. Though Laozi's teachings branched into many schools, the two most outstanding lineages were those of Yin Xi and Wang Xuanfu (also called Shaoyang), each developing distinct branches. Specifically: Yin Xi transmitted to the Hemp-Clad Daoist, who passed it to Chen Tuan, then to Fire Dragon Perfected Being (Huolong Zhenren), and finally to Zhang Sanfeng. This lineage became known as the "Hidden Immortals School" (Yinxian Pai) because all its masters lived in seclusion—Yin Xi at Hangu Pass, the Hemp-Clad Daoist at Shitang Mountain, Chen Tuan at Hua Mountain, Fire Dragon Perfected Being at Zhongnan Mountain, and Zhang Sanfeng at Wudang Mountain. Confucius once described Laozi as "like a dragon," referring to his unfathomable profundity, hence this lineage is also called the "Dragon-Like School."

Among all lineages descending from Laozi, the Yin Xi branch achieved the highest spiritual realization, while the Wang Xuanfu branch had the widest influence. Wang Xuanfu transmitted to Zhongli Quan (also called Zhengyang), who passed it to Lü Dongbin (also called Chunyang). Lü Dongbin primarily transmitted to Wang Chongyang, founder of the northern Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school, and also to Liu Haichan, who passed the teachings to Zhang Boduan (also called Ziyang), establishing the southern alchemical tradition.

Additional note: The Yin Xi lineage passed through the Hemp-Clad Daoist and Chen Tuan to Zhang Sanfeng, while Liu Haichan of the Wang Xuanfu lineage similarly inherited the essential methods of elixir cultivation (Dan Dao).

Vernacular Interpretation

The two Xiyi branches converge here into a single lineage. Master Zhang Sanfeng may be called a member of the Wenshi lineage and also of the Shaoyang lineage. His pure and lofty character ultimately places him close to figures such as Mianyi, Xiyi, and Huolong.

Transmission of the Foregoing Patriarchs (Patriarchal Transmission through the Ages)

The detailed deeds of Taishang Laojun (one of the highest divine hypostases in Daoism, the deified Laozi) are now difficult to know fully. He manifested in body over many generations, and not every incarnation necessarily had a clear record of birth. He once told Wenshi Zhenren that his surnames and courtesy names, from one kalpa to another (a Buddhist term for an immensely long period), could not be fully recounted; this was no empty saying.

In the Yangjia period of the Shang dynasty, he divided his spirit and transformed his qi (turning spirit into primordial qi), and first lodged his embryo in the Mysterious Wondrous Jade Maiden. Eighty-one years later, in the gengchen year of the Wuding reign, at the mao hour on the fifteenth day of the second month, he was born beneath a plum tree in Quren village, Lai township, Ku county, and took Li as his surname. His courtesy name was Boyang; since he was already white-haired at birth, people called him Laozi; and because his ears were very long, he was also called Lao Dan.

In the early Zhou, he traveled west to Mount Qi to observe the customs and called himself Master Zhiyi. The Western Count (King Wen of Zhou) wished to make him a grandee, but he would not accept; he only accepted the office of Keeper of the Archives (the official in charge of texts and records), and then soon withdrew into seclusion on some pretext. After that he sometimes hid beneath the pillars, sometimes lived in seclusion by the river, sometimes called himself Master Gu, sometimes styled himself the Ancient Sovereign, sometimes took the name Boyang Fu, sometimes manifested as Guangchengzi, sometimes built a hut by the river, and sometimes went to the Western Regions to civilize the people. In Qin times people called him the Ancient Recluse Gentleman, yet they did not know that the Venerable Ancestor Taishang was in truth a sage among recluses.

Master Wenshi was surnamed Mi, named Xi, with the courtesy name Gongwen, a native of Tianshui (some say Chengji). He was born at an auspicious hour on the eighth day of the fourth month in the dingsi year of King Cheng’s reign. He did not seek fame or advancement and once served as commandant of Hangu Pass, hence he is called Guan Yinxi.

One day, when the Rong wind came three times (he was skilled in reading winds), he saw purple qi coming from the east (he was skilled in observing qi), and at night he observed the Tianli star moving westward past the Mao mansion (he was skilled in astronomy), and knew that a sage was about to arrive. When Laojun reached the pass, he was greatly startled by his bearing (he was skilled in physiognomy), became his disciple, heard the Great Dao, and wrote the Guan Yinzi in nine chapters, which later generations called the Wenshi Jing. Later he crossed the Flowing Sands in the west, returned again to the Central Plains, was sometimes called Yin Zhe and sometimes Daoist Yin, and lived in seclusion north of Mount Zhongnan; people called him the Hidden Sage of Zhongnan.

Master Mianyi was surnamed Li, named He, with the Daoist name Chuyang, a native of Neixiang, and lived in seclusion on Mount Shitang. From birth he was extraordinary: his hair was blue-black and his appearance handsome. When he grew a little older, he grew weary of the world’s turbidity and corruption, entered Mount Zhongnan for quiet cultivation, met Yin Wenshi, received the essential transmission of the Dao, and also received the authentic transmission of physiognomy...

Related Biographies from The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng (Vernacular Interpretation)

The Mazi Lineage

Faming, in obedience to his master’s command, went to live in a cultivation cave on Lingtang Mountain beside the Tuan River in Nanyang, where he stayed for nineteen years. In both winter and summer he wore hemp clothing, so people called him “Mazi” (Master Hemp Robe). On the mountain there was a spring whose water was warm in all four seasons, called Yang Valley, and he often went there to bathe.

One night twelve youths came to pay their respects and said, “We are dragons. Because the master’s Dao has been perfected, the Lord on High has ordered us to assist in spreading the Great Transformation.” After that, whenever people prayed for rain, their prayers were often answered, and very many local villagers came to earnestly request his help.

Later he withdrew to Mount Huang in She County—that is, Mount Yi—and was known as the “Huangshan Recluse.”

Master Xiyi (Chen Tuan)

Master Xiyi’s surname was Chen, his personal name Tuan, his courtesy name Tunan, and his sobriquet Fuyaozi. He was a native of Zhenyuan in Bozhou. During the Changxing era of the Tang he sat for the jinshi examination but did not pass, and thereafter he looked lightly upon worldly affairs and took pleasure in mountains and waters. He lived at Wudang for more than twenty years, and later withdrew to the Yuntai Abbey on Mount Hua. There he learned the Hibernating Dragon method and often lay down for more than a hundred days without rising.

He once met Hai Chan, who transmitted to him the essentials of the Dao. He also sat facing Mazi around a stove, using iron chopsticks to write characters in the ashes, silently imparting profound mysteries, and he passed on to him Master Yin Wenshi’s method of physiognomy as well. He remained deeply reclusive and did not come forth. In the time of Song Taizu he was bestowed the title Master Baiyun, and later the title Master Xiyi; historical works call him the Huashan Recluse.

Master Huolong

Master Huolong was an eminent disciple of Xiyi. Even his identity and name were concealed and not revealed, and his dwelling place is difficult to determine; one might say that he made heaven and earth his dwelling. Few of his deeds were recorded either; one might say that his hidden virtue served as his deeds. The Comprehensive Mirror of Immortals records only his sobriquet, describing his otherworldly bearing—like Chisongzi and Huang Shigong, whom the world knows only as ancient immortals.

He lived in seclusion in the Zhongnan Mountains, and so was called the “Zhongnan Hidden Immortal.” Some also say he was Master Jia Desheng, awaiting verification by the learned.

Master Sanfeng

Master Sanfeng’s surname was Zhang, his personal name Tong, his courtesy name Junshi. He was a native of Yizhou in Liaodong; see the Complete Works for details.

Supplementary Biographies of Immortals (the following eleven entries, examined and recorded by the Layman Cangya)

Master Sanshan (Shen Wansan)

Master Sanshan’s surname was Shen, his personal name Wansan, also known as Wanshan. He styled himself the Sanshan Daoist and was a native of Jinling, a prominent fishing household on the Qinhuai. Compassionate at heart and fond of giving, he met Master Sanfeng and was taught alchemical methods. He then refined the Great Elixir of Heavenly Prime, and after taking it he departed with his entire household. Sometimes he hid at Tianmu, sometimes at Wudang, with no fixed dwelling; like Master Sanfeng, his concealment and appearance were unfathomable.

A Vernacular Interpretation of The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

Hongyuan Zhenren (an imperially conferred title): According to records, he was born on the eighteenth day of the ninth month of autumn in the wuchen year of the Tianli era of the Yuan (a wuchen year), at the Wei hour (1–3 p.m.).

Qiu Yuanjing was a Daoist priest at Wudang Mountain. In the early Hongwu era, Master Sanfeng roamed Wudang, and Yuanjing met him and became his disciple. Sanfeng then transmitted to him the mysterious and wondrous Dao and ordered him to build a hut at Wulong for cultivation, so as to complete the great matter. In the spring of the yichou year, Taizu (Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang) issued an edict to seek out Sanfeng but failed to find him, so he summoned Yuanjing to the capital. After conversing with him, the emperor greatly appreciated him and appointed him Investigating Censor, granting him a residence; he declined. He was then promoted to Taichang Qing (an office in charge of rites, music, and sacrifices), but again he declined. The emperor praised him for his lofty purity and freedom from worldly concerns.

The Four Immortals of Taihe—Lu Qiuyun, Zhou Zhende, Liu Guquan, and Yang Shandeng—were all from the Chu region. In the early Hongwu era, Master Sanfeng entered Wudang and built a hut on Zhanqi Peak. The four asked to become his disciples, and the master transmitted to them the secret of Qingjing Shouzhong (purity and stillness, guarding the center; a Daoist inner cultivation practice of calming the heart and breath and holding to the middle way). He then instructed Qiuyun to reside at Nanyan, Zhende at Huixian Lodge, and Guquan and Shandeng at Zixiao Peak, to cultivate in stillness together; later they all attained fruition.

Master Binghu, surnamed Ming and named Yu, was from Neijiang and was skilled in Fulu (talismans and registers) and incantations, with many wondrous efficacies. During the Yongle era, Master Sanfeng traveled in Shu and often lodged in his home. Ming Yu wished to transmit the art of talismans and incantations to the master, and the master laughed and said, “I would present the Dao to you; would you instead teach me methods?” (That is, “I am helping you with the Dao, yet you would teach me spells?”) Thereupon he wrote A Memorial on the Convergence of Dao and Method for him. Ming Yu was greatly astonished and asked to become his disciple. After staying more than a year, Hu Ying (an official sent by Ming Chengzu to seek Sanfeng) came to visit the master, who then took Ming Yu along; their final whereabouts are unknown.

Wang Zongdao was from Huai’an and had formerly studied the Dao with Master Sanfeng. In the third year of Yongle, Chengzu sought Sanfeng and ordered him to go with Hu Ying to summon him for an audience. He was then granted a golden crown and crane-feather cloak (Daoist ceremonial attire), and carrying incense he traveled throughout the realm; after ten years he had not encountered him. After returning, he was conferred the title Yuande Zhenren. Later he entered Mount Lu to gather herbs and drifted away, never returning.

Li Fuzi, named Xingzhi, was from Chu. During the Zhengde era he entered Taihe Mountain, met Master Sanfeng, and was transmitted Danfa (the methods of Neidan internal alchemy); he thus attained the Dao. Usually he liked to sit upright in clear stillness, reverent and solemn, and people called him Li Fuzi. He also favored Bigu (grain avoidance), each day only sipping wheat-flour soup, and people also called him Fuzi Li. The Yongding Prince of the Jing princedom heard of him and admired him; he sent officials with ceremonial gifts to invite him and had him lodge at Wudang Palace in Qizhou, where he wore a torn patched robe and ate no food. The prince repeatedly invited him into the palace to ask the secret of longevity, but he gave no answer.

Selections from The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng: A Colloquial Interpretation

Someone once said that Confucian self-cultivation and the ordering of the family are themselves a method of cultivating the Dao. The court’s bestowal of gold and silk was very generous, but he accepted none of it and then took his leave. The prince still sent a guard officer to escort him and asked him to bring back a letter in reply. When they reached Hankou, Perfected Li suddenly disappeared from the boat. The officer urged the boatman to hurry across the river; in midstream he saw Perfected Li lying on the water’s surface, crossing the river. When the officer reached the shore, Perfected Li had also arrived, and then vanished again. The officer rushed up the mountain and saw Perfected Li sitting on a steep cliff, clapping his hands and singing; he then called loudly to the officer, “Thank the prince for me; Li will not come again.” When the officer tried to get a reply letter, Perfected Li suddenly disappeared once more. Later the prince sent the officer up the mountain again, and was told only that Perfected Li had already undergone shijie (a Daoist term for liberation by corpse: departing after completing cultivation while discarding the body, which outsiders often mistake for death). On the return journey the officer again saw Perfected Li carrying an alms bowl and walking as swiftly as if flying. Not long afterward, the prince, because of the thousand regulations of the Imperial Clan Court’s administration, nearly brought about a great disaster; only then did he understand that Perfected Li’s earlier words had not been spoken casually.

