Zhang Guifang(张桂芳)
Alternative Names (異名):
张桂芳, Zhang Guifang
Zhang Guifang (Chinese: 张桂芳; Pinyin: Zhāng Guìfāng) is a fictional character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods.
Background
Zhang Guifang is the commander of Green Dragon Pass and serves under Grand Old Master Wen Zhong like an iron sword. In appearance, Zhang wears bulky white royal armor and wields a large ice spear. Due to Zhang's original status, he wields the magical ability "name call"; with this ability, Zhang could paralyze any individual if he happens to say their true name (such an ability is impossible to use on Superiormen however).
Following the trickery of Chao Lei, Wen Zhong would send Zhang and his vanguard Feng Lin to the Western Foothills on a punitive campaign. Following Zhang's arrival, he would try to convince Jiang Ziya to "see the light" and return to King Zhou. Shortly following this, a major battle would ensue between Zhang and his army. While personally dueling against Huang Feihu, he would shout the words, "Huang Feihu, get down from your beast!" Thus, Zhang captured Huang and returned to camp.
Later on, Nezha would confront Zhang around two days following the previous conflict with Jiang Ziya. Nezha would use his divine renown to easily smash through Zhang's unit of a thousand troops and even destroy Zhang's right arm with a crucial attack. However, Wang Magus would later heal Zhang's wounds, effectively allowing him to return again in battle. Following the desperate actions of Li Resounding, Zhang would immediately appear and rescue him from trouble. However, Zhang himself would be forced to flee. At the time of night, Jiang Ziya would send the Chao Twins and Heavenly Happiness before Zhang's camp. After declaring his eternal allegiance to King Zhou, Zhang would commit suicide by impaling himself with his sword.
Zhang Guifang was appointed as the deity of Sangmenxing (丧门星) in the end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Showing posts with label Taoism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taoism. Show all posts
Zheng Lun (郑伦)
Zheng Lun(郑伦)
Alternative Names (異名):
郑伦, Zheng Lun
Zhen Lun (Chinese: 郑伦; Pinyin: Zhèng Lún) is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi.
Zheng Lun was originally the head student under Superiorman Bubble Vaunter (度厄真人) of the Western Kunlun Mountains. Zheng Lun would be destined to assist in the founding of the new dynasty and one day attain the rank of God. For years upon end, Zheng Lun would train his legendary black crow troops and attain perfection with his Evil-Taming bars. At one point in time, Zheng Lun would head down from the Kunlun Mountains to serve as a loyal sword of Su Hu, the head of Ji province.
At one point within the coalition against Su Hu, Zheng Lun would personally take action against the new enemy, Chong Heihu, with the words, "My lord! I will capture Chong Heihu for you! Or I will present you with my head before all these generals." So saying, Zheng Lun would mount his golden-eyed beast, grab hold of his two bars, and set forth with his great army of three thousand black crow troops.
In appearance before Chong Heihu, it could easily be seen that Zheng Lun's hair was like that of golden needles, and his face was like that of a purple plum. Immediately, Zheng Lun's great taming bars would parry off against Chong's duel golden axes, and thus a great battle would ensue between the two renowned warriors. Soon enough, Zheng would recognize the large red gourd atop Chong's back and instantly realize that it is his source for his magic. Thus, Zheng Lun would shoot two large jets from both of his nostrils to suck up Chong's spirit and soul. Once this process was completed, Zheng Lun returned to Ji province with the unconscious Chong as prisoner. Following this point, Zheng Lun would not be featured again for quite some time.
Zheng Lun and Chen Qi (陈奇) was appointed as the deity of Heng Ha Erjiang (哼哈二将) in the end.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Fengshen Yanyi characters, Taoism, Chinese gods, Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
郑伦, Zheng Lun
Zhen Lun (Chinese: 郑伦; Pinyin: Zhèng Lún) is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi.
Zheng Lun was originally the head student under Superiorman Bubble Vaunter (度厄真人) of the Western Kunlun Mountains. Zheng Lun would be destined to assist in the founding of the new dynasty and one day attain the rank of God. For years upon end, Zheng Lun would train his legendary black crow troops and attain perfection with his Evil-Taming bars. At one point in time, Zheng Lun would head down from the Kunlun Mountains to serve as a loyal sword of Su Hu, the head of Ji province.
At one point within the coalition against Su Hu, Zheng Lun would personally take action against the new enemy, Chong Heihu, with the words, "My lord! I will capture Chong Heihu for you! Or I will present you with my head before all these generals." So saying, Zheng Lun would mount his golden-eyed beast, grab hold of his two bars, and set forth with his great army of three thousand black crow troops.
In appearance before Chong Heihu, it could easily be seen that Zheng Lun's hair was like that of golden needles, and his face was like that of a purple plum. Immediately, Zheng Lun's great taming bars would parry off against Chong's duel golden axes, and thus a great battle would ensue between the two renowned warriors. Soon enough, Zheng would recognize the large red gourd atop Chong's back and instantly realize that it is his source for his magic. Thus, Zheng Lun would shoot two large jets from both of his nostrils to suck up Chong's spirit and soul. Once this process was completed, Zheng Lun returned to Ji province with the unconscious Chong as prisoner. Following this point, Zheng Lun would not be featured again for quite some time.
Zheng Lun and Chen Qi (陈奇) was appointed as the deity of Heng Ha Erjiang (哼哈二将) in the end.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Fengshen Yanyi characters, Taoism, Chinese gods, Chinese mythology
Yunzhongzi (云中子)
Yunzhongzi(云中子)
Alternative Names(異名):
云中子, Yunzhongzi
Yunzhongzi (Chinese: 云中子; pinyin: Yúnzhōngzǐ; literally "Master in Cloud") is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi.
Yunzhongzi is a renowned immortal of the Jade Column Cave atop Mount South End. After the sinister Daji had taken her grasp over King Zhou of Shang, Yunzhongzi would be the first immortal to see the injustice from above the clouds. After Yunzhongzi had realized that this had been none other than the Thousand-Year Vixen, he exlclaimed the words, "If she is not eliminated, great disaster will befall the Red Dust! I must prevent this from happening!" Following this event, Yunzhongzi would present himself before King Zhou. After the king had asked for Yunzhongzi's home, Yunzhongzi would respond by saying that he is from cloud-water -- heart of cloud; mind of fluidity. Thus following this point, Yunzhongzi would engage in a great reformative conversation with the king, in hopes that he would be rid of Daji and employ the taoist way to his kingdom. Before Yunzhongzi leaves the king, he hands him his wooden sword - a sword that will gradually kill Daji through its latent spiritual power instilled by Yunzhongzi.
5 chapters later during the time of chapter 10, Yunzhongzi would be seen once again before the Grand Duke of the West, Ji Chang. After a special child had been found in a mysterious tomb following a very rare and sudden lightning storm, Yunzhongzi would once again appear. When Yunzhongzi had held the small baby in his arms after receiving consent, he said the words, "My Grand Duke. Please let me take this child to Mount South End, to raise and educate. When you come back in seven years, I will return him to you." Thus holding the baby in his hands, he parts the clouds and returns to the skies, determined to instill the taoist ways into this future savior of the new dynasty.
Later on within chapter 22, Yunzhongzi would peer over his Mount South End and see Ji Chang being chased by Generals Yin and Lei of Zhaoge. Once Cloud Dweller unleashes Leizhenzi to save Ji Chang, he is not shown again for some time.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Alternative Names(異名):
云中子, Yunzhongzi
Yunzhongzi (Chinese: 云中子; pinyin: Yúnzhōngzǐ; literally "Master in Cloud") is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi.
Yunzhongzi is a renowned immortal of the Jade Column Cave atop Mount South End. After the sinister Daji had taken her grasp over King Zhou of Shang, Yunzhongzi would be the first immortal to see the injustice from above the clouds. After Yunzhongzi had realized that this had been none other than the Thousand-Year Vixen, he exlclaimed the words, "If she is not eliminated, great disaster will befall the Red Dust! I must prevent this from happening!" Following this event, Yunzhongzi would present himself before King Zhou. After the king had asked for Yunzhongzi's home, Yunzhongzi would respond by saying that he is from cloud-water -- heart of cloud; mind of fluidity. Thus following this point, Yunzhongzi would engage in a great reformative conversation with the king, in hopes that he would be rid of Daji and employ the taoist way to his kingdom. Before Yunzhongzi leaves the king, he hands him his wooden sword - a sword that will gradually kill Daji through its latent spiritual power instilled by Yunzhongzi.
5 chapters later during the time of chapter 10, Yunzhongzi would be seen once again before the Grand Duke of the West, Ji Chang. After a special child had been found in a mysterious tomb following a very rare and sudden lightning storm, Yunzhongzi would once again appear. When Yunzhongzi had held the small baby in his arms after receiving consent, he said the words, "My Grand Duke. Please let me take this child to Mount South End, to raise and educate. When you come back in seven years, I will return him to you." Thus holding the baby in his hands, he parts the clouds and returns to the skies, determined to instill the taoist ways into this future savior of the new dynasty.
Later on within chapter 22, Yunzhongzi would peer over his Mount South End and see Ji Chang being chased by Generals Yin and Lei of Zhaoge. Once Cloud Dweller unleashes Leizhenzi to save Ji Chang, he is not shown again for some time.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Yuanshi Tianzun (元始天尊)
Yuanshi Tianzun(元始天尊)
Alternative Names(異名):
元始天尊, Yuanshi Tianzun
Yuanshi Tianzun (Chinese: 元始天尊; pinyin: Yúanshǐ Tīanzūn), also known as the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning, is one of the highest deities of religious Taoism. He is one of the Three Pure Ones, the so-called Yu-qing and resides in the Heaven of Jade Purity. It is believed that he came to being at the beginning of the universe as a result of the merging of pure breaths. He then created Heaven and Earth.
In Taoism
He once was the supreme administrator of Heaven but later entrusted that task to his assistant Yu-huang (also known as the Jade Emperor). Yu-huang later came to replace and even exceed the administrative duties of Yuan-shi tian-zong as overseer to both Heaven and Earth. At the beginning of each age or aeon he transports the Ling-pao ching (or "Yuan-Shi Ching"), the Scriptures of the Magic Jewel, to his students/lesser deities, who in turn instruct mankind in the teachings of the Tao.
Yuan-shi tian-zong is said to be without beginning and the most supreme of all beings, in fact, representative of the principle of all being. From him all things arose. He is eternal, limitless, and invisible.
Plot in Fengshen Yanyi
In Fengshen Yanyi, Yuanshi Tianzun is a superiorman entity that has maintained his will for generations. He would be known as the master of Mount Kunlun, in which he had many disciples -- one of such being Jiang Ziya. In time, Yuanshi Tianzun would tell Jiang that it would be time to head down to the world in order to attain a level of wealth and honor. Due to the fact that Jiang Ziya was destined to assist in the creation of the new Zhou Dynasty - as like Nezha - Yuanshi Tianzun would stay loyal to heaven's will and effectively send Jiang away to his new destiny. After telling Jiang what to do through a poetic format, Yuanshi Tianzun says his final words of farewell to his fellow student.
See also
Tao
Taoism
Three Pure Ones
Jade Emperor
Chinese Mythology
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Creator gods | Knowledge gods | Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi
Alternative Names(異名):
元始天尊, Yuanshi Tianzun
Yuanshi Tianzun (Chinese: 元始天尊; pinyin: Yúanshǐ Tīanzūn), also known as the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning, is one of the highest deities of religious Taoism. He is one of the Three Pure Ones, the so-called Yu-qing and resides in the Heaven of Jade Purity. It is believed that he came to being at the beginning of the universe as a result of the merging of pure breaths. He then created Heaven and Earth.