Mr. Mengjiu was surnamed Wang, named Xiling, a native of She County in Huizhou. He once served as Jiannan Surveillance Commissioner; the higher his office rose, the more detached he became, and the deeper grew his resolve to retire. At Mount Emei he met Mr. Zhang Sanfeng and received the essentials of Daoist methods. Later he was appointed to the Yongbei Circuit in southern Yunnan and requested retirement to care for his parents in their final years, but was not permitted. Soon afterward he was appointed assistant commissioner for riverways for all Henan, and he took the opportunity to return home by that route. When the elixir was completed, he departed by shijie (having achieved Neidan cultivation, he left the world through corpse liberation), and was known by the sobriquet Yuantong Daoren. He once collated the Xuan Yao Pian and wrote a biography of Zhang Sanfeng and chapters such as “Marvelous Traces,” which have been transmitted to later generations. He was born at the shen hour on the eighteenth day of the tenth month in the jiachen year of the Kangxi reign. Today the Qinghui Pavilion on Danxia Peak of Lingyun in Jiazhou is where, after official duties, he quieted his spirit and refined the elixir. In it is a plaque for Lingshan Hall, recording the names of several hundred elders of Jiannan who celebrated his birthday; all called him Patriarch Yuantong and praised his benevolence, purity, self-cultivation, and ability to govern others.

Mr. Baibai did not disclose his surname. He lived among the landscapes of Qingcheng, Da’e, and Jiazhou, playing the qin and reading books, and was deeply fond of Laozi and Zhuangzi. In the early years of the Daoguang reign he met Mr. Zhang Sanfeng at Mount Sui, who transmitted to him the wonders of the union of the mysterious female and the Great Talisman of the Golden Cauldron (methods in Neidan cultivation such as harmonizing Yin-Yang, the cauldron-vessel, and Fulu). Later he met Patriarch Chunyang (usually referring to the Lü Dongbin lineage) and heard the subtleties of gathering the medicinal substance. From this he resolved to cultivate intensively; daily he sat with two or three recluses discussing mist and clouds and appraising waters and stones, and his desire for fame was cold as ice. He authored the Illustrated Explanation of the Hetu, Luoshu, and Yi Imagery, the Correct Meaning of the Daodejing, the Inner Chapters of Yuanqiao, and other works, expounding the essentials of inner and outer alchemy.

The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng: A Vernacular Reading

Levels of Alchemical Practice

The methods and stages of refining the elixir were not found in the earlier scriptures of the ancient immortals. In ordinary times, when there is nothing to do, one simply mingles with the world, hides one’s brilliance and blends with the dust, silently holding fast to the mysterious, subtle, and refined Dao.

Lineages of the Immortals

Yu Shishe was a disciple of Shen Wanshan. In his youth he delighted in goodness and charity. Shen Wanshan married his youngest daughter to him and transmitted to him the art of transmuting cinnabar, so his household became wealthy, comparable to that of his father-in-law. Yu Shishe’s daughter Yu Hui married Mu Chun, Marquis of Xiping, as his second wife; she too was proficient in the Huangbai arts—the arts of yellow and white, that is, alchemy and elixir-making—probably a family transmission. Their story is found in “Biographies of the Yu Father and Daughter” in this collection.

Lu Deyuan was a native of Wu. His family was of pure and modest standing, and he admired the study of immortals. When Mr. Shen Wanshan saw him, he recognized him as a vessel capable of receiving the Dao, so he transmitted to him profound and subtle essentials and assisted him with the Huangbai arts; his household thus became well-off. He associated with Gu Aying and Li Mingfeng, exchanging poems over wine, and the scholar-officials of the southeast praised him as wealthy yet fond of propriety. In the early Hongwu era he once contributed twenty thousand hu of military grain. When he heard that Ming Taizu had remarked, “not equal to the wealthy elders of Jiangnan,” he sighed with emotion and said, “The source of disaster has arrived.” He promptly took his qin, put on a monk’s robe, disguised himself as a Daoist priest, and fled. When Gu Aying heard this, he too shaved his head and became a monk; Li Mingfeng abandoned his home and gardens, took his wife and children, and roamed the rivers and lakes by boat. Later, countless great families of Jiangnan were confiscated, and only then did people believe that Lu Deyuan had foreseen the crisis.

Mr. Mingyang was surnamed Liu and named Guangzhu. He was kind, compassionate, and respectfully courteous; wealthy yet fond of propriety, he made goodness his habit and did not seek blessings in return. Those of understanding esteemed him. He once studied with Baibaizi and received the essential teaching of purity and guarding the center. He then built a hut on the bank of the Great River, lingered among clouds and water, and left no traces in cities. Several years after his death, a poem suddenly descended, saying:

The man has gone; in the empty mountain the crane’s shadow is alone;
Looking back at the dust-sea, mist stretches vast.
The immortal household does not obscure the body of empty spirit;
A single path of clear wind reaches the stone altar.

From then on, his cloud-and-rosy companions all said that he had not perished. He authored several works in his Golden Elixir Poems, still preserved by his younger brother Tayuan.

Martial Arts Lineage

Mr. Wang Yuyang said: In the art of boxing and martial valor, Shaolin is the external school, while Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang is the internal school. After Zhang Sanfeng there was Wang Zong of Guanzhong; Wang Zong transmitted it to Chen Zhoutong of Wenzhou. Chen Zhoutong was a man of the Jiajing period of the Ming, so today the transmissions of both schools flourish in eastern Zhejiang. During the Shunzhi era, Wang Laixian, courtesy name Zhengnan, was the most prominent; he was a man of Yin.

Explanatory Summary

Vernacular Interpretation of The Complete Works of Mr. Zhang Sanfeng

At leisure, reading Liaozhai by the rain-window, I noted the whole affair of Li Chao after the case, and also wrote: within the Zhengnan lineage there are also types such as “monk’s ears and monk’s tail”; on the surface they are monks, but in their bones they are not necessarily monks.

Miscellaneous Remarks: Correcting Errors

As for the doctrine of Sanfeng caizhan (Three Peaks sexual cultivation), many Danjing (Neidan cultivation classics) hold it in contempt, but it must be made clear: that was not the proper essential teaching in the Patriarch’s Xuanyao pian (Chapter on Mysterious Essentials). I once read the Shenxian jian (Mirror of Immortals): during the Liu Song there was a Zhang Shanfeng, styled Puyangzi, who before entering the Dao taught methods of bedchamber arts and intercourse with women. The Heavenly Emperor detested this, and he ended his days old on Grass Island. When the wandering immortals He Yi and Yang Xiangu traveled to Mount Hua, they saw that he possessed the complete secret formulas of the Golden Elixir, but because he had no heavenly edict, it was difficult for him to ascend to the Jade Portal, and they sighed deeply in regret. From this one can know that the two characters “Shanfeng” are most likely a phonetic corruption of “Sanfeng,” which sounds close to it.

Moreover, the Patriarch’s Jindan lun (Treatise on the Golden Elixir) also says: practicing the art of intercourse with women is like wearing hemp cloth to fight fire or a moth flying into a lamp. Examining these words closely, the satire is not unfounded.

Again, “Sanfeng” was originally the name of a heterodox side gate, and does not refer only to Zhang Shanfeng of the Liu Song. Within the Yin gate there is the doctrine of Sanfeng caizhan; ordinary people cannot distinguish it, and so they mix heterodox books together with the Xuanyao pian and the like. This comes from taking the ears as eyes—from never having read the alchemical classics. In the Song, venerable immortals such as Zhang Ziyang and Chen Niwan had long since refuted this art. The Patriarch was a man of the Yuan, so there is originally no need to conflate him with “Zhang Shanfeng.” To speak only of the origin of this art: what the Cantong qi calls “the Yin Dao detests the nine-one” refers precisely to this. The error of the nine-one is the method of intercourse with women, dividing into upper, middle, and lower three peaks, plundering others’ Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), and falsely styling it the mud-and-water Golden Elixir. This art already existed before Boyang (Wei Boyang, author of the Zhouyi Cantong qi). Therefore the Xuanyao pian says: “What is ‘doing’ is not the art of caizhan, lifting and absorbing, nor the method of nine-one shaking.” Since the Patriarch likewise refuted the error of Sanfeng, what more need be said?

I also once read the Shenxian jian: Pengzu was called Taiqing Jingming Sanfeng Zhenjun; the art of intercourse with women actually originated in Pengzu’s bedchamber practice of sexual replenishment. He was depleted through sexual practice (his body was harmed by bedchamber arts) and married repeatedly. Later he was imprisoned by the King of Yin, who wanted to kill him—this was Heaven’s law punishing him. He escaped midway, went to Mount Hua, and returned to orthodoxy, and so on.

The Birth Date of Patriarch Sanfeng

According to the original biography composed by Mengjiu, the birthday of Patriarch Sanfeng was the ninth day of the fourth month in the second year of Yuan Dingzong. Yet various places also transmit it as the eighth day of the third month and the tenth day of the tenth month. Why is this? In general, the birthdays of immortals are transmitted differently in different places, and many are accretions. The original biography should be taken as authoritative, with side accounts as reference.

This passage is the editor’s note on the textual research concerning Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng’s life, birth date, and related erroneous traditions; it can be rendered in plain language as follows:

For immortals such as Guanyin Bodhisattva (Putuo Dashi) and Lü Dongbin (Fuyou Dijun), who achieved transcendence and ascended, the days on which people celebrate their birthdays are not limited to one. In popular observance, Guanyin’s birthday is generally taken as the nineteenth day of the second month; for Patriarch Lü, the fourteenth day of the fourth month is mostly regarded as the formal birthday. For Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng’s birthday, this book follows the principal biography; other accounts are appended in the supplementary biography, making it convenient for those who revere the Patriarch to pay homage at any time—just as Dashi and Fuyou each have their own periods of observance, this too is a good thing.

The supplementary biography makes the Patriarch a man of the late Yuan and early Ming, which is actually incorrect; he should be a man of the late Song and early Yuan. He once told Shen Wansan himself: “In the early Yanyou era I was sixty-seven.” Counting backward, this is precisely the early years of Yuan Dingzong and the Chunyou period of Song Lizong. The Yuan dynasty arose in the north; the Patriarch was born in Liaodong and was entered in Yuan household registers, so he is called a Yuan man. The Original Biography by a certain Wang says he was born in the dingwei year of Dingzong, which agrees with the Patriarch’s own account; only this is reliable.

Hu Ying, Lord Zhong’an of the Ming, visited Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng during the Yongle era; some people mistakenly record it as the Chenghua era. Li Yucun’s Shihua says: Xiangfu Temple is outside the small west gate of Mianzhu, and there is a stele of a poem by Hu Ying, Minister of Rites, on visiting Zhang Sanfeng in the fourth year of Chenghua, engraved by Wang Rubin in the ninth year of Jiajing of the Ming, and so on. According to Ming reign dates, the fifth year of Yongle, a dinghai year, was precisely when Hu Ying arrived at Mianzhu. Today it is engraved on the wooden panel behind the Hall of Heavenly Kings, and there are also four characters, “Xiangfu Chan Yuan,” written by Sanfeng, with vigorous, flowing brushwork; the stele uses the character xiang meaning “auspicious,” while the calligraphy uses a different xiang meaning “soaring”—perhaps he really did go there.

In the Xiangshuzhai Collection by Qian Chenqun, Lord Wenduan, the poem on viewing lanterns at Wangxinzhuang on the Yanjiu day contains the lines “The immortal leads the slovenly one into the empty blue; people stand on the swing and gaze at the red,” with a note saying that Zhang Sanfeng and Qiu Changchun sought the Dao at the same time and later both departed as immortals. The editor notes: Master Changchun, Qiu Chuji, appeared in the Jin dynasty and sought the Dao very early; he was not contemporary with Patriarch Zhang. But Wang Xianweng’s biography says that when the Patriarch was making a cap (wearing the Hunyuan turban), a Daoist Qiu once came to visit; and after the Patriarch achieved the Dao, in the early Zhizheng era of the Yuan he traveled in the Western Hills and again met Changchunzi, sitting knee to knee in intimate conversation—that was a later matter, and on this basis one cannot say the two “sought the Dao at the same time.”