In Taoism
He once was the supreme administrator of Heaven but later entrusted that task to his assistant Yu-huang (also known as the Jade Emperor). Yu-huang later came to replace and even exceed the administrative duties of Yuan-shi tian-zong as overseer to both Heaven and Earth. At the beginning of each age or aeon he transports the Ling-pao ching (or "Yuan-Shi Ching"), the Scriptures of the Magic Jewel, to his students/lesser deities, who in turn instruct mankind in the teachings of the Tao.
Yuan-shi tian-zong is said to be without beginning and the most supreme of all beings, in fact, representative of the principle of all being. From him all things arose. He is eternal, limitless, and invisible.
Plot in Fengshen Yanyi
In Fengshen Yanyi, Yuanshi Tianzun is a superiorman entity that has maintained his will for generations. He would be known as the master of Mount Kunlun, in which he had many disciples -- one of such being Jiang Ziya. In time, Yuanshi Tianzun would tell Jiang that it would be time to head down to the world in order to attain a level of wealth and honor. Due to the fact that Jiang Ziya was destined to assist in the creation of the new Zhou Dynasty - as like Nezha - Yuanshi Tianzun would stay loyal to heaven's will and effectively send Jiang away to his new destiny. After telling Jiang what to do through a poetic format, Yuanshi Tianzun says his final words of farewell to his fellow student.
See also
Tao
Taoism
Three Pure Ones
Jade Emperor
Chinese Mythology
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Creator gods | Knowledge gods | Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi
Xuanxuan Shangren (玄玄上人)
Xuanxuan Shangren(玄玄上人)
Alternative Names(異名):
Xuanxuan Shangren, 玄玄上人
Xuanxuan Shangren (玄玄上人) was the first supra-being incubated from Tao, according to an introduction by Lao Tsu (道祖老子) in a Taoist guidance book called The Feast of the Immortal Peaches (scroll one chapter one). The same genesis in the Chinese creation story was also explained in a second guidance book called Tiantang Yiuchi 天堂遊記 (Text Reference No.1) whereby it was described that out of the primodial infinite Nothingness or Wuji (無極) came Taiji (太極 ), which then split into the binary yin and yang (陰陽) or two aspects (兩儀), yin and yang slitting into the four realms (四象) and from which begets bagua (八卦) , and from which every beings were created. The following texts were traceable to the legendary emperor Fuxi as well as Tao Te Ching:
無極生有極, 有極是太極,
太極生兩儀, 即陰陽;
兩儀生四象: 即少陰、太陰、少陽、太陽,
四象演八卦， 八八六十四卦
References
Text Reference No.1 - passage from Chapter Four of Tiantang Yiuchi “...即是「玄玄上人」，又稱「元始天王」。因位居至上，又稱「上帝」。又為萬物之始祖，...運轉既滿週圓，氣自分散...玄玄上人為造化天地，用心默運真，五方定位，世界成形，無人可立，而三才不貫，…原由無極 (Wuji) 元始一動而生太極 (Taichi)，太極含兩儀(two aspects) 陰陽 (yin and yang)，而化三才四象(Four Realms) 五行(Wu xing)……。”
See also
Chinese mythology
Chinese creation story
Chinese folk religion
I ching
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese mythology stubs | Taoism | Chinese mythology | Creation stories | Concepts of Heaven
Alternative Names(異名):
Xuanxuan Shangren, 玄玄上人
Xuanxuan Shangren (玄玄上人) was the first supra-being incubated from Tao, according to an introduction by Lao Tsu (道祖老子) in a Taoist guidance book called The Feast of the Immortal Peaches (scroll one chapter one). The same genesis in the Chinese creation story was also explained in a second guidance book called Tiantang Yiuchi 天堂遊記 (Text Reference No.1) whereby it was described that out of the primodial infinite Nothingness or Wuji (無極) came Taiji (太極 ), which then split into the binary yin and yang (陰陽) or two aspects (兩儀), yin and yang slitting into the four realms (四象) and from which begets bagua (八卦) , and from which every beings were created. The following texts were traceable to the legendary emperor Fuxi as well as Tao Te Ching:
無極生有極, 有極是太極,
太極生兩儀, 即陰陽;
兩儀生四象: 即少陰、太陰、少陽、太陽,
四象演八卦， 八八六十四卦
References
Text Reference No.1 - passage from Chapter Four of Tiantang Yiuchi “...即是「玄玄上人」，又稱「元始天王」。因位居至上，又稱「上帝」。又為萬物之始祖，...運轉既滿週圓，氣自分散...玄玄上人為造化天地，用心默運真，五方定位，世界成形，無人可立，而三才不貫，…原由無極 (Wuji) 元始一動而生太極 (Taichi)，太極含兩儀(two aspects) 陰陽 (yin and yang)，而化三才四象(Four Realms) 五行(Wu xing)……。”
See also
Chinese mythology
Chinese creation story
Chinese folk religion
I ching
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese mythology stubs | Taoism | Chinese mythology | Creation stories | Concepts of Heaven
Xian, Daoist immortal
Xian, Daoist immortal
Alternative Names(異名):
Xian, 仙, 仚, 僊, hsien
Xian (Chinese: 仙/仚/僊; pinyin: xiān; Wade-Giles: hsien) is a Chinese word for an enlightened person, translatable in English as:
"spiritually immortal; transcendent; super-human; celestial being" (in Daoist/Taoist philosophy and cosmology)
"physically immortal; immortal person; immortalist; saint" (in Daoist religion and pantheon)
"alchemist; one who seeks the elixir of life; one who practices longevity techniques" or by extension "(alchemical, dietary, qigong) methods for attaining immortality" (in Chinese alchemy)
"wizard; magician; shaman" (in Chinese mythology)
"genie; elf, fairy; nymph" (in popular Chinese literature)
"sage living high in the mountains; mountain-man; hermit; recluse" (folk-etymology for the character 仙)
"immortal (talent); accomplished person; celestial (beauty); marvelous; extraordinary" (metaphorical modifier)
Xian semantically developed from meaning spiritual "immortality; enlightenment", to physical "immortality; longevity" involving methods such as alchemy, breath meditation, and Tai Chi Chuan, and eventually to legendary and figurative "immortality".
The xian archetype is described by Victor H. Mair.
They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. The transcendents live an effortless existence that is best described as spontaneous. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as ṛṣi who possessed similar traits.1994:376
According to the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, Chinese xian (仙) can mean Sanskrit ṛṣi (rishi "inspired sage in the Vedas").
The word xian
The most famous Chinese compound of xiān is Bāxiān (八仙 "the Eight Immortals"). Other common words include xiānrén (仙人 sennin in Japanese, "immortal person; transcendent", see Xiānrén Dòng), xiānrénzhăng (仙人掌 "immortal's palm; cactus"), xiānnǚ (仙女 "immortal woman; female celestial; angel"), and shénxiān (神仙 "gods and immortals; divine immortal").
The possible etymologies of xian are Sino-Tibetan "shaman" in the linguistic sense and "ascend" or "mountain" in the character sense. Axel Schuessler's etymological dictionary (2007:527) suggests a Sino-Tibetan connection between xiān (Old Chinese *san or *sen) "'An immortal' … men and women who attain supernatural abilities; after death they become immortals and deities who can fly through the air" and Tibetan gšen < g-syen "shaman, one who has supernatural abilities, incl[uding] travel through the air". The circa 200 CE Shiming, the first Chinese dictionary of etymology, defines xiān (仙) as "to get old and not die," and etymologizes it as someone who qiān (遷 "moves into") the mountains."
The character and its variants
The word xiān is written with three characters 僊, 仙, or 仚, which combine the logographic "radical" rén (人 or 亻 "person; human") with two "phonetic" elements (see Chinese character classification). The oldest recorded xiān character 僊 has a xiān ("rise up; ascend") phonetic supposedly because immortals could "ascend into the heavens". (Compare qiān 遷 "move; transfer; change" combining this phonetic and the motion radical.) The usual modern xiān character 仙, and its rare variant 仚, have a shān (山 "mountain") phonetic. For a character analysis, Schipper (1993:164) interprets "'the human being of the mountain,' or alternatively, 'human mountain.' The two explanations are appropriate to these beings: they haunt the holy mountains, while also embodying nature."
The Shijing (220/3) contains the oldest occurrence of the character 僊, reduplicated as xiānxiān (僊僊 "dance lightly; hop about; jump around"), and rhymed with qiān (遷). "But when they have drunk too much, Their deportment becomes light and frivolous – They leave their seats, and [遷] go elsewhere, They keep [僊僊] dancing and capering." (tr. James Legge) Shamanistic dancing is one interpretation of this ancient Shijing ode describing ancestral sacrifices.
The 121 CE Shuowen Jiezi, the first important dictionary of Chinese characters, does not enter 仙 except in the definition for 偓佺 (Wo Quan "name of an ancient immortal"). It defines 僊 as "live long and move away" and 仚 as "appearance of a person on a mountaintop".
Textual references
This section chronologically reviews how Chinese texts describe xian "immortals; transcendents". While the early Zhuangzi, Chuci, and Liezi texts allegorically used xian immortals and magic islands to describe spiritual immortality, later ones like the Shenxian zhuan and Baopuzi took immortality literally and described esoteric Chinese alchemical techniques for physical longevity. On one the hand, neidan (內丹 "internal alchemy") techniques included taixi (胎息 "embryo respiration") breath control, meditation, visualization, sexual training, and Tao Yin exercises (which later evolved into Qigong and Tai Chi Chuan). On the other hand, waidan (外丹 "external achemy") techniques for immortality included alchemical recipes, magic plants, rare minerals, herbal medicines, drugs, and dietetic techniques like inedia.
The earliest representations of Chinese immortals, dating from the Han Dynasty, portray them flying with feathery wings (the word yuren 羽人 "feathered person" later meant "Daoist") or riding dragons. In Chinese art, xian are often pictured with symbols of immortality including the dragon, crane, fox, white deer, pine tree, peach, and mushroom.
Besides the following major Chinese texts, many others use both graphic variants of xian. Xian (仙) occurs in the Chunqiu Fanlu, Fengsu Tongyi, Qian fu lun, Fayan, and Shenjian; xian (僊) occurs in the Caizhong langji, Fengsu Tongyi, Guanzi, and Shenjian.
Zhuangzi
Two circa 3rd century BCE "Outer Chapters" of the Zhuangzi (莊子 "[Book of] Master Zhuang") use the archaic character xian 僊. Chapter 11 has a parable about "Cloud Chief" (雲 將) and "Big Concealment" (鴻 蒙) that uses the Shijing compound xianxian ("dance; jump"):
Big Concealment said, "If you confuse the constant strands of Heaven and violate the true form of things, then Dark Heaven will reach no fulfillment. Instead, the beasts will scatter from their herds, the birds will cry all night, disaster will come to the grass and trees, misfortune will reach even to the insects. Ah, this is the fault of men who 'govern'!"
"Then what should I do?" said Cloud Chief.
"Ah," said Big Concealment, "you are too far gone! [僊僊] Up, up, stir yourself and be off!"
Cloud Chief said, "Heavenly Master, it has been hard indeed for me to meet with you — I beg one word of instruction!"
"Well, then — mind‑nourishment!" said Big Concealment. "You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root — return to the root and not know why. Dark and undifferentiated chaos — to the end of life none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form. Things will live naturally end of themselves."
Cloud Chief said, "The Heavenly Master has favored me with this Virtue, instructed me in this Silence. All my life I have been looking for it, and now at last I have it!" He bowed his head twice, stood up, took his leave, and went away. (11, tr. Burton Watson 1968:122-3)
Chapter 12 uses xian when mythical Emperor Yao describes a shengren (聖 人 "sagely person").
The true sage is a quail at rest, a little fledgling at its meal, a bird in flight who leaves no trail behind. When the world has the Way, he joins in the chorus with all other things. When the world is without the Way, he nurses his Virtue and retires in leisure. And after a thousand years, should he weary of the world, he will leave it and ascend to [僊] the immortals, riding on those white clouds all the way up to the village of God. (12, tr. Watson 1968:130)
Without using the word xian, several Zhuangzi passages employ xian imagery, like flying in the clouds, to describe individuals with superhuman powers. For example, Chapter 1, within the circa 3rd century BCE "Inner Chapters", has two portrayals. First is this description of Liezi (below).
Lieh Tzu could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn't fret and worry. He escaped the trouble of walking, but he still had to depend on something to get around. If he had only mounted on the truth of Heaven and Earth, ridden the changes of the six breaths, and thus wandered through the boundless, then what would he have had to depend on? Therefore I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. (1, tr. Watson 1968:32)
Second is this description of a shenren (神人 "divine person").
He said that there is a Holy Man living on faraway [姑射] Ku-she Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like a young girl. He doesn't eat the five grains, but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the four seas. By concentrating his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plentiful. (1, tr. Watson 1968:33)
The authors of the Zhuangzi had a lyrical view of life and death, seeing them as complimentary aspects of natural changes. This is antithetical to the physical immortality (changshengbulao 長生不老 "live forever and never age") sought by later Daoist alchemists. Consider this famous passage about accepting death.
Chuang Tzu's wife died. When Hui Tzu went to convey his condolences, he found Chuang Tzu sitting with his legs sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. "You lived with her, she brought up your children and grew old," said Hui Tzu. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. But pounding on a tub and singing — this is going too far, isn't it?"
Chuang Tzu said, "You're wrong. When she first died, do you think I didn't grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there's been another change and she's dead. It's just like the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter."
"Now she's going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don't understand anything about fate. So I stopped. (18, tr. Watson 1968:191-2)
Alan Fox explains this anecdote about Zhuangzi's wife.
Many conclusions can be reached on the basis of this story, but it seems that death is regarded as a natural part of the ebb and flow of transformations which constitute the movement of Dao. To grieve over death, or to fear one's own death, for that matter, is to arbitrarily evaluate what is inevitable. Of course, this reading is somewhat ironic given the fact that much of the subsequent Daoist tradition comes to seek longevity and immortality, and bases some of their basic models on the Zhuangzi. (1995:100)
Chuci
The 3rd-2nd century BCE Chuci (楚辭 "Lyrics of Chu") anthology of poems uses xian 仙 once and xian 僊 twice, reflecting the disparate origins of the text. These three contexts mention the legendary Daoist xian immortals Chi Song (赤松 "Red Pine", see Kohn 1993:142-4) and Wang Qiao (王僑, or Zi Qiao 子僑). In later Daoist hagiography, Chi Song was Lord of Rain under Shennong, the legendary inventor of agriculture; and Wang Qiao was a son of King Ling of Zhou (r. 571-545 BCE), who flew away on a giant white bird, became an immortal and was never again seen.
The "Yuan You" (遠遊 "Far-off Journey") poem describes a spiritual journey into the realms of gods and immortals, frequently referring to Daoist myths and techniques.
My spirit darted forth and did not return to me,
And my body, left tenantless, grew withered and lifeless.
Then I looked into myself to strengthen my resolution,
And sought to learn from where the primal spirit issues.
In emptiness and silence I found serenity;
In tranquil inaction I gained true satisfaction.
I heard how once Red Pine had washed the world's dust off:
I would model myself on the pattern he had left me.
I honoured the wondrous powers of the [真人] Pure Ones,
And those of past ages who had become [仙] Immortals.
They departed in the flux of change and vanished from men's sight,
Leaving a famous name that endures after them. (tr. Hawkes 1985:194)
The "Xi shi" (惜誓 "Sorrow for Troth Betrayed") resembles the "Yuan You", and both reflect Daoist ideas from the Han period. "Though unoriginal in theme," says Hawkes (1985:239), "its description of air travel, written in a pre-aeroplane age, is exhilarating and rather impressive."
We gazed down of the Middle Land [China] with its myriad people
As we rested on the whirlwind, drifting about at random.
In this way we came at last to the moor of Shao-yuan:
There, with the other blessed ones, were Red Pine and Wang Qiao.
The two Masters held zithers tuned imperfect concord:
I sang the Qing Shang air to their playing.
In tranquil calm and quiet enjoyment,
Gently I floated, inhaling all the essences.
But then I thought that this immortal life of [僊] the blessed,
Was not worth the sacrifice of my home-returning. (tr. Hawkes 1985:240)
The "Ai shi ming" (哀時命 "Alas That My Lot Was Not Cast") describes a celestial journey similar to the previous two.
Far and forlorn, with no hope of return:
Sadly I gaze in the distance, over the empty plain.
Below, I fish in the valley streamlet;
Above, I seek out [僊] holy hermits.
I enter into friendship with Red Pine;
I join Wang Qiao as his companion. We send the Xiao Yang in front to guide us;
The White Tiger runs back and forth in attendance.
Floating on the cloud and mist, we enter the dim height of heaven;
Riding on the white deer we sport and take our pleasure. tr. Hawkes 1985:266)
The "Li Sao" (離騷 "On Encountering Trouble"), the most famous Chuci poem, is usually interpreted as describing ecstatic flights and trance techniques of Chinese shamans. The above three poems are variations describing Daoist xian.
Some other Chuci poems refer to immortals with synonyms of xian. For instance, "Shou zhi" (守志 "Maintaining Resolution), uses zhenren (真人 "true person", tr. "Pure Ones" above in "Yuan You"), which Wang Yi's commentary glosses as zhen xianren (真仙人 "true immortal person").
I visited Fu Yue, bestriding a dragon,
Joined in marriage with the Weaving Maiden,
Lifted up Heaven's Net to capture evil,
Drew the Bow of Heaven to shoot at wickedness,
Followed the [真人] Immortals fluttering through the sky,
Ate of the Primal Essence to prolong my life. (tr. Hawkes 1985:318)
Liezi
The Liezi (列子 "[Book of] Master Lie"), which Louis Komjathy (2004:36) says "was probably compiled in the 3rd century CE (while containing earlier textual layers)", uses xian four times, always in the compound xiansheng (仙聖 "immortal sage").
Nearly half of Chapter 2 ("The Yellow Emperor") comes from the Zhuangzi, including this recounting of the above fable about Mount Gushe (姑射, or Guye, or Miao Gushe 藐姑射).
The Ku-ye mountains stand on a chain of islands where the Yellow River enters the sea. Upon the mountains there lives a Divine Man, who inhales the wind and drinks the dew, and does not eat the five grains. His mind is like a bottomless spring, his body is like a virgin's. He knows neither intimacy nor love, yet [仙聖] immortals and sages serve him as ministers. He inspires no awe, he is never angry, yet the eager and diligent act as his messengers. He is without kindness and bounty, but others have enough by themselves; he does not store and save, but he himself never lacks. The Yin and Yang are always in tune, the sun and moon always shine, the four seasons are always regular, wind and rain are always temperate, breeding is always timely, the harvest is always rich, and there are no plagues to ravage the land, no early deaths to afflict men, animals have no diseases, and ghosts have no uncanny echoes. (tr. Graham 1960:35)
Chapter 5 uses xiansheng three times in a conversation set between legendary rulers Tang (湯) of the Shang Dynasty and Ji (革) of the Xia Dynasty.
T'ang asked again: 'Are there large things and small, long and short, similar and different?'
—'To the East of the Gulf of Chih-li, who knows how many thousands and millions of miles, there is a deep ravine, a valley truly without bottom; and its bottomless underneath is named "The Entry to the Void". The waters of the eight corners and the nine regions, the stream of the Milky Way, all pour into it, but it neither shrinks nor grows. Within it there are five mountains, called Tai-yü, Yüan-chiao, Fang-hu, Ying-chou and P'eng-Iai. These mountains are thirty thousand miles high, and as many miles round; the tablelands on their summits extend for nine thousand miles. It is seventy thousand miles from one mountain to the next, but they are considered close neighbours. The towers and terraces upon them are all gold and jade, the beasts and birds are all unsullied white; trees of pearl and garnet always grow densely, flowering and bearing fruit which is always luscious, and those who eat of it never grow old and die. The men who dwell there are all of the race of [仙聖] immortal sages, who fly, too many to be counted, to and from one mountain to another in a day and a night. Yet the bases of the five mountains used to rest on nothing; they were always rising and falling, going and returning, with the ebb and flow of the tide, and never for a moment stood firm. The [仙聖] immortals found this troublesome, and complained about it to God. God was afraid that they would drift to the far West and he would lose the home of his sages. So he commanded Yü-ch'iang to make fifteen giant turtles carry the five mountains on their lifted heads, taking turns in three watches, each sixty thousand years long; and for the first time the mountains stood firm and did not move.
'But there was a giant from the kingdom of the Dragon Earl, who came to the place of the five mountains in no more than a few strides. In one throw he hooked six of the turtles in a bunch, hurried back to his country carrying them together on his back, and scorched their bones to tell fortunes by the cracks. Thereupon two of the mountains, Tai-yü and Yüan-chiao, drifted to the far North and sank in the great sea; the [仙聖] immortals who were carried away numbered many millions. God was very angry, and reduced by degrees the size of the Dragon Earl's kingdom and the height of his subjects. At the time of Fu-hsi and Shen-nung, the people of this country were still several hundred feet high.' (tr. Graham 1960:97-8)
Penglai Mountain became the most famous of these five mythical peaks where the elixir of life supposedly grew, and is known as Horai in Japanese legends. The first emperor Qin Shi Huang sent his court alchemist Xu Fu on expeditions to find these plants of immortality, but he never returned (although by some accounts, he discovered Japan).
Holmes Welch (1957:88-97) analyzed the beginnings of Daoism, sometime around the 4th-3rd centuries BCE, from four separate streams: philosophical Daoism (Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi), a "hygiene school" that cultivated longevity through breathing exercises and yoga, Chinese alchemy and Five Elements philosophy, and those who sought Penglai and elixirs of "immortality". This is what he concludes about xian.
It is my own opinion, therefore, that though the word hsien, or Immortal, is used by Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu, and though they attributed to their idealized individual the magic powers that were attributed to the hsien in later times, nonetheless the hsien ideal was something they did not believe in — either that it was possible or that it was good. The magic powers are allegories and hyperboles for the natural powers that come from identification with Tao. Spiritualized Man, P'eng-lai, and the rest are features of a genre which is meant to entertain, disturb, and exalt us, not to be taken as literal hagiography. Then and later, the philosophical Taoists were distinguished from all other schools of Taoism by their rejection of the pursuit of immortality. As we shall see, their books came to be adopted as scriptural authority by those who did practice magic and seek to become immortal. But it was their misunderstanding of philosophical Taoism that was the reason they adopted it. (Welch 1957:95)
Shenxian zhuan
The Shenxian zhuan (神仙傳 Biographies of Spirit Immortals") is a hagiography of xian. Although it was traditionally attributed to Ge Hong (283-343 CE), Komjathy (2004:43) says, "The received versions of the text contain some 100-odd hagiographies, most of which date from 6th-8th centuries at the earliest."
According to the Shenxian zhuan, there are four schools of immortality:
Qì (气 - “Pneumas”) – Breath control and meditation. Those who belong to this school can
"...blow on water and it will flow against its own current for several paces; blow on fire, and it will be extinguished; blow at tigers or wolves, and they will crouch down and not be able to move; blow at serpents, and they will coil up and be unable to flee. If someone is wounded by a weapon, blow on the wound, and the bleeding will stop. If you hear of someone who has suffered a poisonous insect bite, even if you are not in his presence, you can, from a distance, blow and say in incantation over your own hand (males on the left hand, females on the right), and the person will at once be healed even if more than a hundred li away. And if you yourself are struck by a sudden illness, you have merely to swallow pneumas in three series of nine, and you will immediately recover.