Vernacular Explanation

At that time Zhenren Qiu (Qiu Chuji) was expounding the teachings in the Yuan dynasty, and there were indeed matters of the Dao being manifested at the same time. But to say that they sought the Dao at the same time is not necessarily correct.

Popular editions record the Patriarch’s original name as Junbao; only after reading the Shenxian Jian (Mirror of Immortals) did I learn that “bao” was originally “shi,” the sort of lu/yu confusion caused by scribal error. Moreover, the two characters “Junshi” appear to be a courtesy name rather than a given name. When I read Lu Yanshan’s Yutang Manbi (Random Notes from the Jade Hall), I learned that the Patriarch’s name was Tong, his sobriquet Xuanxuan, and Junshi his courtesy name. A descendant of the Celestial Master (Tianshi), he once resided at Jintai Abbey in Baoji County, Fengxiang. Zhang Chaoyong of Nanyang, Registrar of the Household Administration of the Heir Apparent, had once known him and saw him walk without his feet touching the ground. Lord Hu Zhong’an recommended Chaoyong as prefect of Junzhou, and together they sought him but did not meet him. There was also a secret edict saying: Wang Zongdao of Huai’an had once studied immortality with Sanfeng, and was ordered to find him and go together with him. Three years later he was summoned for audience and was bestowed a golden crown and crane-feather cloak, and bearing incense and the imperial letter he traveled throughout the realm. After ten years, he ultimately did not meet him and returned.

Also note: popular editions take Zian as the Patriarch’s father’s taboo name, but this too appears to be a courtesy name rather than a given name. When I read the biography preserved by Mengjiu, I learned that his given name was Juren, Zian was his courtesy name, and Baishan his sobriquet.

A manuscript copied by Daoist priests contains a text entitled Sanfeng’s Confession. It is definitely a false accusation, and its language is vulgar; it must be refuted. The confession says: “The confessing Daoist boy (how could one over a hundred years old still be called a boy?), Zhang Sanfeng, is twenty-eight years old, a native of Liaoyang. His father was Zhang Zian, and he was the fifth son born. From childhood he had an eye ailment and was given to the Bi Palace to take a master and receive instruction. Later he again wandered in clouds to the Tianzhu Hermitage in Xiangyang Prefecture, Huguang, to cultivate the nature and practice the truth. Now, having been graciously invited by the Yongle emperor to honor Daoism, he cannot conceal the matter in between; what he has confessed is true.” This was presumably fabricated by alchemists and Daoist priests to make themselves glorious, not realizing that it instead slandered him. During the Yongle era our Patriarch hid deeply and did not come out; even the Ming History still preserves the text of the summons—how could he instead have submitted a confession to the court, promoting himself and rushing to the palace gates? Even the Xianjian’s record of his flying ascension in the golden hall was no more than a brief standing conversation, meant to show that the yang spirit does not die. Later, when I saw Mengjiu’s authentic edition, it contained only Hu Guang’s memorial; the doubts I had harbored daily were at this point dissolved.

Appended: Hu Guang’s memorial states: Your servant, the Reader-in-Waiting and Bachelor Hu Guang, respectfully memorializes: The true immortal Zhang Sanfeng, a native of Liaodong…

The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng — Prefaces, Postscripts, and Catalog Texts (Vernacular Explanation)

On the Patriarch’s Seclusion and the Emperor’s Quest for the Dao

The Patriarch deeply concealed his Daoist methods and possessed vast spiritual powers. He lived in lofty seclusion at Wudang and had the transcendent character of Chen Tuan (a Five Dynasties Daoist said to sleep for months and known as “Mr. Xiyi”). People could only invite him with respect; they could not forcibly summon him by command.

I respectfully observe that His Imperial Majesty once condescended to visit Guangcheng (in legend the place where the Yellow Emperor asked about the Dao; here a metaphor for the emperor personally visiting famous mountains) to seek the true Dao. Your servant did not dare conceal this and has already submitted a memorial to report it.

A Correction Concerning the Account in the Xiyang Xiaoji of “Jin Bifeng Visiting the Patriarch in Nanjing”

There is a certain Xiyang Xiaoji in the world that records the matter of Jin Bifeng visiting the Patriarch in Nanjing. It says that the Patriarch was named Shoucheng, was a native of Jurong, had once served as a clerk in the county office, and soon abandoned official documents and records to become a Daoist renunciant. He cultivated at the Xishan Daoist Monastery and Chaotian Palace and became an earth immortal. Bifeng, the magistrate (a local official), visited Minister Hu (Hu Guang, an early Ming official), had an audience with the Ming sovereign, and was called a heaven immortal; only then was he certified in the rank of Great Luo (Daluo, one of the highest immortal ranks in Daoism, the Daluo Jinxian).

This is in fact the manner of novelists borrowing a name to embroider a tale and playwrights patching together stage scenes; it is not factual. If one asks why he is named Shoucheng and registered as a native of Jurong, the answer is: without writing it this way, it would not be enough to mount the stage and perform that whole set of ke bai (spoken parts and conventions in opera).

The Patriarch’s Writings and the Problem of Mixed Editions

The Patriarch wrote a great deal during the Yuan and Ming transition: in poetry there is the Cloud and Water Collection, along with several prose pieces in various genres, mostly found in the Daozang (Daoist Canon) edition preserved by Mengjiu (the source edition cited by the compiler). In addition, the Shenxian Jian (Mirror of Immortals) records the Daoist poems of the Patriarch that Hu Guang transcribed and submitted, titled the Jieyao pian (Chapter of Quick Essentials). Among them are works such as “Rootless Tree,” “Song of the Great Dao,” “Song of Refining Lead,” “Poem on the Jade Flower,” two stanzas of “Lichun Yuan,” “Inscription Left at Qingyang Palace,” “Song of the Golden Liquid Returning Elixir,” and “Song of the True Immortal Completing the Dao.”

Recently transmitted editions are quite mixed. For example, in old editions of the Xuanyao pian (Profound Essentials) carved by Wu Zhen, Xiangyun Dongtian, Zhang Lingji, and Deng Lingmi, there are thirty-six Golden Elixir poems (to symbolize the 360 degrees), which were then altered to sixteen; the remainder are scattered in various places with no order at all, and the Daoqing (Daoist sentimental song) pieces should not have been included at all. This is because they had not seen the true edition of this Complete Works. Among common manuscripts there are some that are “more complete” than the Zhang and Deng editions, and many mix in poems by Patriarch Lü (Lü Dongbin).

In this compilation we have gathered widely and selected broadly, and checked each item against Mengjiu’s authentic edition, striving to restore the old appearance. Would the Patriarch deign to approve? Respectfully recorded by Changyi shi.

Reprinting the Daozang Jiyao — The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

Recompiled by Li Xiyue, the Changyi Mountain Man of Hanjia

Respectfully written by Zhang Daoyuan, style Zishen

Respectfully published by Zhu Daosheng, style Wanchengzi, of Langzhong

Nephews Ying Chuncheng and Zhu Zan Suyuan jointly collated the text

Son Huang Panxi

Miraculous Manifestations

Ferrying Shen Wansan

Shen Wansan was a prominent fisherman of the Qinhuai region, compassionate by nature and fond of charity. At first his family had no more than enough for food and clothing. In the nineteenth year of Zhizheng in the Yuan dynasty (1359), he suddenly encountered a Daoist whose expression was clear and bright, with a tortoise-like form and crane-like bones, large ears and round eyes, a body over seven chi tall, and a long beard like halberds. He often wore a crescent-moon cap, carried a knife and ruler, and had but one bamboo hat and one patched robe, the same in cold and heat alike, careless of appearance. He could travel more than a thousand li a day; at one meal he might eat a sheng or a dou and still feel unsatisfied, while at other times he abstained from grain (bigu) for months, yet his complexion grew all the more full and radiant. Wansan was astonished and often cooked fresh fish and warmed wine, inviting him to drink with him at Reed Islet. Whatever the Daoist needed, Wansan supplied with all his strength. One night, as they drank beneath the moon, the Daoist said, “Would you like to hear of my origins?” Wansan respectfully asked to hear. The Daoist stroked his beard and laughed: “I am Zhang Sanfeng.” He then recounted the course of entering the world, leaving the world, cultivating the truth, and attaining true realization; when he finished, he laughed heartily. Hearing this, Wansan prostrated himself, again addressed him as Patriarch, and begged for instruction: “This dusty fool wishes only for methods of succor, prosperity, and longevity; I dare not hope for anything else.” The Patriarch said, “Though I dare not recklessly divulge the true transmission, I also do not wish to remain silent and shut the Dao away. I know your heart deeply; I shall do it for you.” He therefore procured medicinal ingredients, chose a day, opened the furnace, and refined for the full seven times seven, forty-nine days. When the furnace was opened and examined, lead and mercury had each attained their proper way, yet the Patriarch still sighed without ceasing. Wansan thought his opportunity had not yet come; he brought out all his savings and sold his boats and nets to make up the required amount. When the refining was halfway done, the mercury suddenly ran off like burning thatch, and the lid and vessel were both destroyed. Wansan deeply lamented that his fortune was thin, and the Patriarch advised him not to attempt it again. The couple showed no resentment at all and earnestly urged him to refine once more; their resources exhausted, they discussed selling their young daughter. The Patriarch acted as if he had heard nothing; secretly glad at their firm resolve, he let them do as they wished. He ordered them to prepare cinnabar-wrapped mercury, called the couple before him, took out a little medicine, picked up a tiny speck with his fingernail, and threw it into the hot mercury, whereupon it instantly congealed like earth. He then used “dead mercury” to transmute copper and iron, all of which became gold and silver, and by this means they were supported toward long life. The Patriarch then took a small amount of the elixir head. On the point of leaving, he instructed them: “The royal qi of the southeast is flourishing greatly; I shall meet you in the southwest.” Then he entered Bazhong. Wansan founded his house on this; he set up a furnace and refined on a large scale, and in less than a year he was the richest under heaven. Whenever he met the poor and those in distress, he relieved them widely; merchants who borrowed his capital for trade were to be found throughout the land. The world said he had obtained a treasure bowl, and hence his wealth flowed with special abundance.

Vernacular Explanation of Relevant Passages from The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

Avoiding Disaster, Destroying the Elixir, and Calling Himself the Three-Mountain Daoist

When the world was in great disorder and war and chaos prevailed, Zhang Sanfeng was deeply worried that he would bring disaster upon himself. He therefore destroyed his alchemical furnace and implements and changed his own title to “Three-Mountain Daoist.” Today the southwest street of Nanjing is where he moved to live; Huitongguan was his former residence; and the plot of land in Houhu (Rear Lake) is the old site of his garden.

The Shenxian Jian (Mirror of Immortals) remarks: Once Waidan (external alchemy) is successfully refined, it can serve as an aid to Neidan (internal alchemy) cultivation. Yet the true Dao (the Way) is rarely heard, and often after a thousand attempts and ten thousand failures, people in the world take “Sanfeng” as a mere catchphrase, and some are even deceived without waking up. One should consider whether one already has “the blessed capacity of ten thousand mountains” (great fortune and foundation), for only then is it possible to meet a true master. If not, one should be willing to set the matter aside for the time being.

Residing at Jintai Guan

In the bingwu year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty (1346), at Jintai Guan in Baoji there was a Daoist elder who looked like a man over a hundred years old. Suddenly, on the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month, he announced that he would take leave of the world; he left a verse and then died. The local man Yang Guishan prepared a coffin and encoffined him. Just as the burial was about to take place, a sound like thunder came from the coffin. When it was opened, he revived and leapt up, saying to Guishan: “I am Zhang Sanfeng, a descendant of the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the lineage of Zhang Daoling. Since youth I have loved to study the Dao. Now my Great Elixir is complete, and my Shen (spirit) roams the heavenly seas. You are a good man—rare, rare indeed.” Thereupon he transmitted to him the arts of withdrawing from the world and extending life, and soon afterward took Guishan away with him.

Yuantongzi comments: If everyone in the world were like Yang Guishan, there would be no exposed bones along the roads. With such skillful means of saving people, how could human immortals and Perfected beings fail to save them?

Hiding at Taihe Mountain

In the early years of the Hongwu era, the Patriarch entered Taihe Mountain (Wudang Mountain) and built a thatched hut beside Yuxu Palace, where he sat in cold solitary practice. Before the hut were five ancient trees whose shade spread over several mu, with cloud vapor dense around them; he often rested beneath the trees. Fierce beasts did not harm him, and birds of prey did not strike him; people all found this strange. His patched robe was old and dirty, and people called him “Lata Zhang” (Sloppy Zhang). When asked about immortal arts, he did not answer at all; when asked about the Jing (scriptures and classics), he spoke without end. He climbed mountains as lightly and swiftly as if flying, and in deep winter he lay in the snow snoring like thunder. He often told the people of Taihe: “In days to come this mountain will become greatly renowned.” The Daoist Qiu Yuanjing asked him about his background, and only then realized that he was Patriarch Sanfeng. He asked to become his disciple, and the Patriarch transmitted to him the wonders of the Dao.