But the most essential thing [among such arts] is fetal breathing. Those who obtain [the technique of] fetal breathing become able to breathe without using their nose or mouth, as if in the womb, and this is the culmination of the way [of pneumatic cultivation]." (Campany 2002:21)
Fàn (饭 - “Diet”) – Ingestion of herbal compounds and abstention from the Sān Shī Fàn (三尸饭 - “Three-Corpses food”)—Meats (raw fish, pork, dog, leeks, and scallions) and grains. According to the book To Live As Long As Heaven and Earth: Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents, the importance of 'grain avoidance' was told in a story by Ge Hong:
"During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person who wore no clothes, his body covered with black hair. Upon seeing this person, the hunters wanted to pursue and capture him, but the person leapt over gullies and valleys as if in flight, and so could not be overtaken. [But after being surrounded and captured, it was discovered this person was a 200 plus year old woman, who had once been a concubine of Qin Emperor Ziying. When he had surrendered to the 'invaders of the east', she fled into the mountains where she learned to subside on 'the resin and nuts of pines' from an old man. Afterwards, this diet 'enabled [her] to feel neither hunger nor thirst; in winter [she] was not cold, in summer [she] was not hot.']
The hunters took the woman back in. They offered her grain to eat. When she first smelled the stink of grain, she vomited, and only after several days could she tolerate it. After little more than two years of this [diet], her body hair fell out; she turned old and died. Had she not been caught by men, she would have become a transcendent." (Campany 2002:22-23)
Fángzhōng Zhī Shù (房中之术 - “Arts of the Bedchamber”) – Sexual yoga. (Campany 2002:30-31) According to a discourse between the Yellow Emperor and the immortaless Sùnǚ (素女 – “Plain Girl”), one of the three daughters of Hsi Wang Mu,
“The sexual behaviors between a man and woman are identical to how the universe itself came into creation. Like Heaven and Earth, the male and female share a parallel relationship in attaining an immortal existence. They both must learn how to engage and develop their natural sexual instincts and behaviors; otherwise the only result is decay and traumatic discord of their physical lives. However, if they engage in the utmost joys of sensuality and apply the principles of yin and yang to their sexual activity, their health, vigor, and joy of love will bear them the fruits of longevity and immortality. (Hsi 2002:99-100)
The White Tigress Manual, a treatise on female sexual yoga, states,
“A female can completely restore her youthfulness and attain immortality if she refrains from allowing just one or two men in her life from stealing and destroying her [sexual] essence, which will only serve in aging her at a rapid rate and bring about an early death. However, if she can acquire the sexual essence of a thousand males through absorption, she will acquire the great benefits of youthfulness and immortality.” (Hsi 2001:48)
Dān (丹 - "Alchemy", literally "Cinnabar") – Elixir of Immortality.(Campany 2002:31)
Baopuzi
The 4th century CE Baopuzi (抱朴子 "[Book of] Master Embracing Simplicity"), which was written by Ge Hong, gives some highly detailed descriptions of xian.
The text lists three classes of immortals:
Tiānxiān (天仙 – “Celestial Immortal”) - The highest level.
Dìxiān (地仙 - “Earth Immortal”) – The middle level.
Shījiě xiān (尸解仙 - "Escaped-by-means-of-a-stimulated-corpse-simulacrum Immortal", literally "Corpse Untie Immortal") - The lowest level.This is considered the lowest form of immortality since a person must first “fake” their own death by substituting a bewitched object like a bamboo pole, sword, talisman or a shoe for their corpse or slipping a type of Death certificate into the coffin of a newly departed paternal grandfather, thus having their name and "allotted life span" deleted from the ledgers kept by the Sīmìng (司命 - "Director of allotted life spans", literally "Controller of Fate"). Hagiographies and folktales abound of people who seemingly die in one province, but are seen alive in another. Mortals who choose this route must cut off all ties with family and friends, move to a distant province, and enact the Ling bao tai xuan yin sheng zhi fu (靈寳太玄隂生之符 - “Numinous Treasure Talisman of the Grand Mystery for Living in Hiding”) to protect themselves from heavenly retribution. (Campany 2002:52-60)
However, this is not a true form of immortality. For each misdeed a person commits, the Director of allotted life spans subtracts days and sometimes years from their allotted life span. This method allows a person to live out the entirety of their allotted lifespan (whether it be 30, 80, 400, etc.) and avoid the agents of death. But the body still has to be transformed into an immortal one, hence the phrase Xiānsǐ hòutuō (先死後脱 - “The ‘death’ is apparent, [but] the sloughing off of the body’s mortality remains to be done.”)
Sometimes the Shījiě are employed by heaven to act as celestial peace keepers. Therefore, they have no need for hiding from retribution since they are empowered by heaven to perform their duties. There are three levels of heavenly Shījiě:
Dìxià zhǔ (地下主 - “Agents Beneath the Earth”) – Are in charge of keeping the peace within the Chinese underworld. They are eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality after 280 years of faithful service.
Dìshàng zhǔzhě (地上主者 - "Agents Above the Earth") - Are given magic talismans which prolong their lives (but not indefinitely) and allow them to heal the sick and exorcize demons and evil spirits from the earth. This level was not eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality.
Zhìdì jūn (制地君 - "Lords Who Control the Earth") - A heavenly decree ordered them to "disperse all subordinate junior demons, whether high or low [in rank], that have cause afflictions and injury owing to blows or offenses against the Motion of the Year, the Original Destiny, Great Year, the Kings of the Soil or the establishing or breaking influences of the chronograms of the tome. Annihilate them all." This level was also not eligible for promotion to immortality.
These titles were usually given to humans who had either not proven themselves worthy of or were not fated to become immortals. One such famous agent was Fei Changfang, who was eventually murdered by evil spirits because he lost his book of magic talismans. However, some immortals are written to have used this method in order to escape execution.(Campany 2002:52-60)
Ge Hong wrote in his book The Master Who Embraces Simplicity,
The [immortals] Dark Girl and Plain Girl compared sexual activity as the intermingling of fire [yang/male] and water [yin/female], claiming that water and fire can kill people but can also regenerate their life, depending on whether or not they know the correct methods of sexual activity according to their nature. These arts are based on the theory that the more females a man copulates with, the greater benefit he will derive from the act. Men who are ignorant of this art, copulating with only one or two females during their life, will only suffice to bring about their untimely and early death. (Hsi 2001:48)
Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji
The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji (鐘呂傳道集/钟吕传道集 "Anthology of the Transmission of the Dao from Zhong[li Quan] to Lü [Dongbin]") is associated with Zhongli Quan (2nd century CE?) and Lü Dongbin (9th century CE), two of the legendary Eight Immortals. It is part of the so-called “Zhong-Lü” (鍾呂) textual tradition of internal alchemy (neidan). Komjathy (2004:57) describes it as, "Probably dating from the late Tang (618-906), the text is in question-and-answer format, containing a dialogue between Lü and his teacher Zhongli on aspects of alchemical terminology and methods."
The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji lists five classes of immortals:
Guǐxiān (鬼仙 - "Ghost Immortal") – A person who cultivates too much yin energy. These immortals are likened to Vampires because they drain the life essence of the living, much like the fox spirit. Ghost immortals do not leave the realm of ghosts. (Wong 2000:page?)
Rénxiān (人仙 - Human Immortal”) – Humans have an equal balance of yin and yang energies, so they have the potential of becoming either a ghost or immortal. Although they continue to hunger and thirst and require clothing and shelter like a normal human, these immortals do not suffer from aging or sickness. Human immortals do not leave the realm of humans. (Wong 2000:page?) There are many sub-classes of human immortals, as discussed above under Shījiě xiān.
Dìxiān (地仙 - “Earth Immortal”) – When the yin is transformed into the pure yang, a true immortal body will emerge that does not need food, drink, clothing or shelter and is not effected by hot or cold temperatures. Earth immortals do not leave the realm of earth. These immortals are forced to stay on earth until they shed their human form. (Wong 2000:page?)
Shénxiān (神仙 - "Spirit Immortal") – The immortal body of the earthbound class will eventually change into vapor through further practice. They have supernatural powers and can take on the shape of any object. These immortals must remain on earth acquiring merit by teaching mankind about the Tao. Spirit immortals do not leave the realm of spirits. Once enough merit is accumulated, they are called to heaven by a celestial decree. (Wong 2000:page?)
Tiānxiān (天仙 – “Celestial Immortal”) – Spirit immortals who are summoned to heaven are given the minor office of water realm judge. Over time, they are promoted to oversee the earth realm and finally become administrators of the celestial realm. These immortals have the power to travel back and forth between the earthly and celestial realms. (Wong 2000:page?)
See also
Alchemy
Immortality
Journey to the West
Sun Wukong
Transcendence (philosophy)
Way of Infinite Harmony
Xi Wangmu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese Mythology | Taoism
Alternative Names(異名):
Xian, 仙, 仚, 僊, hsien
Xian (Chinese: 仙/仚/僊; pinyin: xiān; Wade-Giles: hsien) is a Chinese word for an enlightened person, translatable in English as:
"spiritually immortal; transcendent; super-human; celestial being" (in Daoist/Taoist philosophy and cosmology)
"physically immortal; immortal person; immortalist; saint" (in Daoist religion and pantheon)
"alchemist; one who seeks the elixir of life; one who practices longevity techniques" or by extension "(alchemical, dietary, qigong) methods for attaining immortality" (in Chinese alchemy)
"wizard; magician; shaman" (in Chinese mythology)
"genie; elf, fairy; nymph" (in popular Chinese literature)
"sage living high in the mountains; mountain-man; hermit; recluse" (folk-etymology for the character 仙)
"immortal (talent); accomplished person; celestial (beauty); marvelous; extraordinary" (metaphorical modifier)
Xian semantically developed from meaning spiritual "immortality; enlightenment", to physical "immortality; longevity" involving methods such as alchemy, breath meditation, and Tai Chi Chuan, and eventually to legendary and figurative "immortality".
The xian archetype is described by Victor H. Mair.
They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. The transcendents live an effortless existence that is best described as spontaneous. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as ṛṣi who possessed similar traits.1994:376
According to the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, Chinese xian (仙) can mean Sanskrit ṛṣi (rishi "inspired sage in the Vedas").
The word xian
The most famous Chinese compound of xiān is Bāxiān (八仙 "the Eight Immortals"). Other common words include xiānrén (仙人 sennin in Japanese, "immortal person; transcendent", see Xiānrén Dòng), xiānrénzhăng (仙人掌 "immortal's palm; cactus"), xiānnǚ (仙女 "immortal woman; female celestial; angel"), and shénxiān (神仙 "gods and immortals; divine immortal").
The possible etymologies of xian are Sino-Tibetan "shaman" in the linguistic sense and "ascend" or "mountain" in the character sense. Axel Schuessler's etymological dictionary (2007:527) suggests a Sino-Tibetan connection between xiān (Old Chinese *san or *sen) "'An immortal' … men and women who attain supernatural abilities; after death they become immortals and deities who can fly through the air" and Tibetan gšen < g-syen "shaman, one who has supernatural abilities, incl[uding] travel through the air". The circa 200 CE Shiming, the first Chinese dictionary of etymology, defines xiān (仙) as "to get old and not die," and etymologizes it as someone who qiān (遷 "moves into") the mountains."
The character and its variants
The word xiān is written with three characters 僊, 仙, or 仚, which combine the logographic "radical" rén (人 or 亻 "person; human") with two "phonetic" elements (see Chinese character classification). The oldest recorded xiān character 僊 has a xiān ("rise up; ascend") phonetic supposedly because immortals could "ascend into the heavens". (Compare qiān 遷 "move; transfer; change" combining this phonetic and the motion radical.) The usual modern xiān character 仙, and its rare variant 仚, have a shān (山 "mountain") phonetic. For a character analysis, Schipper (1993:164) interprets "'the human being of the mountain,' or alternatively, 'human mountain.' The two explanations are appropriate to these beings: they haunt the holy mountains, while also embodying nature."