The Shenxian Jian comments: Heterodox paths and side gates are the most capable of deluding people; like an arrow shot into the void, they ultimately fall back to earth. Only by finding the true seed, cultivating in hiding and refining in secrecy, until the elixir is formed and the fruit ripens, so that cold and heat cannot invade him and Yin-Yang cannot harm him, moving freely in all directions and coming and going according to his will—this is the genuine reality. Someone like Sanfeng is truly to be revered.

Brief Notes on Proper Terms: Waidan/Neidan—external refining of the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and internal refining of Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit); Taihe Mountain—namely Wudang Mountain; Qiu Yuanjing—a famous Daoist of Wudang, later honored by Emperor Chengzu.

Sent to Chang Yuchun

In the sixth month of the jiyou year, the second year of Hongwu (1369), Chang Yuchun attacked Daxingzhou, took Kaiping directly, pursued the enemy for several hundred li, and won a great victory, thereby pacifying northern Ji. In the seventh month of autumn, the army camped at Liuhezhou. Chang fell ill and said to his generals: “When I was born, an old man once came to our gate and handed over a letter. On it was written: ‘Brilliant is the Tail Mansion; martial is the tiger warrior; in harmony he meets his lord; beneath the willow he returns to the spirit.’ A few days ago, the Zhenren (Perfected) Zhang Sanfeng sent a letter from Mount Wutai, and it contained these same words. Now that I have reached Liuhezhou and fallen ill, I am probably about to go.” Soon afterward he died in the army at the age of thirty-four. Last year, the wushen year, when the emperor had just ascended the throne, he had also respectfully asked the forty-second Celestial Master (Tianshi) Zhang Chongxu, “How will the northern expedition go?” The Celestial Master said, “The court has blessings; the great general will return to the Real.”

Meeting the Prince of Shu, Chun

During the Hongwu period, Ming Taizu enfeoffed his son Chun as Prince of Shu. At that time the two Sichuan regions had long been settled, and the people and the realm were peaceful and prosperous. Suddenly there appeared an old man whose spirit was full and complete, whose appearance was plain and antique, and who moved as if flying. One day, wearing a formal cap and broad sash, he came gracefully to meet the Prince of Shu and urged him with teachings on entering the Dao. The prince did not heed him, but inwardly he felt that the old man was old yet vigorous and extraordinary, and he admired the flavor of his reclusive life. The old man smiled and chanted: “Why speak of a shortcut at Zhongnan? Official ambition is to me like a goose feather.” The prince respected his lofty integrity. One day the old man said to the prince: “A princely fief may be good, but one must have the resolve to withdraw and a humble heart; only then can one be preserved from disaster. I am Zhang Sanfeng. I am about to roam the vast emptiness with the immortals of the islands and seas.” The prince wrote a poem for his farewell, which included the lines “My master has deeply attained the art of the Marquis of Liu (Liuhou); quietly nurturing the Dantian, he preserves the Valley Spirit (Gu Shen).” He did not urge him to stay, and the Patriarch then departed. Some say that afterward many of the princes, such as the Prince of Gu, the Prince of Sui, the Prince of Liao (Zhi), and others, failed to keep their fiefs, whereas the Prince of Shu was able to live in peace and happiness; all this was due to the Patriarch’s instruction.

Commentary: After the Patriarch met the Prince of Shu, Chun, he roamed through Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi. His cloud chariot had no fixed course, and he manifested traces most frequently; he never sat in dry meditation on a single mountain. Some say that when he first entered Chengdu and met the Prince of Shu, Chun, the prince did not delight in the Dao, so he withdrew to Xiang and Deng, lived intermittently at Wudang for twenty-three years, and one day set out wandering, brushed his sleeves, and left.

Reading this passage, Yuantongzi inscribed a quatrain: “An immortal elder entered the tent, a white-haired old man; you met him but did not recognize him—what can be done for you?”

Brief Notes on Proper Names

Chang Yuchun: a founding general of the early Ming.

Prince of Shu, Chun: Zhu Chun, twelfth son of Ming Taizu, enfeoffed as Prince of Shu.

Zhang Chongxu: the forty-second Celestial Master (Tianshi) of the early Ming.

Art of the Marquis of Liu (Liuhou): refers to the arts of concealment and nourishing life associated with Zhang Liang, Marquis of Liu.

Dantian and Valley Spirit (Gu Shen): terms in Daoist cultivation referring to focusing the intention and to Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy).

Yuantongzi: the self-designation of the compiler or commentator of this book.

How Can a Few Words of Famous Sayings Repay a Ruler, Preserve a Fief, and Bring Much Enjoyment?

These lines ask: on what grounds could a few “famous words” alone repay a ruler, preserve a fiefdom, and secure long-lasting wealth and honor? The following passages use events such as his lodging in a commandant’s household to point out that Zhang Sanfeng preserved himself through reclusion and extraordinary conduct, rather than seeking glory through official rank and fame.

Lodging in the Commandant’s House

During the Hongwu era, the Patriarch wandered into Shu and lodged in the household of Commander Jiang of the imperial guard. His behavior was strange and uncanny, yet people of the time did not recognize who he was. He constantly wore a conical bamboo hat; the hat was unusually large, yet it did not hinder him from entering or leaving even the smallest gate. At his waist he tied a belt woven from iron wire, of extremely fine workmanship. From morning to evening he sat on a large flat boulder. Once he broke off a branch from a withered plum and inserted it into the soil; it immediately took root and lived, and its blossoms opened hanging downward—in old Chengdu there survived an allusion to the “water-reflecting plum” connected with this.

Lodging at Kaiyuan Temple

Kaiyuan Temple, west of Kuifu (in present-day Fengjie area of Chongqing), was the practice site of Chan Master Liaoxiu of the Tang dynasty. In the early Ming, the Patriarch came here on a visit and lodged in the temple with the monk Guanghai Shan for seven days. On parting, he presented a poem and left behind a pair of straw sandals and three pieces of agarwood before departing. Later Guanghai presented the poem and these two objects to Ming Taizu, and the emperor in return bestowed a jade ring and a thousand-Buddha kasaya; they are still enshrined in the temple today and are called a treasure of the age. (See Chengdu Prefecture Gazetteer and Kuizhou Prefecture Gazetteer.)

Three Refusals of the Imperial Summons

In the seventeenth year of Hongwu (1384), a jiazi year, when all Chinese and non-Chinese under heaven submitted to the court, an imperial edict sought the Zhenren (Perfected Man) Zhang Sanfeng, but his whereabouts were unknown. The following spring, his disciple Shen Wansan was again compelled to invite him earnestly, but he still could not be obtained. Qiu Yuanjing was then summoned to court. The Patriarch therefore submitted a poem and instructed Qiu, saying: “When you reply to the emperor, tell the Son of Heaven that I am about to roam beyond the seas.” The poem reads:

Flowing water and drifting clouds cannot be contained;

Why should the court trouble itself to seek me so bitterly?

From now on I must hide my name and surname all the more;

North of the mountains and south of the mountains, let me roam as I please.

After reading it, Taizu let him go as he wished. Soon afterward Qiu was appointed Investigating Censor and granted fine housing, but Qiu accepted none of it—Qiu can truly be said not to have forgotten his teacher’s instruction. (The Shenxian jian records the matter of the three summonses but does not include the episode of sending the poem.)

Yuantongzi Says

Yuantongzi said: Could Yan Ziling be the former incarnation of our Patriarch?

Fulfilling the Covenant in Southern Yunnan

During the Hongwu era, a section of the capital city wall from Hongwu Gate to Shuixi Gate collapsed. Beneath it were caverns where water monsters lurked, and whenever it was repaired it collapsed again. Taizu was wary of Shen Wansan, whose fate as calculated from the birth horoscope was identical to the emperor’s and who was extremely wealthy. He summoned him and asked: “Your family has a basin that can gather treasure; can it also gather earth and build a gate?” Wansan did not dare argue. He accepted the order and began construction, but the foundation collapsed as soon as it was laid, three times. Thereupon, with … (The original text breaks off here; what follows should recount how the agreement was fulfilled, or what relates to the covenant in southern Yunnan.)

Proper nouns such as Hongwu (the reign title of Ming Taizu), Qiu Yuanjing (Zhang Sanfeng’s disciple, an early Ming Daoist), Shen Wansan (an early Ming tycoon, legendarily associated with the treasure-gathering basin), Chan Master Liaoxiu, and Investigating Censor (a Ming surveillance official) have been briefly explained at first appearance.

The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng: A Vernacular Reading

1. Shen Wansan Meets an Immortal

Someone secretly threw several pieces of elixir gold into a furnace; by the time the elixir furnace was completed, it had cost enormous sums. The emperor once wished to reward the army and summoned Shen Wansan—a fabulously wealthy man of the Jiangnan region in the Ming, famous for his fortune—to lend him money. Shen Wansan said, “The army is a million strong; one liang of gold per man would suffice.” He paid the full amount. Seeing that Shen showed no sign of difficulty, the emperor wanted to eliminate him and, on another pretext, had him sentenced to exile in Lingnan. Shen Wansan then slipped away lightly equipped, taking his wives, concubines, and servants with him, and abandoned his family wealth altogether. Soon afterward an order came to move him again to Yunnan. Arriving in the Dian region, Shen Wansan was depressed and bored, when suddenly an old man using the alias “Gongchang”—a split-character hint for Zhang—sent word that he had come to meet him as agreed. Shen Wansan asked to see him, and it turned out to be Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng. The patriarch laughed and said, “Do you still remember those words from years ago: ‘When Qi flourishes in the southeast, we shall meet in the southwest’?” Shen Wansan suddenly understood, and followed the patriarch to refine the Great Medicine of the Heavenly Origin for ingestion (the Daoist method of seeking longevity by ingesting the Golden Elixir). The next year the elixir was completed; the whole Shen family took it, and all were able to rise aloft and ascend (attaining the Dao, becoming immortals, and leaving the mortal body).

Yuantongzi (the commentator) remarks: By letting go of his family wealth he was able to become a high immortal; in ordinary times he had already given alms and aid in great measure.

2. Roaming Heming Mountain

In the late Hongwu era, a Daoist wandered on Heming Mountain in Qionglai. The mountain has twenty-four caves, corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms. When the Daoist entered the mountain, the stone crane cried out again, and everyone was astonished. He stayed for half a year, then entered Tiangu Cave and did not come out again, inscribing on the cave door the four-character phrase “Sanfeng visited here.” At that time he was already over a hundred years old (the Sichuan Gazetteer gives over three hundred, which seems to be an error).

Yuantongzi says: Marvelous.

3. Inscribing a Poem as a Warning of Disaster

At the beginning of Emperor Jianwen’s reign, one dusk an old man was strolling before the gate of the Ministry of Revenue; his appearance resembled the Earth God (a grassroots deity in popular belief). A gust of wind passed, and the old man suddenly vanished. The next morning, on the two door leaves—on the right leaf—a poem was found inscribed: “The swallow is about to build its nest” (one version reads “nest in the pavilion”); “The dragon’s grandson is not in the pool; the waves are calm, yet the wind rises again; on the sea, ask three-three.” The last three characters were written at the crack between the two door leaves. Most people did not understand their meaning. When Vice Minister of Revenue Zhuo Jing saw it, he thought that the three characters had been written inside the word “gate” (men), using the door crack to form the central vertical stroke of the character feng, meaning “abundance”; he realized in his heart that this was the immortal elder Sanfeng, and he also reflected that “swallow” referred to the Prince of Yan and “dragon’s grandson” to Emperor Jianwen. The words were ominous. Soon afterward the characters fell away. Zhuo Jing then submitted a secret memorial asking that the Prince of Yan be re-enfeoffed at Nanchang so that, if a change occurred, he could still be controlled. The memorial was presented but ultimately not adopted.

Yuantongzi says: Vice Minister Zhuo was clever and admirable, but alas, loyal words grate on the ear; in the end it allowed the Prince of Yan to retain his fief and usurp the throne.

Note: In the text, “elixir gold,” “the Great Medicine of the Heavenly Origin for ingestion,” and “rising aloft” are Daoist cultivation terms; “Yuantongzi” is the commentator of this book; Jianwen, the Prince of Yan, Zhuo Jing, and others involve the early Ming Jingnan Campaign and legends about Jianwen’s fate, interwoven with the legends of Zhang Sanfeng.

Vernacular Interpretation

(On the Inscribed Poem)

Could it be that the Master had no choice but to inscribe the poem? Otherwise, would he not have known that Emperor Jianwen would not heed him?

Mingling in the Capital

In the early years of Yongle, a traveler sojourning in the capital saw a Daoist of clear, lean countenance, with a long beard flowing, whose clothing and demeanor were nevertheless like those of ministers and high officials. The traveler had been in the capital for a long time and was close to Hu Ying, Supervising Secretary of the Revenue Section, often gathering with him for poetry and wine. The Daoist liked to compose poems in the style of the Wen Xuan, and mostly did not keep drafts. The traveler heard the court officials chatting among themselves, much of it about immortals, and also heard that Reader Hu Guang wished to recommend Zhang Sanfeng’s immortal arts to the emperor in a memorial. The traveler grew annoyed at heart. One day, while drinking in the guest lodge, the Daoist suddenly said to Hu Ying, “My friend, serve the enlightened ruler well; I will withdraw far into the deep mountains.” Hu Ying was startled and asked why; he did not answer. When pressed again and again, he stroked his beard and laughed, saying, “I am Sanfeng zi.” Having spoken, he went straight off, and no one knew where he went. Later, when Hu Ying sought Patriarch Sanfeng, there was thus the line “Yet I recall the old friend who went into hiding from here”—who is like Bao Canjun in inscribing a poem, and so forth.

A Single Encounter as Karmic Cause

In the winter of the fourth year of Yongle, Zhang Chaoyong of Nanyang, Registrar of the Household Administration of the Heir Apparent, often saw a Daoist whose conduct was strange: his feet did not touch the ground, he twirled a plum blossom in his hand, and he recited “Autumn Water.” Stepping forward to ask, he found it was the immortal elder Sanfeng. The following year the emperor ordered Hu Ying to go out and search for him, and because Hu Ying recommended that Chaoyong accompany him, but his whereabouts were already unknown.

The Dao Revealed to Mingyu

During the Yongle era, a Daoist adept traveled to Neijiang and lodged at the home of the Daoist Mingyu, falsely claiming that his surname was Pang and subtly displaying extraordinary powers: he walked on the most dangerous places without falling and waded through water without getting the least bit wet. Mingyu was skilled in talismans and incantations, which often had wondrous efficacy, and wanted to transmit them to him. The Daoist laughed and said, “I am offering you the Dao, yet you would transmit methods to me?” He then wrote out a document titled “Memorial on the Convergence of Dao and Method” and gave it to him. Mingyu was greatly startled, knelt, and asked for his name and title; then he knew that it was Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng. After he had stayed for more than several months, Hu Ying sought him out, so he did not remain. (The Sichuan Tongzhi has “then together with Yu he went to see Hu,” which is inconsistent with the Mingji; this is specially corrected here.) Soon he again came and went in the Emei Mountains.

Flying Ascent at the Ming Court

After Emperor Chengzu of Ming met the Western monk Halima, he began to harbor Daoist aspirations. Minister Hu Guang therefore said that Zhang Sanfeng truly possessed Daoist methods, and transcribed his Jieyao pian and presented it to the throne. When the emperor read it, although he could not fathom its depths, he knew that he possessed the Dao.

A Plain-Language Reading of Relevant Passages from The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

I. Emperor Yongle Sends Envoys to Seek Zhang Sanfeng

The imperial court had once sent envoys to seek out Zhang Sanfeng. In the spring of the Renchen year (c. 1412), the emperor again ordered Sun Biyun to go to Wudang to pay his respects and inquire after him. On the sixth day of the third month, the envoy arrived with an imperial letter; Zhang Sanfeng read it, smiled, and wrote a reply.

Sun Biyun urged him to enter court, but Zhang Sanfeng refused. He simply shut his door and remained in quiet seclusion, occasionally accompanying Sun on excursions among mountains and streams, and sent a rider to report quickly to the capital.

In the first month of spring in the Bingshen year, the emperor ordered a comfortable carriage to be prepared to welcome him. Zhang Sanfeng, however, left again. The emperor charged Hu Guang (or, according to some versions, Hu Ying and others; the annotation mentions the reading “Hu Ying”) with finding the man without fail. Hu Guang was alarmed and went in person to Wudang to pray earnestly. Seeing his earnestness, Zhang Sanfeng came out to meet him and agreed to go to the palace, but first flew to the capital in a divinely transformed body.

At that time the emperor was in the midst of a court assembly when he suddenly saw a Daoist, ragged and with a deerskin draped over his shoulders, standing before the steps. He bowed his head in salute and smiled. The emperor asked whether he was Zhang Sanfeng, spoke to him kindly, gave him a seat, and then asked him to speak about the Dao (the Way). Zhang Sanfeng thereupon sang the song “Seeking the Dao and Searching for the Mysterious, I Have Traveled to the Ends of the Earth.” When the song was over, he calmly descended the steps. For a time, auspicious clouds and propitious mist filled the hall; they dispersed only after a long while, and the Daoist had already gone.

The ruler and his ministers were astonished, and only then did they believe that true immortals really existed. When Hu Guang returned to court, the emperor rewarded him generously.

(Note: The Ming History records that during the Yongle period Hu Ying and others were sent to seek Zhang Sanfeng and did not return until ten years had passed. The annotator reckons by the sexagenary cycle that from Dinghai to Bingshen is exactly ten years. He also suspects that if Hu Ying returned to court only after the fifth month, then there may be a chronological discrepancy with the account of “an audience at court at the beginning of the fifth month.”)

II. The Mirror of Immortals on the Way of Immortality

The Mirror of Immortals (Shenxian Jian) discusses the paths to becoming an immortal, which may be roughly divided as follows: some replace marrow and exchange bones without needing to shed their bodily forms; some nurture an infant to completion and lead the spirit forth to appear; and some refine their forms in the Great Yin and attain the truth through shijie (liberation by corpse). All are sufficient to attest the Dao. Yet Zhang Sanfeng’s ascension in the golden hall, as if once again stabilizing the Nine Tripods and reestablishing heaven and earth—if Dandao (the Way of the Elixir) had not reached its utmost, how could he have come to this? Viewed in this light, how can the way of Neidan (internal alchemy) be spoken of lightly?

III. A Mysterious Light Reveals the Marvelous

On the first day of the fifth month in the Bingshen year of Yongle, there was the Ten-Thousand-Year Longevity Assembly of the Old Man of the South Pole (Nanji Laoren). Lord Lao (Laojun) ordered Taiwei Yin Zhenren (Perfected Person Yin of Taiwei) to transmit the message to the assembled Perfected Ones. Zhenren Yin traveled northwest. Raising his head, he saw a mass of mysterious light flying through the air; looking toward it, he saw that it was Mr. Zhang Sanfeng. Zhenren Yin conveyed Lord Lao’s intention. Sanfeng said, “I have already received the Jade Emperor’s proclamation.” Then he took his leave.

Note: In the text, Wudang is a famous Daoist mountain; the Old Man of the South Pole is the God of Longevity; shijie is the Daoist legend of releasing the corpse, transforming it, and ascending in divine form; Dandao refers to the study of internal cultivation for becoming an immortal. The above translation seeks to stay close to the original narrative and discussion, and proper nouns have been briefly explained where they first appear.

Vernacular Interpretation

During the Tianshun era there was a man known as Mr. Seven Needles. He often used needles compounded from seven medicinal ingredients to treat people’s sores, and the results were usually excellent, so people called him “Seven Needles,” and he himself used the name as well. He could also paint landscapes, and from that time on the nobles and high officials throughout the Sichuan region held him in high regard.

Previously, Zhang Sanfeng had been famous for his immortal paintings, and the court repeatedly asked for them without success. A close courtier then reported Mr. Seven Needles’s case to the emperor, and the emperor ordered him summoned to the palace to paint landscapes. One of his paintings was most to the imperial taste. But by nature he was fond of drink and liked to curse powerful people and corrupt officials offhand. An official, taken with his painting skill, invited him home and treated him generously, asking him to paint so that he could use the work to bribe and ingratiate himself.

One day the emperor again bestowed fine silk for him to paint on. At that time Mr. Seven Needles was drunk and staying in a small upper room. The corrupt official handed him the silk, and Mr. Seven Needles placed it at the head of the bed. In the night there was violent retching, and the official hurriedly lit a lamp and went to look—Mr. Seven Needles jumped up and said, “What a relief! What a relief!” When the official lifted the silk to look, it was covered with sparrows, poised as if about to fly, except that their eyes had not yet been dotted. The official had no choice but to take it and present it to the emperor. The emperor looked and marveled, and immediately ordered him to dot the eyes. Mr. Seven Needles replied, “What your servant paints must not have its eyes dotted; once dotted, it will fly away.” The emperor did not believe him and urged him to dot them. So Mr. Seven Needles took up his brush and dotted them at random. After admiring it, the emperor laughed and said, “These things really look as if they are about to fly.” As soon as he finished speaking, countless little sparrows darted into the clouds and flew off to the corrupt official’s hometown, where they pecked all the grain in the fields clean, leaving almost not a single grain; yet the stretches of fields themselves remained intact. Mr. Seven Needles also vanished. When news of this reached the court, the emperor issued another summons for him, but he was nowhere to be found. The emperor asked Hu Ying, Minister of Rites, and Hu Ying replied, “I am afraid Mr. Seven Needles is none other than Zhang Sanfeng—if the two characters of the name ‘Sanfeng’ are taken apart horizontally and vertically, they look just like seven needles.” The emperor was astonished.

Presented to the Old Man of the Horned Millet

It was also during the Tianshun era. In Jianzhou there was an old man whose surname has been forgotten. Every day he made a living selling horned millet (a kind of zongzi); when he saw weary travelers passing by, he would give them a package for free and take no money. Someone asked him why, and the old man said, “These are all people worn out from traveling, and they are hungry. In selling horned millet every day, I seek only to recover my costs and make a little profit; that is enough for me. Giving away what is left is merely a small kindness, not worth mentioning.” One day toward evening, when he had not sold all his horned millet, a Daoist suddenly came and begged for a package. The old man gave him one; after eating it, he begged again, and the old man gave him another. This happened nearly a dozen times, and each time the old man gave him some. The Daoist ...

The old man laughed heartily and said, "You're truly a generous soul! I have no special skills, just this purple pearl (a Daoist magical treasure) in my pocket. Take it home and place it in your rice jar. Open it tomorrow, and you'll witness something marvelous." With these words, the Daoist drifted away like a wisp of smoke. The old man followed the instructions, though his rice jar was nearly empty at the time. The next day, upon opening it, he found the jar miraculously full. Chuckling, the old man remarked, "So this is the marvel the Daoist spoke of!" He used the rice to make zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), selling thirty percent and giving away seventy percent as charity. The following day, the jar was full again. This cycle continued, and soon the entire neighborhood sang his praises. After some time, growing curious, the old man emptied the jar completely to investigate—only to find the purple pearl had vanished, and the jar no longer replenished itself.

Later, the Daoist visited again and revealed, "I am so-and-so (hinting at his true identity). You've accumulated much virtue (De) through good deeds. Would you join me in transcending worldly affairs?" The old man politely declined. The Daoist (actually Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng) then produced an elixir pill, saying, "Take this first—it will prolong your life." Upon consuming it, the old man felt a refreshing clarity in his five viscera. After the Patriarch departed, the old man lived peacefully past a hundred years before passing away serenely.

Yuantongzi (likely the chronicler) commented: What a pity the old man didn't seek the Dao of immortality, but his compassionate heart surely merited such longevity.

Another tale recounts Zhang Sanfeng humbling a foreign monk. During the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, occult practitioners flourished, many enfeoffed as "True Men" (Zhenren). A Tibetan monk named Zhaba Jiancan, favored by the emperor for his mastery of esoteric Buddhism, styled himself the "Great Wisdom Buddha," riding in a lofty palanquin that forced nobles to yield the road. One day, returning to his temple, Zhaba saw a shabby Daoist inscribing a poem on the gate wall: "The court teems with charlatans, / Now a barbarian monk lords over the mighty. / How dare such riffraff claim Buddha-Dao? / Laozi and Shakyamuni would laugh themselves sick." The signature deliberately omitted one stroke. Enraged, Zhaba ordered the Daoist seized, but a sudden sandstorm erupted, and the figure vanished. Someone deciphered the incomplete signature as a hidden "Feng" character—revealing Zhang Sanfeng's divine manifestation. Soon after, Zhaba's influence indeed crumbled.