The Shijing (220/3) contains the oldest occurrence of the character 僊, reduplicated as xiānxiān (僊僊 "dance lightly; hop about; jump around"), and rhymed with qiān (遷). "But when they have drunk too much, Their deportment becomes light and frivolous – They leave their seats, and [遷] go elsewhere, They keep [僊僊] dancing and capering." (tr. James Legge) Shamanistic dancing is one interpretation of this ancient Shijing ode describing ancestral sacrifices.
The 121 CE Shuowen Jiezi, the first important dictionary of Chinese characters, does not enter 仙 except in the definition for 偓佺 (Wo Quan "name of an ancient immortal"). It defines 僊 as "live long and move away" and 仚 as "appearance of a person on a mountaintop".
Textual references
This section chronologically reviews how Chinese texts describe xian "immortals; transcendents". While the early Zhuangzi, Chuci, and Liezi texts allegorically used xian immortals and magic islands to describe spiritual immortality, later ones like the Shenxian zhuan and Baopuzi took immortality literally and described esoteric Chinese alchemical techniques for physical longevity. On one the hand, neidan (內丹 "internal alchemy") techniques included taixi (胎息 "embryo respiration") breath control, meditation, visualization, sexual training, and Tao Yin exercises (which later evolved into Qigong and Tai Chi Chuan). On the other hand, waidan (外丹 "external achemy") techniques for immortality included alchemical recipes, magic plants, rare minerals, herbal medicines, drugs, and dietetic techniques like inedia.
The earliest representations of Chinese immortals, dating from the Han Dynasty, portray them flying with feathery wings (the word yuren 羽人 "feathered person" later meant "Daoist") or riding dragons. In Chinese art, xian are often pictured with symbols of immortality including the dragon, crane, fox, white deer, pine tree, peach, and mushroom.
Besides the following major Chinese texts, many others use both graphic variants of xian. Xian (仙) occurs in the Chunqiu Fanlu, Fengsu Tongyi, Qian fu lun, Fayan, and Shenjian; xian (僊) occurs in the Caizhong langji, Fengsu Tongyi, Guanzi, and Shenjian.
Zhuangzi
Two circa 3rd century BCE "Outer Chapters" of the Zhuangzi (莊子 "[Book of] Master Zhuang") use the archaic character xian 僊. Chapter 11 has a parable about "Cloud Chief" (雲 將) and "Big Concealment" (鴻 蒙) that uses the Shijing compound xianxian ("dance; jump"):
Big Concealment said, "If you confuse the constant strands of Heaven and violate the true form of things, then Dark Heaven will reach no fulfillment. Instead, the beasts will scatter from their herds, the birds will cry all night, disaster will come to the grass and trees, misfortune will reach even to the insects. Ah, this is the fault of men who 'govern'!"
"Then what should I do?" said Cloud Chief.
"Ah," said Big Concealment, "you are too far gone! [僊僊] Up, up, stir yourself and be off!"
Cloud Chief said, "Heavenly Master, it has been hard indeed for me to meet with you — I beg one word of instruction!"
"Well, then — mind‑nourishment!" said Big Concealment. "You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root — return to the root and not know why. Dark and undifferentiated chaos — to the end of life none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form. Things will live naturally end of themselves."
Cloud Chief said, "The Heavenly Master has favored me with this Virtue, instructed me in this Silence. All my life I have been looking for it, and now at last I have it!" He bowed his head twice, stood up, took his leave, and went away. (11, tr. Burton Watson 1968:122-3)
Chapter 12 uses xian when mythical Emperor Yao describes a shengren (聖 人 "sagely person").
The true sage is a quail at rest, a little fledgling at its meal, a bird in flight who leaves no trail behind. When the world has the Way, he joins in the chorus with all other things. When the world is without the Way, he nurses his Virtue and retires in leisure. And after a thousand years, should he weary of the world, he will leave it and ascend to [僊] the immortals, riding on those white clouds all the way up to the village of God. (12, tr. Watson 1968:130)
Without using the word xian, several Zhuangzi passages employ xian imagery, like flying in the clouds, to describe individuals with superhuman powers. For example, Chapter 1, within the circa 3rd century BCE "Inner Chapters", has two portrayals. First is this description of Liezi (below).
Lieh Tzu could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn't fret and worry. He escaped the trouble of walking, but he still had to depend on something to get around. If he had only mounted on the truth of Heaven and Earth, ridden the changes of the six breaths, and thus wandered through the boundless, then what would he have had to depend on? Therefore I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. (1, tr. Watson 1968:32)
Second is this description of a shenren (神人 "divine person").
He said that there is a Holy Man living on faraway [姑射] Ku-she Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like a young girl. He doesn't eat the five grains, but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the four seas. By concentrating his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plentiful. (1, tr. Watson 1968:33)
The authors of the Zhuangzi had a lyrical view of life and death, seeing them as complimentary aspects of natural changes. This is antithetical to the physical immortality (changshengbulao 長生不老 "live forever and never age") sought by later Daoist alchemists. Consider this famous passage about accepting death.
Chuang Tzu's wife died. When Hui Tzu went to convey his condolences, he found Chuang Tzu sitting with his legs sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. "You lived with her, she brought up your children and grew old," said Hui Tzu. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. But pounding on a tub and singing — this is going too far, isn't it?"
Chuang Tzu said, "You're wrong. When she first died, do you think I didn't grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there's been another change and she's dead. It's just like the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter."
"Now she's going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don't understand anything about fate. So I stopped. (18, tr. Watson 1968:191-2)
Alan Fox explains this anecdote about Zhuangzi's wife.
Many conclusions can be reached on the basis of this story, but it seems that death is regarded as a natural part of the ebb and flow of transformations which constitute the movement of Dao. To grieve over death, or to fear one's own death, for that matter, is to arbitrarily evaluate what is inevitable. Of course, this reading is somewhat ironic given the fact that much of the subsequent Daoist tradition comes to seek longevity and immortality, and bases some of their basic models on the Zhuangzi. (1995:100)
Chuci
The 3rd-2nd century BCE Chuci (楚辭 "Lyrics of Chu") anthology of poems uses xian 仙 once and xian 僊 twice, reflecting the disparate origins of the text. These three contexts mention the legendary Daoist xian immortals Chi Song (赤松 "Red Pine", see Kohn 1993:142-4) and Wang Qiao (王僑, or Zi Qiao 子僑). In later Daoist hagiography, Chi Song was Lord of Rain under Shennong, the legendary inventor of agriculture; and Wang Qiao was a son of King Ling of Zhou (r. 571-545 BCE), who flew away on a giant white bird, became an immortal and was never again seen.
The "Yuan You" (遠遊 "Far-off Journey") poem describes a spiritual journey into the realms of gods and immortals, frequently referring to Daoist myths and techniques.
My spirit darted forth and did not return to me,
And my body, left tenantless, grew withered and lifeless.
Then I looked into myself to strengthen my resolution,
And sought to learn from where the primal spirit issues.
In emptiness and silence I found serenity;
In tranquil inaction I gained true satisfaction.
I heard how once Red Pine had washed the world's dust off:
I would model myself on the pattern he had left me.
I honoured the wondrous powers of the [真人] Pure Ones,
And those of past ages who had become [仙] Immortals.
They departed in the flux of change and vanished from men's sight,
Leaving a famous name that endures after them. (tr. Hawkes 1985:194)
The "Xi shi" (惜誓 "Sorrow for Troth Betrayed") resembles the "Yuan You", and both reflect Daoist ideas from the Han period. "Though unoriginal in theme," says Hawkes (1985:239), "its description of air travel, written in a pre-aeroplane age, is exhilarating and rather impressive."
We gazed down of the Middle Land [China] with its myriad people
As we rested on the whirlwind, drifting about at random.
In this way we came at last to the moor of Shao-yuan:
There, with the other blessed ones, were Red Pine and Wang Qiao.
The two Masters held zithers tuned imperfect concord:
I sang the Qing Shang air to their playing.
In tranquil calm and quiet enjoyment,
Gently I floated, inhaling all the essences.
But then I thought that this immortal life of [僊] the blessed,
Was not worth the sacrifice of my home-returning. (tr. Hawkes 1985:240)
The "Ai shi ming" (哀時命 "Alas That My Lot Was Not Cast") describes a celestial journey similar to the previous two.
Far and forlorn, with no hope of return:
Sadly I gaze in the distance, over the empty plain.
Below, I fish in the valley streamlet;
Above, I seek out [僊] holy hermits.
I enter into friendship with Red Pine;
I join Wang Qiao as his companion. We send the Xiao Yang in front to guide us;
The White Tiger runs back and forth in attendance.
Floating on the cloud and mist, we enter the dim height of heaven;
Riding on the white deer we sport and take our pleasure. tr. Hawkes 1985:266)
The "Li Sao" (離騷 "On Encountering Trouble"), the most famous Chuci poem, is usually interpreted as describing ecstatic flights and trance techniques of Chinese shamans. The above three poems are variations describing Daoist xian.
Some other Chuci poems refer to immortals with synonyms of xian. For instance, "Shou zhi" (守志 "Maintaining Resolution), uses zhenren (真人 "true person", tr. "Pure Ones" above in "Yuan You"), which Wang Yi's commentary glosses as zhen xianren (真仙人 "true immortal person").
I visited Fu Yue, bestriding a dragon,
Joined in marriage with the Weaving Maiden,
Lifted up Heaven's Net to capture evil,
Drew the Bow of Heaven to shoot at wickedness,
Followed the [真人] Immortals fluttering through the sky,
Ate of the Primal Essence to prolong my life. (tr. Hawkes 1985:318)
Liezi
The Liezi (列子 "[Book of] Master Lie"), which Louis Komjathy (2004:36) says "was probably compiled in the 3rd century CE (while containing earlier textual layers)", uses xian four times, always in the compound xiansheng (仙聖 "immortal sage").
Nearly half of Chapter 2 ("The Yellow Emperor") comes from the Zhuangzi, including this recounting of the above fable about Mount Gushe (姑射, or Guye, or Miao Gushe 藐姑射).
The Ku-ye mountains stand on a chain of islands where the Yellow River enters the sea. Upon the mountains there lives a Divine Man, who inhales the wind and drinks the dew, and does not eat the five grains. His mind is like a bottomless spring, his body is like a virgin's. He knows neither intimacy nor love, yet [仙聖] immortals and sages serve him as ministers. He inspires no awe, he is never angry, yet the eager and diligent act as his messengers. He is without kindness and bounty, but others have enough by themselves; he does not store and save, but he himself never lacks. The Yin and Yang are always in tune, the sun and moon always shine, the four seasons are always regular, wind and rain are always temperate, breeding is always timely, the harvest is always rich, and there are no plagues to ravage the land, no early deaths to afflict men, animals have no diseases, and ghosts have no uncanny echoes. (tr. Graham 1960:35)
Chapter 5 uses xiansheng three times in a conversation set between legendary rulers Tang (湯) of the Shang Dynasty and Ji (革) of the Xia Dynasty.
T'ang asked again: 'Are there large things and small, long and short, similar and different?'
—'To the East of the Gulf of Chih-li, who knows how many thousands and millions of miles, there is a deep ravine, a valley truly without bottom; and its bottomless underneath is named "The Entry to the Void". The waters of the eight corners and the nine regions, the stream of the Milky Way, all pour into it, but it neither shrinks nor grows. Within it there are five mountains, called Tai-yü, Yüan-chiao, Fang-hu, Ying-chou and P'eng-Iai. These mountains are thirty thousand miles high, and as many miles round; the tablelands on their summits extend for nine thousand miles. It is seventy thousand miles from one mountain to the next, but they are considered close neighbours. The towers and terraces upon them are all gold and jade, the beasts and birds are all unsullied white; trees of pearl and garnet always grow densely, flowering and bearing fruit which is always luscious, and those who eat of it never grow old and die. The men who dwell there are all of the race of [仙聖] immortal sages, who fly, too many to be counted, to and from one mountain to another in a day and a night. Yet the bases of the five mountains used to rest on nothing; they were always rising and falling, going and returning, with the ebb and flow of the tide, and never for a moment stood firm. The [仙聖] immortals found this troublesome, and complained about it to God. God was afraid that they would drift to the far West and he would lose the home of his sages. So he commanded Yü-ch'iang to make fifteen giant turtles carry the five mountains on their lifted heads, taking turns in three watches, each sixty thousand years long; and for the first time the mountains stood firm and did not move.