Yuantongzi quipped: That foreign monk got his comeuppance.

Yet another story mocks court occultists. Disgusted by Daoist adepts frequenting the palace during Chenghua times, Zhang Sanfeng once encountered two fraudsters, Zhao and Wang, scheming to deceive northerners with dark arts. Disguised as their sect leader, he tested them...

Plain-Language Interpretation

1. Seven Tricks on the Fangshi (Technicians)

Some people claimed to be Celestial Master Zhang (Tianshi), able to send talismans flying to summon spirits, and said their methods were very effective. They asked Prince of Zhao and others whether they wished to learn. The prince did not believe them. The Patriarch pointed into the air, and suddenly heavenly soldiers and generals appeared coming and going amid the clouds. The two were astonished and knelt to ask for Fulu (talismans and registers). The Patriarch pretended to transmit them secretly, gave them several talismans, and they left laughing.

At that time Li Zisheng had gained imperial favor through the Five Thunder Method, and the two went over to him, thereby advancing themselves. When the emperor asked about their abilities, they said these were talisman methods transmitted by the Celestial Master, and they asked the emperor to fast and purify himself for three days before watching them perform their arts. The emperor complied and had a grand altar set up. They prevaricated all day, and nothing proved efficacious. The emperor, angry at their fraud, ordered the guards to execute them on the spot.

Yuantongzi said: True immortals detest fangshi just as gentlemen detest petty men. My master seven times tricked fangshi, using orthodox methods to make sport of heterodox methods, causing the arts of the various wicked to be exposed and their imperial favor to decline day by day. Such a person should be titled the Celestial Master Who Sweeps Away Evil, Guards Righteousness, and Protects the State. Later, in the late Chenghua reign, the titles granted to monks and Daoists were revoked. Although this is said to have come from the censors and remonstrance officials, who knows whether it was not because my master silently broke their arts and they were therefore distanced?

2. Tricking the Fangshi (Wagering with a Certain Liu on Commanding Ghosts and Spirits)

The Patriarch also wagered with a fangshi named Liu on commanding ghosts and spirits. When the fangshi first burned a talisman, the Patriarch secretly used his power to cover it, so the talisman showed no efficacy. When it was the Patriarch’s turn to burn a talisman, countless spirits and ghosts immediately appeared, with armored horsemen fierce and hideous, coming and going through the air. The fangshi was astonished and knelt to ask for instruction. The Patriarch generously imparted it to him and also taught him a wondrous method for beheading ghosts. The fangshi was overjoyed, and relying on this skill he traveled to the capital, where he was reputed to be quite efficacious—except that he never used the ghost-beheading method. Later, through Liang Fang and others, he gained access to the inner court.

One night a palace eunuch was dallying intimately with a palace maid. The emperor ordered Liu to summon ghosts, and he burned a talisman. Two ghosts arrived, one male and one female, and joked and laughed beneath the palace tower, gradually pressing before the emperor, not knowing to show respect or withdraw. The emperor was frightened and ordered Liu to draw his sword and strike them; they turned out to be the palace maid Yun’e and a certain palace eunuch. The emperor was furious, taking Liu to have insulted him, and had him killed immediately within the altar.

Yuantongzi said: One talisman killed three evils. This was not my master flaunting a cruel hand; by using the orthodox to defend the state, he was truly compassionate.

3. Tricking the Fangshi

Note: In the text, “Prince of Zhao,” “Li Zisheng,” “Liang Fang,” and “Chenghua” belong to the Ming court and the background of technical arts; “fangshi” refers to technicians who relied on talismans, spirit summoning, the Five Thunder Method, and similar means to attend upon the powerful; “Yuantongzi” is the voice of the commentator, mostly praising the Patriarch’s intent in using orthodox methods to break heterodox arts and, by sweeping away evil, to protect the state.

Vernacular Interpretation

Guo Chengxian was a rogue ritual specialist. He had first learned the Five Thunder Method and found it rather efficacious; he was just about to go to the capital when Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng stopped him on the road. They met by the roadside, the Patriarch using the alias “Rival Celestial Master” (Sai Tianshi).

The Patriarch first asked Guo, “You carry the Five Thunder Formula in your person, do you not?” Guo was startled that he knew without divination and took him for a divine being, so he did not dare conceal anything and answered “Yes” repeatedly.

The Rival Celestial Master said, “I also have the Six Thunder Method. I will transmit it to you. If you practice it according to the method, you can summon celestial immortals, transform them into women, ride phoenixes, and roam the mortal world. These days Li Zisheng holds power over court and country. If you use this method to attach yourself to him, high rank and honor will come at once.” Guo was overjoyed, knocked his head to beg for transmission, then took his leave.

After entering the capital, Guo first presented the Five Thunder Method to Li Zisheng. Li took him for a fellow adept and believed him completely. Guo laughed and said, “Is that all? I also have the Six Thunder.” He told Li that this method could summon “celestial beauties.” Li leaped for joy and urged Guo to demonstrate on the spot.

Guo deliberately put on airs. He ordered people to set up a great ritual altar with the utmost refinement: red lamps and green curtains, all gleaming new. Li’s concubines leaned on the balustrade to watch from afar, dressed in finery as Guo performed the rite. Following the method, Guo performed talismans, circled the altar with spells and shouts, and sure enough, four or five immortal maidens came drifting near, each straddling a red horned dragon and standing above the altar. Two of them were especially bewitching and lovely; they sang a tune in duet, voices like orioles:

“I and my husband hold key posts;

Ritual robes doffed, we are taken for red skirts.

Such power and such blessing cannot long endure;

At dawn I lean on the railing, tears wetting the clouds.”

The tune was clear and crisp, seeming both to mock and to satirize, as if fearful and as if sorrowful. At first Li’s partisans saw the beauties and were moved to tender affection; hearing the lyrics, they were greatly puzzled, and on reflection still more frightened. Suddenly thunder and rain filled the sky, wind and sand rose violently, all the lamps on the altar were extinguished, and the place became a den of foxes and rats, with water splashing and smoke darkening. In an instant the clouds withdrew, and a slender moon hung from the eaves.

From deep within the altar came what seemed like groans. When candles were lit again and shone upon them, they saw several of Li’s concubines each straddling a dull-witted fellow, naked and bent over as if stiff and dazed. On close inspection, these were actually the ritual specialists and ritual disciples kept under Li’s patronage. Li harshly ordered his household slaves to help them away, then looked for Guo Chengxian. Guo was still standing at the ritual altar, spouting nonsense, shaking his head and pinching his fingers in a self-satisfied manner. Li, overcome with shame and rage, drew his sword and cut him down, throwing the corpse into the pond in the back garden.

Background Note: Li Zisheng was a powerful Ming court official who gained favor through ritual arts; the “Five Thunder Method” and “Six Thunder” belong to the Daoist Thunder Rites tradition. This passage records how the Patriarch used one technique to defeat another, punishing a wicked Daoist who flattered and curried favor with the powerful, and uses the song of the “celestial beauties” to satirize the brevity of such power.

This passage records several anecdotes about the Ming Dynasty Daoist Zhang Sanfeng playing tricks on charlatan alchemists, revealing the satirical attitude of genuine Daoist practitioners toward worldly charlatans.

The first story tells of official Peng Hua, who rose to power by associating with influential figures like Wan An and Zisheng, gaining increasing authority while ostracizing loyal officials. He kept many alchemists (referring to charlatans pursuing immortality techniques) in his retinue. Once when Peng Hua fell ill, his alchemist Xiong Zhong sought a renowned physician and encountered a Daoist carrying a medicine pouch on the road. The pouch bore the inscription: "One plaster to heal all wounds, three great elixirs to trap the charlatans," cleverly embedding the name "Zhang Sanfeng" (literally "Zhang Three Seals"). The Daoist deliberately inflated his reputation, claiming he could not only cure illness but also make people ascend to immortality. After being deceived, Xiong Zhong gave Peng Hua the elixirs to consume, resulting in poisoning and vomiting. Peng Hua later developed wind-stroke (similar to paralysis), and Xiong Zhong fled when the deception was exposed.

The second story mentions Immortal Ma of the Taihang Western Mountains, renowned for using divine arrows to exorcise ghosts, with many seeking his rituals with great efficacy. A Daoist surnamed Deng...

The commentary by Master Yuantong observes: Heat syndromes are difficult to treat with cooling medicines—one must expel fire and dispel wind to reduce fever. Those charlatans were even more obsessed with fame and fortune than Peng Hua, caring not for spiritual cultivation but only for wealth and status. Thus they fled before achieving any "ascension." Through these pranks on charlatans, the stories satirize the swindlers of that era who exploited Daoist pretenses while chasing power and influence.

A Vernacular Reading of The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

I. Chang En and the Divine Arrow

Chang En had long heard that a certain person possessed real skills. After he became Minister of Ceremonies (Taichangqing), he was sinister and vicious, secretly harming others; anyone who entered his residence would be plagued by ghosts.

He sent his disciple Chen Wai'er to seek the “Ma arts” (the magic of Immortal Ma). On the road Chen Wai'er met a Daoist of extraordinary bearing, holding a long bow (a covert allusion to “Zhang”), with seven arrows stuck in his waist (a covert allusion to “Sanfeng”). The Daoist claimed he could shoot ghosts and never missed, but refused to give his name. Chen Wai'er grew suspicious and traveled along with him. After dark they stayed in a ruined temple. The forest was dim, the moonlight unclear, and ghostly wails chirped among the bamboo groves and old trees. Chen Wai'er was very frightened. The Daoist said, “You may watch me shoot a ghost.” Then from a crack in the window he drew the bow and shot once; the ghost wailed and fled. Chen Wai'er was convinced.

The next morning he asked to be taught the skill, and the Daoist generously imparted it. After Chen Wai'er returned to the capital, he lied: “Immortal Ma is no longer there; fortunately I obtained the divine arrow—all through your lordship's fortune.” Chang En was overjoyed.

That night the moonlight was murky, and ghostly sounds arose again in the mansion garden. Chang En ordered Chen Wai'er to display his ability. Chang En turned through the corridor and secretly watched from a window in the opposite building. Suddenly he saw a ghost fly into the building; Chen Wai'er drew a strong bow and loosed a wondrous arrow. At the twang of the feathered shaft came a loud cry, and the figure fell at the sound. When a lamp was lit and they looked, it was Chang En himself—fortunately the arrow had struck his left arm and was not fatal. Chen Wai'er fled at once.

Yuantongzi said: To kill a person is already a grave crime; to go further and destroy the soul—there is no cruelty beyond this. On the journey to West Mountain, although he obtained Immortal Ma's divine arrow, who could know it would not turn and shoot at Chang En?

II. Making Fun of the Alchemist (Wan An)

The Grand Secretary Wan An was outwardly magnanimous and inwardly treacherous. At the time, Consort Wan enjoyed favor above all in the rear palace. Wan An claimed to be her nephew, so that inside and outside echoed one another and his power became even more secure. The two also sought sexual cultivation techniques from fangshi and presented them to the consort, who was greatly delighted. Before long the consort died.

When Wan An sought such arts, there was a fangshi named Lu Fengyuan, who discoursed grandly on the art of sexual absorption and combat, transmitted the method to Wan An, and later called himself a ritual master, ordering Wan An to go to West Mountain to receive the teaching. Lu Fengyuan first waited on the road; after several days without seeing Wan An, in his boredom he took a stroll in the outskirts. Suddenly he met an old Daoist: pine-like countenance, crane-white hair, advanced in years, with a face red like that of immortals such as Chisong and Huangshi. Asked his surname, he did not answer; asked about the Dao, he did not speak. The Daoist elder smiled and intoned:

“Lu Fengyuan, Lu Fengyuan, by what fate today do you meet Wan An?”

(A pun: it is both the name “Lu Fengyuan” and the sense of “meeting on the road.”)

Note: In the text, “Zhang” and “Sanfeng” are hidden separately in the bow and the seven arrows; the encounter between “Lu Fengyuan” and Wan An is often read as an anecdote of Zhang Sanfeng teasing powerful ministers and fangshi, carrying a tone of admonition and satire.

Vernacular Interpretation

The figure drifted away; Lu Da was greatly startled and hesitated, thinking of turning back. By then it was late, the mountain forest was dim, crows cawed chaotically, and looking around in bewilderment he at once lost his way. Then he saw a woodcutter carrying firewood pass by. Asked his surname, the man answered “Zhang” but would not give his name. Lu Da begged him for directions; the old man pointed to where a lamp glowed blue and said that was the inn. After thanking him, Lu Da went to lodge there. The broken rafters rustled; at midnight he heard sighs from the next room. Peeping through a crack, he saw to his surprise that it was Wan An. Feeling pity, and wanting to draw close and talk, he pulled open the broken partition and went over, intending to pour out his deep feelings. At that time Wan An was already tired and was sleeping with his head pillowed on his hand. Suddenly hearing the wall sound, he suspected a robber, raised his sitting stool, and struck; the man fell to the ground. The attendant saw this and hurried over; the intruder called himself the ritual master Lu Fengyuan. Wan An asked and clarified the circumstances, and only then realized that the other had come to pay his respects. He prostrated himself and begged pardon; Lu Fengyuan too endured the pain and returned the salute. Wan An asked, “Sir, if you were not hurrying along the great road, how did you also end up here?” Lu Fengyuan replied, “I received my master’s command and intended to go to the Western Mountains. At night I dreamed that an immortal old man instructed me, saying, ‘Wan An, Wan An, seek the Dao in the Western Mountains; on the great road to the Western Mountains, the condition will not be met.’ Therefore I drove my carriage along a small path, and unexpectedly met you, Master, and thus made such a mischievous scene.”

Yuantongzi said: To mistake a fangshi for a ritual master is already foolish enough; the master did not look like a master, and so deserved a blow from the sitting stool. Later Wan An still presented the bedchamber arts to the inner palace; when Emperor Xianzong became aware of it, he was dismissed, and his disciples also lost their opportunity.

VII. Making Sport of the Fangshi

In the late Chenghua era, Liang Fang, Li Zisheng, Deng Chang’en, and Zhao Yuzhi were successively exiled to garrison duty, and later all received amnesty. The eunuch Jiang Cong strongly argued the crimes of Liang Fang and the others and insisted they must not be pardoned; thus Liang Fang and Li Zisheng were stripped of office and died, while Deng and Zhao remained on garrison duty at the frontier. When they had earlier been exiled to garrison duty, they wrote poems everywhere on the walls of inns along the way, saying: “Li Zisheng and Liang Fang’s crimes were fully exposed; though amnesty came, they should not be pardoned, causing them to die in prison; Deng Chang’en and Zhao Yuzhi were exiled to garrison the western barbarian lands; meeting an amnesty, they ought not be pardoned, and so forever be separated from the central lands.” The signature was “Sanfeng.”

Yuantongzi said: After these petty men were demoted, they had no vitality left, yet petty men are foolish at heart and must still look back toward the Three Terraces of the court, hoping to be employed again, as when Wan An was dismissed and returned home. Therefore my master wrote this to mock them, thereby closing the final chapter of this faction.

When the Jiajing Emperor, in his final years, issued an edict seeking alchemical and medical treatises from across the realm, four quatrains appeared on the wall of Chongqing Temple, a Daoist monastery in Nanjing

In the closing years of the Jiajing reign, when the court issued an edict calling for fangshu from all under heaven—books recording medicine, formulas, and arts—a set of four quatrains appeared on the wall of Chongqing Temple, a Daoist monastery in Nanjing. The inscription read: “Composed by the reclusive immortal Zhang Xuanxuan.” It was said that divine lamps often lit these lines at night. Later, the verses were suddenly carried off by lightning. The poems are preserved in the Yunshui ji (Collection of Cloud and Water).

Riot at the Shrine to Wei

During the Tianqi era, living shrines to Wei Zhongxian sprang up almost everywhere; one outside Donghua Gate was especially grand.

One day three mad Daoists in ragged clothes strode in as if on a tour, burst into the hall, knocked Wei’s clay image to the ground, and smeared its face with dung and mud. Then they wrote four lines on the wall in large script: “Licentious shrines spread unchecked; the royal house is as if consumed by fire; the brocade rivers and mountains are entrusted to demons.” The phrase “entrusted to demons” (wei gui) was a covert play on the surname Wei.

The shrine attendants were alarmed and moved to seize the three men, but they vanished at once. Fearing Wei Zhongxian would hear of it, the attendants immediately washed the wall and cleaned the clay image. Yet a fragrance from the verses lingered on the wall, while the image still reeked. That night Wei Zhongxian’s whole body ached.

Yuantongzi commented: “Splendid—truly splendid! This episode can fill a gap left by the History of the Ming, and readers may wave their sleeves and dance for joy.”

Meeting Patriarch Lü on the Road

In the early Shunzhi period, Qin and Shu were not yet pacified. A Daoist in a fur cloak moved in and out of sight unpredictably. He sighed as he went, then laughed, then sang: “When will heaven and earth be clear? Tigers and wolves still roam. I shake my sleeves and return to the Three Isles—to Penglai, to see whether the sea is clear.”

Another Daoist approached, sword at his side and whisk in hand, and answered his song: “The fifth watch is nearly dawn; I leave the plank road to watch the clouds. I wish to go home with you—for heaven, receiving the One, becomes clear.” “Heaven, receiving the One, becomes clear” is a Daoist saying: heaven and earth gain clarity through attaining the Dao.

The sword-bearing Daoist drifted up and first said to the fur-cloaked one: “Master Sanfeng, you may rest now.” The fur-cloaked Daoist pressed his palms together in reply. They conversed in sharp, layered exchanges hard to paraphrase. Suddenly they emitted a great light; red clouds swirled in the air and formed the character for Lü (Patriarch Lü’s surname); then both rose into the sky and departed. This is recorded in the Ouyang zhen ji luan shu.

A Withered Plum Tree Lives Again

In the Kangxi era, at Majia Inn on the Linyou road stood an ancient, withered plum, its stump oddly venerable, planted who knows when. One winter morning, snow on the ground and bitter cold, a Daoist surnamed Zhang came in a tattered monk’s robe. He asked the innkeeper for noodles; before they were fully cooked the innkeeper served them.

The Daoist said: “I do not eat raw noodles—take them to that withered plum to eat.” The innkeeper did as he said and offered the noodles to the dead tree.

A Vernacular Reading of Relevant Passages from The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

Happiness

Someone cheerfully flung noodles onto the treetop, put down his money, and left. The shopkeeper found it strange. When he went to look early the next morning, the withered plum tree had blossomed, and the branches had even taken on the shape of the character Feng. Because of this, the Ma shop’s noodles sold well, and people often poured noodle broth on the tree, yet the plum remained withered.

Yuantongzi said: Patriarch Lü revived the camphor tree, Patriarch Qiu revived the cypress, and Patriarch Zhang revived the plum tree; all of them may be said to have bestowed grace upon plants and trees.

Blue Clouds Ward Off the Heat

The Patriarch was traveling in the Shu region, where there were many yellow vitex trees on the mountains. It was the height of summer, and the elders were hoeing weeds in the fields, unable to bear the heat. The Patriarch wove yellow vitex branches into a ring and wore it on his head; then blue clouds floated in the air like a bamboo hat and followed him as he walked. Those who saw this imitated him one after another, and all felt especially cool and did not suffer from heat illness. The village elders composed a verse: “Though the yellow vitex worn on the head is unremarkable, blue clouds cover the crown; though the body is in the green fields, one need not fear the red sun overhead.” To this day it has become an allusion in farming.

Yuantongzi said: Some break off branches to make hats; others pick leaves to brew tea. Such uses are all very good.

A Nap at Xixi

In Tongzhou there was an Old Man Tian, a man of wealthy family who had loved doing good all his life. After he died, a Daoist came to offer condolences, calling himself “Scattered Man Beyond Heaven”—a name taken from the Tang poem line “Sanfeng beyond heaven,” with the name hidden within it. The Daoist instructed Tian’s son to bury his father in the Qinling Mountains, at a place where the earth rose in a breast-like mound and two rocks embraced each other. He also said: “When I inspect land for people, it is enough that there be no wind, no water, mud, or sand, and no mole crickets or ants. By all means do not listen to the nonsense of blind masters and casually move graves.”

Old Man Tian’s son followed these instructions, and for ten years after the burial all was uneventful. Later he was deluded by some master who talked of tomb mounds and worship platforms, and he conceived the idea of reburial. Hearing that the Daoist was still at Xixi Pavilion, the Tian family went to ask whether the grave could be moved. When they arrived at the pavilion, the Daoist was sleeping soundly on a rock. Tian pushed him with his hand, again and again. The Daoist said drowsily, “Your father is lying peacefully; why have you come to move him?” Tian did not understand and pushed hard again. The Daoist snored like thunder and never answered. Tian returned home, still listened to that master, and opened the grave. Old Master Tian’s remains were like gold, and Tian regretted it deeply. The master argued stubbornly, but in the end the grave was moved elsewhere. In less than ten years, the Tian family’s fortunes declined. When they sought the Daoist again, they were told that he had left the previous year. Later Tian again encountered that master and saw that he was blind and begging in the market.

Note: In the text, “reviving the plum,” “reviving the camphor,” and “reviving the cypress” refer to anecdotes of patriarchs’ transformative instruction that made withered trees flourish again. “Yuantongzi” is the commentator. Reburial, fengshui, blind masters, and similar matters reflect Ming popular burial customs and vigilance toward “geomancers.”

A Vernacular Interpretation of The Complete Works of Mr. Zhang Sanfeng

Yuantongzi’s Evaluation of the Son of Lord Tian

Yuantongzi said: The son of Lord Tian may be considered unfilial to the extreme.

Supplementary Compilation

Gold Foil and Golden Dots in Mutual Radiance

In the early years of the Hongwu reign, in Pingyang there was a man known as Zhang Jinbo (“Gold Foil”), called the “True Immortal.” His family had for generations made gold-foil paper, and so he took “Gold Foil” as his sobriquet. He kept his Daoist arts deeply hidden and moved playfully through the human world. He once used gold foil as medicine to treat people, and it invariably had wondrous effects.

Then suddenly there appeared another man, Zhang Jindian (“Golden Dots”), who wore a pale blue robe covered all over with gold dots and took “Golden Dots” as his sobriquet; those who saw him felt a brightness flash before their eyes. Jindian said: “When people are ill, if they take one of my dots, they will surely recover.” When people sought to test him, the results were as efficacious as a divine response, and he took no money.

At that time there was much plague in the southern provinces. Every day people crowded around Jindian to take dots from his body until they had taken them all; the next day he would come again to the market, and the dots on his body would be as before. Everyone worshipped him as a divine master. After a month or so, the plague gradually abated. Jindian said: “My work today is finished; I must return to Yunshan.” Thereupon he took off his gold-dotted Daoist robe and threw it on the ground; people competed to seize it, and Zhang transformed into golden light and soared into the sky.

Later Liu Chengyi heard of this and said: “This must have been Zhang Sanfeng pretending to be Jindian, forming a delightful counterpart to Zhang Jinbo.”

Transmitting a Prescription in a Dream

In the Ming dynasty there was a Mr. Zhu, a native of Yanzhou, compassionate and filial by nature. He suddenly contracted an eye disease and could not see people standing opposite him. Morning and evening he worshipped Heaven. Then he dreamed of a golden divine man with a long beard like halberds and a transcendent Daoist appearance, who beckoned Zhu forward and said: “Your heart is sincere and reverent. I have a wondrous prescription to give you; with one application you will surely see clearly. Simply take one liang of good niter, melt it in a copper vessel, add two fen of feiguo huangdan (processed yellow lead oxide) and two fen of borneol, stir quickly with a copper spoon, and put it into a jar to store. Apply a little each time; its efficacy is beyond description.”

Zhu woke and found it strange. He immediately prepared and applied the treatment according to the divine transmission, and after a day or so his sight was restored. Grateful for its divine efficacy, Zhu burned incense toward the sky and worshipped with utmost sincerity. Another day he went to Yancheng and, passing Zhangxian Abbey, entered to pay his respects. Suddenly he saw that the immortal’s countenance and attire were exactly like those of the divine man in his dream. He could not help but feel awestruck, and at once vowed to transmit and publish the prescription in the world. Today the prescription is still recorded in the Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica).

Guiding Wang Mengjiu

Mr. Wang Xiling, courtesy name Mengjiu, was a native of She County in Huizhou. He was a jinshi of the Jiajing reign of the Ming and a descendant of the surveillance commissioner Lord Zhongmin.

Note: Proper nouns such as Yuantongzi (the sobriquet of the commentator on the Dao), Zhang Jinbo / Zhang Jindian, Liu Chengyi (usually referring to Liu Ji), feiguo huangdan, borneol (a camphor-related substance), and Zhangxian Abbey are retained in their original names in the translation; the prescription content is recorded only as scriptural material and should not be used on one’s own; consult a physician.

This family was originally well-off and prosperous, and it also esteemed propriety and righteousness. Later they settled as guests in Jiangdu, Yangzhou, and made their home there.