'But there was a giant from the kingdom of the Dragon Earl, who came to the place of the five mountains in no more than a few strides. In one throw he hooked six of the turtles in a bunch, hurried back to his country carrying them together on his back, and scorched their bones to tell fortunes by the cracks. Thereupon two of the mountains, Tai-yü and Yüan-chiao, drifted to the far North and sank in the great sea; the [仙聖] immortals who were carried away numbered many millions. God was very angry, and reduced by degrees the size of the Dragon Earl's kingdom and the height of his subjects. At the time of Fu-hsi and Shen-nung, the people of this country were still several hundred feet high.' (tr. Graham 1960:97-8)
Penglai Mountain became the most famous of these five mythical peaks where the elixir of life supposedly grew, and is known as Horai in Japanese legends. The first emperor Qin Shi Huang sent his court alchemist Xu Fu on expeditions to find these plants of immortality, but he never returned (although by some accounts, he discovered Japan).
Holmes Welch (1957:88-97) analyzed the beginnings of Daoism, sometime around the 4th-3rd centuries BCE, from four separate streams: philosophical Daoism (Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi), a "hygiene school" that cultivated longevity through breathing exercises and yoga, Chinese alchemy and Five Elements philosophy, and those who sought Penglai and elixirs of "immortality". This is what he concludes about xian.
It is my own opinion, therefore, that though the word hsien, or Immortal, is used by Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu, and though they attributed to their idealized individual the magic powers that were attributed to the hsien in later times, nonetheless the hsien ideal was something they did not believe in — either that it was possible or that it was good. The magic powers are allegories and hyperboles for the natural powers that come from identification with Tao. Spiritualized Man, P'eng-lai, and the rest are features of a genre which is meant to entertain, disturb, and exalt us, not to be taken as literal hagiography. Then and later, the philosophical Taoists were distinguished from all other schools of Taoism by their rejection of the pursuit of immortality. As we shall see, their books came to be adopted as scriptural authority by those who did practice magic and seek to become immortal. But it was their misunderstanding of philosophical Taoism that was the reason they adopted it. (Welch 1957:95)
Shenxian zhuan
The Shenxian zhuan (神仙傳 Biographies of Spirit Immortals") is a hagiography of xian. Although it was traditionally attributed to Ge Hong (283-343 CE), Komjathy (2004:43) says, "The received versions of the text contain some 100-odd hagiographies, most of which date from 6th-8th centuries at the earliest."
According to the Shenxian zhuan, there are four schools of immortality:
Qì (气 - “Pneumas”) – Breath control and meditation. Those who belong to this school can
"...blow on water and it will flow against its own current for several paces; blow on fire, and it will be extinguished; blow at tigers or wolves, and they will crouch down and not be able to move; blow at serpents, and they will coil up and be unable to flee. If someone is wounded by a weapon, blow on the wound, and the bleeding will stop. If you hear of someone who has suffered a poisonous insect bite, even if you are not in his presence, you can, from a distance, blow and say in incantation over your own hand (males on the left hand, females on the right), and the person will at once be healed even if more than a hundred li away. And if you yourself are struck by a sudden illness, you have merely to swallow pneumas in three series of nine, and you will immediately recover.
But the most essential thing [among such arts] is fetal breathing. Those who obtain [the technique of] fetal breathing become able to breathe without using their nose or mouth, as if in the womb, and this is the culmination of the way [of pneumatic cultivation]." (Campany 2002:21)
Fàn (饭 - “Diet”) – Ingestion of herbal compounds and abstention from the Sān Shī Fàn (三尸饭 - “Three-Corpses food”)—Meats (raw fish, pork, dog, leeks, and scallions) and grains. According to the book To Live As Long As Heaven and Earth: Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents, the importance of 'grain avoidance' was told in a story by Ge Hong:
"During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person who wore no clothes, his body covered with black hair. Upon seeing this person, the hunters wanted to pursue and capture him, but the person leapt over gullies and valleys as if in flight, and so could not be overtaken. [But after being surrounded and captured, it was discovered this person was a 200 plus year old woman, who had once been a concubine of Qin Emperor Ziying. When he had surrendered to the 'invaders of the east', she fled into the mountains where she learned to subside on 'the resin and nuts of pines' from an old man. Afterwards, this diet 'enabled [her] to feel neither hunger nor thirst; in winter [she] was not cold, in summer [she] was not hot.']
The hunters took the woman back in. They offered her grain to eat. When she first smelled the stink of grain, she vomited, and only after several days could she tolerate it. After little more than two years of this [diet], her body hair fell out; she turned old and died. Had she not been caught by men, she would have become a transcendent." (Campany 2002:22-23)
Fángzhōng Zhī Shù (房中之术 - “Arts of the Bedchamber”) – Sexual yoga. (Campany 2002:30-31) According to a discourse between the Yellow Emperor and the immortaless Sùnǚ (素女 – “Plain Girl”), one of the three daughters of Hsi Wang Mu,
“The sexual behaviors between a man and woman are identical to how the universe itself came into creation. Like Heaven and Earth, the male and female share a parallel relationship in attaining an immortal existence. They both must learn how to engage and develop their natural sexual instincts and behaviors; otherwise the only result is decay and traumatic discord of their physical lives. However, if they engage in the utmost joys of sensuality and apply the principles of yin and yang to their sexual activity, their health, vigor, and joy of love will bear them the fruits of longevity and immortality. (Hsi 2002:99-100)
The White Tigress Manual, a treatise on female sexual yoga, states,
“A female can completely restore her youthfulness and attain immortality if she refrains from allowing just one or two men in her life from stealing and destroying her [sexual] essence, which will only serve in aging her at a rapid rate and bring about an early death. However, if she can acquire the sexual essence of a thousand males through absorption, she will acquire the great benefits of youthfulness and immortality.” (Hsi 2001:48)
Dān (丹 - "Alchemy", literally "Cinnabar") – Elixir of Immortality.(Campany 2002:31)
Baopuzi
The 4th century CE Baopuzi (抱朴子 "[Book of] Master Embracing Simplicity"), which was written by Ge Hong, gives some highly detailed descriptions of xian.
The text lists three classes of immortals:
Tiānxiān (天仙 – “Celestial Immortal”) - The highest level.
Dìxiān (地仙 - “Earth Immortal”) – The middle level.
Shījiě xiān (尸解仙 - "Escaped-by-means-of-a-stimulated-corpse-simulacrum Immortal", literally "Corpse Untie Immortal") - The lowest level.This is considered the lowest form of immortality since a person must first “fake” their own death by substituting a bewitched object like a bamboo pole, sword, talisman or a shoe for their corpse or slipping a type of Death certificate into the coffin of a newly departed paternal grandfather, thus having their name and "allotted life span" deleted from the ledgers kept by the Sīmìng (司命 - "Director of allotted life spans", literally "Controller of Fate"). Hagiographies and folktales abound of people who seemingly die in one province, but are seen alive in another. Mortals who choose this route must cut off all ties with family and friends, move to a distant province, and enact the Ling bao tai xuan yin sheng zhi fu (靈寳太玄隂生之符 - “Numinous Treasure Talisman of the Grand Mystery for Living in Hiding”) to protect themselves from heavenly retribution. (Campany 2002:52-60)
However, this is not a true form of immortality. For each misdeed a person commits, the Director of allotted life spans subtracts days and sometimes years from their allotted life span. This method allows a person to live out the entirety of their allotted lifespan (whether it be 30, 80, 400, etc.) and avoid the agents of death. But the body still has to be transformed into an immortal one, hence the phrase Xiānsǐ hòutuō (先死後脱 - “The ‘death’ is apparent, [but] the sloughing off of the body’s mortality remains to be done.”)
Sometimes the Shījiě are employed by heaven to act as celestial peace keepers. Therefore, they have no need for hiding from retribution since they are empowered by heaven to perform their duties. There are three levels of heavenly Shījiě:
Dìxià zhǔ (地下主 - “Agents Beneath the Earth”) – Are in charge of keeping the peace within the Chinese underworld. They are eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality after 280 years of faithful service.
Dìshàng zhǔzhě (地上主者 - "Agents Above the Earth") - Are given magic talismans which prolong their lives (but not indefinitely) and allow them to heal the sick and exorcize demons and evil spirits from the earth. This level was not eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality.
Zhìdì jūn (制地君 - "Lords Who Control the Earth") - A heavenly decree ordered them to "disperse all subordinate junior demons, whether high or low [in rank], that have cause afflictions and injury owing to blows or offenses against the Motion of the Year, the Original Destiny, Great Year, the Kings of the Soil or the establishing or breaking influences of the chronograms of the tome. Annihilate them all." This level was also not eligible for promotion to immortality.
These titles were usually given to humans who had either not proven themselves worthy of or were not fated to become immortals. One such famous agent was Fei Changfang, who was eventually murdered by evil spirits because he lost his book of magic talismans. However, some immortals are written to have used this method in order to escape execution.(Campany 2002:52-60)
Ge Hong wrote in his book The Master Who Embraces Simplicity,
The [immortals] Dark Girl and Plain Girl compared sexual activity as the intermingling of fire [yang/male] and water [yin/female], claiming that water and fire can kill people but can also regenerate their life, depending on whether or not they know the correct methods of sexual activity according to their nature. These arts are based on the theory that the more females a man copulates with, the greater benefit he will derive from the act. Men who are ignorant of this art, copulating with only one or two females during their life, will only suffice to bring about their untimely and early death. (Hsi 2001:48)
Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji
The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji (鐘呂傳道集/钟吕传道集 "Anthology of the Transmission of the Dao from Zhong[li Quan] to Lü [Dongbin]") is associated with Zhongli Quan (2nd century CE?) and Lü Dongbin (9th century CE), two of the legendary Eight Immortals. It is part of the so-called “Zhong-Lü” (鍾呂) textual tradition of internal alchemy (neidan). Komjathy (2004:57) describes it as, "Probably dating from the late Tang (618-906), the text is in question-and-answer format, containing a dialogue between Lü and his teacher Zhongli on aspects of alchemical terminology and methods."
The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji lists five classes of immortals:
Guǐxiān (鬼仙 - "Ghost Immortal") – A person who cultivates too much yin energy. These immortals are likened to Vampires because they drain the life essence of the living, much like the fox spirit. Ghost immortals do not leave the realm of ghosts. (Wong 2000:page?)
Rénxiān (人仙 - Human Immortal”) – Humans have an equal balance of yin and yang energies, so they have the potential of becoming either a ghost or immortal. Although they continue to hunger and thirst and require clothing and shelter like a normal human, these immortals do not suffer from aging or sickness. Human immortals do not leave the realm of humans. (Wong 2000:page?) There are many sub-classes of human immortals, as discussed above under Shījiě xiān.
Dìxiān (地仙 - “Earth Immortal”) – When the yin is transformed into the pure yang, a true immortal body will emerge that does not need food, drink, clothing or shelter and is not effected by hot or cold temperatures. Earth immortals do not leave the realm of earth. These immortals are forced to stay on earth until they shed their human form. (Wong 2000:page?)
Shénxiān (神仙 - "Spirit Immortal") – The immortal body of the earthbound class will eventually change into vapor through further practice. They have supernatural powers and can take on the shape of any object. These immortals must remain on earth acquiring merit by teaching mankind about the Tao. Spirit immortals do not leave the realm of spirits. Once enough merit is accumulated, they are called to heaven by a celestial decree. (Wong 2000:page?)