From childhood this person was spiritually extraordinary, and when young he already possessed a root of wisdom from past lives; as an adult he had considerable talent for administration. He married Lady Liu, whose temperament was extremely calm and quiet. He once dreamed of the female immortal He Yiyang. Both husband and wife were fond of Daoist metaphysics, and they were companions for more than twenty years. When Lady Liu passed away, she recited a verse and departed; afterward he never remarried.

In his official career, he rose from Biejia (Assistant Governor) all the way to Observation Commissioner of Jiannan in Sichuan. He reorganized the troops and cared for the people, and scholars and commoners alike were grateful for his benevolent governance. In the second year after taking office, Jiannan suffered unending rain. He then cut off his own fingernails and walked on foot to Mount Mei to pray, burning incense for seven days, whereupon the sky cleared. Everyone believed that his benevolent heart had moved Heaven.

On his return journey he passed through Suoluo Ping and unexpectedly encountered the Perfected Being Zhang Sanfeng, who was touring Mount Emei. They felt like old friends at first sight. The master enlightened him, saying: “The sage Son of Heaven now occupies the throne, and virtuous chief ministers and renowned nobles assist him in governing the realm; do not forget the time when we dwelt together in Penglai.” He then experienced a great awakening: he was originally a divided spirit of Shen Wansan, reincarnated and dwelling temporarily in the human world. He also realized that Sanfeng was his gracious teacher. When he asked for further guidance, the master transmitted the essential teachings of the Golden Elixir.

In his spare time from official duties, he sat in quiet meditation in the Gaowei and Lingyun mountains, where he built huts and an elixir chamber. At Jiuri Peak he also built his own outer coffin, naming it “Cangtuo Ju” (Retreat of Concealment and Liberation), and at night he communed with the immortal master. At that time the people were peaceful and happy, and weeds grew thick outside the government office gates—he long delayed his decision to leave only because his elderly mother was still alive. Later he was promoted to Yongbei in Yunnan, but immediately requested permission to resign and care for his mother, fearing that he would be detained too long in the red dust. Subsequently, because a mourning period did not conform to the statutory rules, his promotion was blocked. He was then appointed Deputy Commissioner for Waterways of Henan Province; taking a convenient route through Yangzhou, he met Master Sanfeng again while crossing the Chu River, and the master transmitted secret instructions to him. Soon afterward he fell suddenly ill and returned home. His first wife, Lady Liu, had been dead for many years; he ordered his eldest son, Simin, to escort her coffin into Shu and bury it at Jiuri Peak. As his illness worsened day by day, he abstained from grain for more than a month, yet his complexion became rosier and more radiant. One day he said to his younger brother, “Serve Father well; I am going.” He bathed, arranged his clothes, and sat upright. Faintly, colored clouds descended from the sky, and those present saw a stream of qi emerge from the crown of his head; thus he passed into immortality. This was at the chou hour on the seventh day of the second month in the jiachen year of the Yongzheng reign. When he was placed in the coffin, his body was light as a cicada’s shed shell, and only then did everyone realize that he had become a Perfected Being and attained the Dao.

A Plain-Language Reading of The Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng

I. Burial at Jiuri Peak and the Second Encounter at Mount E

Everyone together escorted the coffin into Sichuan and buried it atop Jiuri Peak. Later a woodcutter from Banan saw him at Mount E, accompanied by a Daoist of extraordinary stature; they moved as if flying among the steep cliffs. His appearance was still as it had been that day, his beard and hair flowing.

Changyizi remarked: The colophon was written to guide and deliver Wang Mengjiu, yet this piece reads like a brief biography of Mr. Wang Mengjiu—why? Because the gentleman once served as Jiannan Surveillance Commissioner, and his good governance and fine influence are still praised today; moreover, he possessed immortal roots and the vessel of the Dao, and was complete in both loyalty and filial piety. Therefore the Patriarch repeatedly came to guide and deliver him, so as to protect our Dao. Now, in gathering anecdotes and culling surviving reports, and in recording them according to the colophon on his lifetime tomb stele, the aim is still to make manifest the Patriarch’s diligence in saving the world; it also supplies, in his stead, an account of Mengjiu’s life and career.

II. Appendix: Mr. Mengjiu’s Own Inscription for “The Dwelling Where the Cast-Off Body Is Hidden”

The Daoist’s surname was Wang; his given name was Xiling, his courtesy name Mengjiu, and his sobriquet Yuantong. He was a native of Shuijieshan in She County, Huizhou Prefecture, Jiangnan, and lived temporarily in Jiangdu County, Yangzhou Prefecture. He successively held the posts of assistant prefect and prefect, served in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, and later became Jiannan Surveillance Commissioner of Sichuan. He received secret methods of cultivation under Master Zhang Sanfeng. Fond of the clear seclusion of the landscapes of Lingyun Mountain, he chose for himself a burial site in an inner hollow of Jiuri Peak, obtaining the form called “the immortal seat in the clouds.” He oriented it to the southeast?—taking the si mountain and hai direction—as the place where his bones would be hidden in the future, and inscribed a seven-character regulated verse, recorded below:

I myself chose an auspicious hollow to bury immortal bones;
Water winds around, mountains encircle—how deep the feeling grows.
At Jiuri the clear spring bestows its virtuous bounty;
In Danxia’s quiet chamber I guard this fine tomb.
The Daoist long ago shed the burdens of dust and the world;
No filial son need be alarmed by the wind in the trees.
Do not say this old man was never dead;
What harm if a marker is hung so all is clear?

Third day of the fourth lunar month, first year of Yongzheng, cyclical year guimao—recorded by the Daoist Yuantong upon building the outer coffin chamber.

III. Mingling in Qin’an

In Qin’an County there was a certain Zhang Pengtou, who called himself a man of Yunzhong Prefecture and also “the man beyond heaven.” He wore a single topknot and, winter and summer alike, only one torn robe—a monastic or Daoist garment—and wandered through the marketplace looking like a madman. Busybodies gathered wine and food for him; regardless of whether it was coarse or fine, much or little, he would eat it all at once, yet at first no one ever saw him drunk or full. Sometimes for several days, or even several tens of days, he ate and drank nothing, and showed no sign of hunger or thirst. At night he lodged on the bare ground of temples and monasteries; often he would not rise for ten days at a stretch, and people thought he was dead. When they kicked him, he would stretch, open his eyes, and say, “I have not slept my fill—why disturb me?” A certain Mr. Cai of the county had a villa at Shifo west of the city, and Zhang Pengtou was often there.

Brief Notes on Proper Terms

This passage comes from a chapter recording anecdotes of extraordinary people around Qin’an. The protagonist “Pengtou” (Disheveled Hair) is probably a Daoist connected with the Zhang Sanfeng tradition; “Sheng” appears to be his disciple or follower, and “Cai” is another person who often associated with him. The following is a plain-language rendering.

At a certain temple the flowers and trees were bright and elegant, and the corridors and railings wound around. Someone wished to invite Pengtou to go there and be looked after; he did not refuse at all. His disciple Sheng by nature loved socializing; he used a villa as an outside residence and daily feasted and associated with people who admired bamboo and played the qin. Pengtou paid no attention. As soon as the sun set, he would lie stiff as a corpse, and all night no breathing could be heard. When someone occasionally asked about his method, he said: “The sequence of scriptures is originally the foundation for entering the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism; one enters through stillness (ding). Once one has got the path, they then diverge: what takes ‘all’ as solid ground is the Confucian school; what empties out ‘all’ is Muni (Shakyamuni); what transcends ‘all’ is Taishang (Daoism). You call yourself a xiucai; you should understand these things for yourself.”

Sheng’s wife was fierce and jealous, and insulted her parents-in-law; Sheng feared her like a tiger. She learned that Sheng was amusing himself with the Daoist and friends at the villa, flew into a rage, and went at once to drive them away. Sheng was afraid and told Pengtou. Pengtou said, “No matter; when she comes, I will deal with her.” When the wife arrived and saw Pengtou sitting at the gate, she cursed foully in a voice like thunder and went straight up to slap him hard on both cheeks. Pengtou’s expression was calm, and he did not move. The wife felt her hands hurt unbearably and hurried home; her ten fingers were swollen like hanging mallets, and a toxic boil infection had already set in. She wailed for half the night and died at dawn.

In the fourth month of the forty-ninth year of Qianlong, Pengtou suddenly urged Cai to go home. Cai was addicted to amusements and found it hard to obey; only reluctantly did he agree after being pressed. When the full moon of the following first month arrived, the rebel Ma Xinming with his band fled from Fuqiang back to Shifeng Fort. Passing through Shifo Temple, they ravaged it almost completely; only Cai escaped.

Later there was a certain Chen Yexian, who also came to visit Qin’an. Yexian was from Pingliang; his cap and robes were Daoist, yet he drank wine and ate meat, and his daily life was like that of an ordinary person. He built a hut on Longmen Mountain, where steep peaks and sheer cliffs were such that even flying birds could hardly reach; no one knew how he went up and down. His traces were not far from people; if one wanted to find him, one had only to call “Master Chen” below the peak and he would come. If asked about good or bad fortune, he would not answer, only say, “Let it be, let it be.” He once moved a stone up a cliff with a villager, and once sprayed water with a friend to put out a fire; all his marvels cannot be fully recounted.

Hearing that Yexian had come, Cai invited him to his home and had him meet Pengtou; Yexian seemed deeply ashamed of himself. He stayed three days, then took his leave. Cai then asked Pengtou, “What do you think of Yexian?” He replied, “There are two ways of cultivating immortality; the highest vehicle begins with quiet practice ...”

Vernacular Interpretation

First Section (Cultivation, Wild Immortals, and Pengtou)

In beginning cultivation, one must first abstain from delusive thoughts; next, one learns embryonic breathing (taixi)—not breathing through the mouth and nose, but slowly regulating the breath through the navel and abdomen; then one practices subduing the dragon and taming the tiger (xianglong fuhu), gathering and restraining Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) and curbing desires. None of these is yet the hardest part; what is truly difficult is refining the Golden Elixir (Jindan). Once the Golden Elixir is completed, one may ascend to heaven and come and go freely.

The so-called “wild immortals” (yexian) in the world today mostly belong to the Fulu (talismans and registers) lineage: in quiet sitting they are like clouds and rosy mists, in movement like thunderbolts. But they must receive guidance from a true master who transmits the orthodox essentials and is deeply accomplished in Daoist practice before their names can be entered among the immortal ranks of the Southern Palace (Nangong); otherwise, after five hundred years they still cannot escape thunder tribulation (leijie). Fortunately, wild immortals are kind-hearted and often use their methods to save people from hardship. Although they belong to another path, I will also transmit the Great Dao to them. Before long, Pengtou too drifted away.

The wild immortal was stout and dark-skinned, and exceedingly respectful in observing ritual propriety; Pengtou had an archaic and unusual countenance and a clear, bright spirit, and came and went in an instant, like a roaming dragon.

Commentary by Xuzhouzi

Haiting said: Perfected Zhang (Zhang Zhenren) often came and went in the cities, feigning madness with his hair unbound, and called himself Pengtou (“Shaggy Head”). When a true immortal dwells in the world, if he does not display marvels, no one regards him as an immortal; if he does display marvels, he fears being taken for a wild immortal. Only by sweeping aside heterodox paths and singularly upholding the orthodox Dao, and by executing the fierce woman and saving the Cai family, did he slightly reveal the wonder of uniting Dao with method; thus the greatness of the Perfected One’s spiritual powers can be known. It is a pity that Scholar Cai did not understand.

On the History of the Ming in the Qianlong Reign

During the Qianlong reign, Grand Secretary Zhang Tingyu, posthumously titled Wenhe, was commissioned by imperial order to compile the History of the Ming. In his preface to the “Biographies of Immortals,” he says: In the early Ming, figures such as Zhou Dian and Zhang Sanfeng had traces that were hidden and mutable, impossible to fathom or recognize, yet they could move the Son of Heaven; truly they were not something that those who fabricate absurdities to curry favor could hope to match. How true these words are.

Notes

In Daoism, Nangong refers to one of the immortal bureaus; to be listed among the immortals is to be entered in its immortal register. Thunder tribulation refers to the Daoist teaching that those whose cultivation is not orthodox or whose merit and practice are deficient will, after a certain number of years, suffer the calamity of heavenly thunder. Fulu refers to Daoist lineages that practice ritual through talismans, incantations, and secret writings. “Using Dao together with method” means taking Neidan (internal alchemy) cultivation as the foundation while also using talismanic methods to aid the world. Zhou Dian was a legendary early Ming figure, often appearing together with Zhang Sanfeng in historical biographies and immortal tales.