Tiānxiān (天仙 – “Celestial Immortal”) – Spirit immortals who are summoned to heaven are given the minor office of water realm judge. Over time, they are promoted to oversee the earth realm and finally become administrators of the celestial realm. These immortals have the power to travel back and forth between the earthly and celestial realms. (Wong 2000:page?)
See also
Alchemy
Immortality
Journey to the West
Sun Wukong
Transcendence (philosophy)
Way of Infinite Harmony
Xi Wangmu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese Mythology | Taoism
Wen Zhong (闻仲, 聞仲)
Wen Zhong(闻仲, 聞仲)
Alternative Names (異名):
闻仲, 聞仲, Wen Zhong
Wen Zhong (Chinese: 闻仲; Pinyin: Wén Zhòng) is a major character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi).
Wen Zhong had been the top ranked official under King Da Yi since the times of old. Following the death of Da Yi, Wen Zhong would crown Zi Shou as the new king of the Shang Dynasty. In short time, Wen Zhong would head out on his great dragon to subdue rebelling demons within the North Sea (an action that would take over fifteen years).
Throughout Wen Zhong's fifteen years of battle, he would be destined to play a very large role in the schemes of Heaven. By decree of the Jade Emperor himself, Wen Zhong would attain a third eye atop his forehead. This third eye could see through any level of disillusion and falsehood. Upon Wen Zhong's arrival at the Noon Gate, he would greet his colleagues and see the absurdness of the situation; immediately Wen Zhong would order the king to come before him. After listening to the king's bickering, and easily seeing through to his true deluded idiocy, Wen Zhong would invite his allies to attend to the situation.
Wen Zhong was appointed as the deity of Puhua Tianzun (普化天尊) in the end.[1]
Notes
[1] Fengshen Yanyi Chapter 99.
References
Investiture of the Gods chapter 27
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
闻仲, 聞仲, Wen Zhong
Wen Zhong (Chinese: 闻仲; Pinyin: Wén Zhòng) is a major character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi).
Wen Zhong had been the top ranked official under King Da Yi since the times of old. Following the death of Da Yi, Wen Zhong would crown Zi Shou as the new king of the Shang Dynasty. In short time, Wen Zhong would head out on his great dragon to subdue rebelling demons within the North Sea (an action that would take over fifteen years).
Throughout Wen Zhong's fifteen years of battle, he would be destined to play a very large role in the schemes of Heaven. By decree of the Jade Emperor himself, Wen Zhong would attain a third eye atop his forehead. This third eye could see through any level of disillusion and falsehood. Upon Wen Zhong's arrival at the Noon Gate, he would greet his colleagues and see the absurdness of the situation; immediately Wen Zhong would order the king to come before him. After listening to the king's bickering, and easily seeing through to his true deluded idiocy, Wen Zhong would invite his allies to attend to the situation.
Wen Zhong was appointed as the deity of Puhua Tianzun (普化天尊) in the end.[1]
Notes
[1] Fengshen Yanyi Chapter 99.
References
Investiture of the Gods chapter 27
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun (文殊广法天尊)
Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun(文殊广法天尊)
Alternative Names (異名):
文殊广法天尊, Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun
Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun (Chinese: 文殊广法天尊; Pinyin: Wénshū Guǎngfǎ Tiānzūn) is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods (more commonly known as Fengshen Yanyi). This role originated from Manjusri, a Bodhisattva in Buddhism.
Guangfa Tianzun is the superiorman over Mount Five Dragons, Cloud Top Cave and the renowned teacher of Jinzha, the first son of Li Jing. In rank, Guangfa Tianzun is seemingly an elite superiorman -- even greater than that of Nezha's teacher Taiyi Zhenren.
After a fine duel had ensued between Muzha and Nezha and Li Jing attempted his first suicide, Guangfa Tianzun would appear. Once Guangfa Tianzun had ordered Li Jing to enter his cave for safety, he would personally settle things with the "spoiled brat" Nezha. Once Nezha's temper raged and he thrusted his spear continuously at Guangfa Tianzun, Guangfa Tianzun would side step and throw his legendary Seven Treasure Golden Lotus over Nezha's head. Nezha would lose consciousness quickly following this and would find himself tied to a large gold post while cuffed by golden rings. Soon enough, Guangfa Tianzun would order Jinzha, his student, to flog Nezha. Following the arrival of Nezha's teacher, Taiyi Zhenren, it would be revealed that the whole event between Li Jing and Nezha had been set by Taiyi Zhenren as a chance to teach Nezha some discipline. After Nezha greeted Guangfa Tianzun and his master - who was sitting to Guangfa Tianzun's right - Nezha would have a great level of inner resent.
Following the leave of Nezha and Li Jing upon Guangfa Tianzun's order, Guangfa Tianzun would not be seen again for quite some time.
References
Investiture of the Gods chapter 14 pages 167 - 169
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Literary character stubs
Alternative Names (異名):
文殊广法天尊, Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun
Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun (Chinese: 文殊广法天尊; Pinyin: Wénshū Guǎngfǎ Tiānzūn) is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods (more commonly known as Fengshen Yanyi). This role originated from Manjusri, a Bodhisattva in Buddhism.
Guangfa Tianzun is the superiorman over Mount Five Dragons, Cloud Top Cave and the renowned teacher of Jinzha, the first son of Li Jing. In rank, Guangfa Tianzun is seemingly an elite superiorman -- even greater than that of Nezha's teacher Taiyi Zhenren.
After a fine duel had ensued between Muzha and Nezha and Li Jing attempted his first suicide, Guangfa Tianzun would appear. Once Guangfa Tianzun had ordered Li Jing to enter his cave for safety, he would personally settle things with the "spoiled brat" Nezha. Once Nezha's temper raged and he thrusted his spear continuously at Guangfa Tianzun, Guangfa Tianzun would side step and throw his legendary Seven Treasure Golden Lotus over Nezha's head. Nezha would lose consciousness quickly following this and would find himself tied to a large gold post while cuffed by golden rings. Soon enough, Guangfa Tianzun would order Jinzha, his student, to flog Nezha. Following the arrival of Nezha's teacher, Taiyi Zhenren, it would be revealed that the whole event between Li Jing and Nezha had been set by Taiyi Zhenren as a chance to teach Nezha some discipline. After Nezha greeted Guangfa Tianzun and his master - who was sitting to Guangfa Tianzun's right - Nezha would have a great level of inner resent.
Following the leave of Nezha and Li Jing upon Guangfa Tianzun's order, Guangfa Tianzun would not be seen again for quite some time.
References
Investiture of the Gods chapter 14 pages 167 - 169
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Literary character stubs
Three Treasures (三寶)
Three Treasures(三寶)
Alternative Names (異名):
三寶, Sarm Boe(Cantonese), san-pao(Mandarin), Three Treasures
The Three Treasures (Chinese: 三寶; Cantonese: Sarm Boe; Mandarin: san-pao), are basic concepts in Taoism.
According to orthodox Taoism, The Three Treasures are:
1. Tao (道);
2. Scriptures (Teachings of Tao) (經);
3. Teachers (of Tao) (師)
The three internal treasures are:
1. Tzing/Jing (精): essence; sexual energy;
2. Hey/Qi(氣): vital energy;
3. Sun/Shen(神): divinity; divine nature; true self; divine energy, spiritual energy
According to Taoism and Chinese Medicine (中醫), Sex cells (sperm/eggs) are produced from vital energies, and vital energies are produced from divinities.
A mundane person's vital energy and divinity (spiritual power) are weak because he often wastes his sexual energies;
A Tao-cultivator accumulates his Three Treasures, so that his sexual energy will be transmuted back into vital energy, and his vital energy will be transmuted back into divine energy, then his divinity (True Self) will become stronger, and he will achieve Tao.
In China, there is a wide-known short poem:
煉精化氣, 煉氣化神, 煉神還虛, 煉虛合道
which means:
Refine the sexual energy to transmute it back into vital energy;
Refine the vital energy to transmute it back into divine energy;
Refine the divine energy to transmute it back into the Emptiness;
And refine the Emptiness to dissolve in Tao.
References
"The Great Dictionary of Taoism"(道教大辭典), by Chinese Taoism Association, published in 1994, ISBN 7-5080-0112-5/B.054
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs | Chinese philosophy | Chinese traditional religion | Chinese thought | Pantheism
Alternative Names (異名):
三寶, Sarm Boe(Cantonese), san-pao(Mandarin), Three Treasures
The Three Treasures (Chinese: 三寶; Cantonese: Sarm Boe; Mandarin: san-pao), are basic concepts in Taoism.
According to orthodox Taoism, The Three Treasures are:
1. Tao (道);
2. Scriptures (Teachings of Tao) (經);
3. Teachers (of Tao) (師)
The three internal treasures are:
1. Tzing/Jing (精): essence; sexual energy;
2. Hey/Qi(氣): vital energy;
3. Sun/Shen(神): divinity; divine nature; true self; divine energy, spiritual energy
According to Taoism and Chinese Medicine (中醫), Sex cells (sperm/eggs) are produced from vital energies, and vital energies are produced from divinities.
A mundane person's vital energy and divinity (spiritual power) are weak because he often wastes his sexual energies;
A Tao-cultivator accumulates his Three Treasures, so that his sexual energy will be transmuted back into vital energy, and his vital energy will be transmuted back into divine energy, then his divinity (True Self) will become stronger, and he will achieve Tao.
In China, there is a wide-known short poem:
煉精化氣, 煉氣化神, 煉神還虛, 煉虛合道
which means:
Refine the sexual energy to transmute it back into vital energy;
Refine the vital energy to transmute it back into divine energy;
Refine the divine energy to transmute it back into the Emptiness;
And refine the Emptiness to dissolve in Tao.
References
"The Great Dictionary of Taoism"(道教大辭典), by Chinese Taoism Association, published in 1994, ISBN 7-5080-0112-5/B.054
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs | Chinese philosophy | Chinese traditional religion | Chinese thought | Pantheism
Three Pure Ones (三清)
Three Pure Ones(三清)
Alternative Names (異名):
三清, Sarm Tsing(Cantonese), San-ch'ing(Mandarin), Three Pure Ones, Three Pure Pellucid Ones, Three Clarities, Three Purities
The Three Pure Pellucid Ones (Chinese: 三清; Cantonese: Sarm Tsing; Mandarin: San-ch'ing), also translated as "The Three Pure Ones", "The Three Clarities", or "The Three Purities", are the three highest Taoist deities. They are:
the Jade Pure Pellucid One (玉清; Cantonese: Yoc-Tsing; Mandarin: Yu-ch'ing), also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Origin", or "The Universal Lord of the Primordial Beginning" (元始天尊, Yuan Shi Tian Zun).
the Upper Pure Pellucid One (上清; Cantonese: Serng Tsing; Mandarin: Shang-ch'ing), also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Divinities and Treasures", or "The Universal Lord of the Numinous Treasure" (靈寶天尊, Ling Bao Tian Zun).
the Ultra Pure Pellucid One (太清; Cantonese: Tai Tsing; Mandarin: T'ai-ch'ing), also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Tao and Virtues" or "The Universal Lord of the Way and its Virtue" (道德天尊, De Dai Tian Zun) or the "Ultra Supreme Elder Lord" (太上老君, Tai Shang Lao Zun).
According to Taoist Scriptures, The Universally Honoured One of Tao and Virtues had manifested many various incarnations to teach living beings, and Laozi is one of his incarnations.
The Three Pure Ones also represent the three divine natures of all living beings. They symbolize a kind of Taoist trinity: Tao begets One; one begets two; two begets three; three begets all things (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 42)
See also
Chinese mythology
Religion in China
Taoism
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Religion stubs | Chinese mythology stubs | Chinese mythology | Taoism | Triune gods | Chinese gods
Alternative Names (異名):
三清, Sarm Tsing(Cantonese), San-ch'ing(Mandarin), Three Pure Ones, Three Pure Pellucid Ones, Three Clarities, Three Purities
The Three Pure Pellucid Ones (Chinese: 三清; Cantonese: Sarm Tsing; Mandarin: San-ch'ing), also translated as "The Three Pure Ones", "The Three Clarities", or "The Three Purities", are the three highest Taoist deities. They are:
the Jade Pure Pellucid One (玉清; Cantonese: Yoc-Tsing; Mandarin: Yu-ch'ing), also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Origin", or "The Universal Lord of the Primordial Beginning" (元始天尊, Yuan Shi Tian Zun).
the Upper Pure Pellucid One (上清; Cantonese: Serng Tsing; Mandarin: Shang-ch'ing), also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Divinities and Treasures", or "The Universal Lord of the Numinous Treasure" (靈寶天尊, Ling Bao Tian Zun).
the Ultra Pure Pellucid One (太清; Cantonese: Tai Tsing; Mandarin: T'ai-ch'ing), also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Tao and Virtues" or "The Universal Lord of the Way and its Virtue" (道德天尊, De Dai Tian Zun) or the "Ultra Supreme Elder Lord" (太上老君, Tai Shang Lao Zun).
According to Taoist Scriptures, The Universally Honoured One of Tao and Virtues had manifested many various incarnations to teach living beings, and Laozi is one of his incarnations.
The Three Pure Ones also represent the three divine natures of all living beings. They symbolize a kind of Taoist trinity: Tao begets One; one begets two; two begets three; three begets all things (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 42)
See also
Chinese mythology
Religion in China
Taoism
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Religion stubs | Chinese mythology stubs | Chinese mythology | Taoism | Triune gods | Chinese gods
Taiyi Zhenren (太乙真人)
Taiyi Zhenren (太乙真人)
Alternative Names (異名):
太乙真人, Taiyi Zhenren
Taiyi Zhenren (Chinese: 太乙真人; Pinyin: Tàiyǐ Zhēnrén) is a famous character in Chinese folk tales. According to the opening of the famous novel Fengshen Yanyi, he is the reincarnation of the first emperor of the Shang dynasty, Shang Tang.
In Fengshen Yanyi, Taiyi Zhenren is the renowned teacher of Nezha, the celestial being destined to bring peace back to the Zhou Dynasty. Taiyi Zhenren is stationed atop Mount Champion and instructed Nezha to stay at Old Pond Pass - the place he had been born. After Nezha experienced great trouble with Ao Guang and went fleeing back to him, Taiyi Zhenren would at first be seen in deep thought; Zhenren would soon draw an "invisible juju" along his back however -- as to give him a safe passage to heaven through invisibility. After Nezha created further issues with a woman by the name of Madam Rockie, Taiyi Zhenren would soon be seen face to face with her in front of Taiyi Zhenren's cave which Nezha retreated into for protection. After having no choice but to be rid of Madam Rockie, he would start off by disabling the silk scarf which she stole from Nezha, and then trap her within his Nine-dragon-fire-net. While trapped in this net, Taiyi Zhenren summoned several dragons which unleashed a large volley of fire into the net; instantly killing Madam Rockie and turning her back into her original form as a molten rock.
References
Fengshen Yanyi chapter 12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs
Alternative Names (異名):
太乙真人, Taiyi Zhenren
Taiyi Zhenren (Chinese: 太乙真人; Pinyin: Tàiyǐ Zhēnrén) is a famous character in Chinese folk tales. According to the opening of the famous novel Fengshen Yanyi, he is the reincarnation of the first emperor of the Shang dynasty, Shang Tang.
In Fengshen Yanyi, Taiyi Zhenren is the renowned teacher of Nezha, the celestial being destined to bring peace back to the Zhou Dynasty. Taiyi Zhenren is stationed atop Mount Champion and instructed Nezha to stay at Old Pond Pass - the place he had been born. After Nezha experienced great trouble with Ao Guang and went fleeing back to him, Taiyi Zhenren would at first be seen in deep thought; Zhenren would soon draw an "invisible juju" along his back however -- as to give him a safe passage to heaven through invisibility. After Nezha created further issues with a woman by the name of Madam Rockie, Taiyi Zhenren would soon be seen face to face with her in front of Taiyi Zhenren's cave which Nezha retreated into for protection. After having no choice but to be rid of Madam Rockie, he would start off by disabling the silk scarf which she stole from Nezha, and then trap her within his Nine-dragon-fire-net. While trapped in this net, Taiyi Zhenren summoned several dragons which unleashed a large volley of fire into the net; instantly killing Madam Rockie and turning her back into her original form as a molten rock.
References
Fengshen Yanyi chapter 12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mythology
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs
Cihang Zhenren (慈航真人)
Cihang Zhenren (慈航真人)
Alternative Names (異名):
慈航真人, Cíháng Zhēnrén, Cihang Zhenren
Cihang Zhenren (Chinese: 慈航真人; Pinyin: Cíháng Zhēnrén), literally meaning Compassionate Travel True Person, or the True Person who traverses with Compassion, is a Taoist Immortal (Xian, 仙) who is considered by some to be identical to the Buddhist bodhisattva (菩薩) Guan Yin (觀音). Ci Hang Zhen Ren was said to be originally a Taoist immortal, then became known as a bodhisattva because of his endless willingness and effort in helping those in need. Records on the Immortal "Ci Hang Zhen Ren" could be found as early as the Yin-Shang Period in China.
In some Taoist records, Ci Hang Zhen Ren was said to one of the twelve disciples of Yuanshi Tianzun. In some Taoist temples, under the statute of Ci Hang Zhen Ren , there usually is a golden lion with eight additional smaller heads, which is known as the Nine Heads Golden Lion. It is said that the Immortal Ci Hang Zhen Ren can appear in the human realm in 32 different human forms("三十二应"), some of which are male, others female.
There are three anniversaries of Ci Hang Zhen Ren that have been celebrated -- The first is on the nineteenth day of the Flower Moon (Lunar Second Month). This was the day Ci Hang Zhen Ren prayed for the dead to be liberated from hell and blessings for the living (other legends say it was his birthday). The second is on the nineteenth day of the Lychee Moon (Lunar Sixth Month). This was the day he subjugated Ningbo Xian Zi (a sea spirit that caused maritime disasters) and successfully gained enlightenment. The third is on the nineteenth day of the Chrysanthemum Moon (Lunar Ninth Month). This was the day Ci Hang Zhen Ren accomplished immortality.
See also
Taoism
Chinese mythology
Guan Yin
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cihang_Zhenren
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Religion stubs | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
慈航真人, Cíháng Zhēnrén, Cihang Zhenren
Cihang Zhenren (Chinese: 慈航真人; Pinyin: Cíháng Zhēnrén), literally meaning Compassionate Travel True Person, or the True Person who traverses with Compassion, is a Taoist Immortal (Xian, 仙) who is considered by some to be identical to the Buddhist bodhisattva (菩薩) Guan Yin (觀音). Ci Hang Zhen Ren was said to be originally a Taoist immortal, then became known as a bodhisattva because of his endless willingness and effort in helping those in need. Records on the Immortal "Ci Hang Zhen Ren" could be found as early as the Yin-Shang Period in China.
In some Taoist records, Ci Hang Zhen Ren was said to one of the twelve disciples of Yuanshi Tianzun. In some Taoist temples, under the statute of Ci Hang Zhen Ren , there usually is a golden lion with eight additional smaller heads, which is known as the Nine Heads Golden Lion. It is said that the Immortal Ci Hang Zhen Ren can appear in the human realm in 32 different human forms("三十二应"), some of which are male, others female.
There are three anniversaries of Ci Hang Zhen Ren that have been celebrated -- The first is on the nineteenth day of the Flower Moon (Lunar Second Month). This was the day Ci Hang Zhen Ren prayed for the dead to be liberated from hell and blessings for the living (other legends say it was his birthday). The second is on the nineteenth day of the Lychee Moon (Lunar Sixth Month). This was the day he subjugated Ningbo Xian Zi (a sea spirit that caused maritime disasters) and successfully gained enlightenment. The third is on the nineteenth day of the Chrysanthemum Moon (Lunar Ninth Month). This was the day Ci Hang Zhen Ren accomplished immortality.
See also
Taoism
Chinese mythology
Guan Yin
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cihang_Zhenren
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Religion stubs | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Alternative Names (異名):
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Strictly speaking, the term "Taoist Sexual practices" is wrong, because such practices are denied by orthodox Taoism, and such practices cannot lead anyone to Tao.
The Dharn Scriptures (丹經, alchemic scripture), which lead Taoist practitioners to Immortality, are very profound, and are full of metaphors, therefore many people misinterpreted them, and according to their misinterpretations, many wrong techniques were developed. As A Poem that Enlightens Those Who Get Lost and Rectifies the Way to Tao says:
Some people try to return to the origin by eating fire and water; Some people try to recharge themselves by absorbing the energy of other people during sexual conducts, or even suck their lousy outflows; Some people face upward to the sky to absorb the energy of the sun and the moon, the PUG of the earth is called by them "the WHUN of the heaven"; Some people swallow their saliva which is regarded as the essence of creations and transformations; Some people reject all the five flavors and think that is equal to Reality Cultivation
Those techniques are regarded by orthodox Taoism as Aside-Doors(旁門), or Aside-Doors and Wrong Ways(旁門左道), especially, those techniques involving sexual conducts are called "The Dharn Techniques of Slurry and Sewage" (泥水丹法).
The sexual energy is one of The Three Treasures (Taoism), a Taoist cultivator should save it instead of wasting it.
The Yellow Court Scripture (黃庭經) says:
The Immortals and Taoist cultivators do not have any other special things, they simply accumulate their essential energy to achieve the Reality.
The Jade Green Emptiness Tractate (翠虛篇) says:
Do not say that sexual conducts can lead you to Immortality, and exchange your gold for tiles. When a tree's root is withered, even if its leaves are still green, that is useless. When such a practitioner is enjoying the waving in his Energy-Ocean, he is going to die as quick as a shooting arrow.
In fact, A Taoist monk or nun does not have sex with any one, and does not have any intimate relationship with anyone of the opposite sex -- This is a very important Taoist precept. And the true alchemic practice does not violate any Taoist precepts.
Being able to interpret the scriptures correctly requires lots of merits. If one has not enough merits, no matter how smart he is, no matter he is a scholar, scientist, president, emperor, etc., he just cannot understand the true meanings of the scriptures. Therefore, the scriptures and masters all persuade the practitioners to do virtuous deeds to accumulate merits.
The Scripture of Forty-nine Chapters, by Ultra Supreme Emptiness Emperor, the Heavenly Lord says:
If one has accumulated fully one thousand merits, both his body and his divinity (souls) will become immortal; if his merits are near but less than one thousand, his divinity will become immortal but his physical body will decay; if his contributions benefit trillions of people, he will be a guest of the Jade Pure Pellucid One (The Original Universal Lord). He will slough off his mundane body and become an immortal person, and the immortal person will then become a Real Person.
The Ultra Supreme One's Tractate on Actions and Their Retributions says:
He who seeks to become a heavenly Immortal should accumulate 1300 virtuous merits; and he who seeks to become an earthly Immortal should accumulate 300 virtuous merits.
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs
Alternative Names (異名):
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Strictly speaking, the term "Taoist Sexual practices" is wrong, because such practices are denied by orthodox Taoism, and such practices cannot lead anyone to Tao.
The Dharn Scriptures (丹經, alchemic scripture), which lead Taoist practitioners to Immortality, are very profound, and are full of metaphors, therefore many people misinterpreted them, and according to their misinterpretations, many wrong techniques were developed. As A Poem that Enlightens Those Who Get Lost and Rectifies the Way to Tao says:
Some people try to return to the origin by eating fire and water; Some people try to recharge themselves by absorbing the energy of other people during sexual conducts, or even suck their lousy outflows; Some people face upward to the sky to absorb the energy of the sun and the moon, the PUG of the earth is called by them "the WHUN of the heaven"; Some people swallow their saliva which is regarded as the essence of creations and transformations; Some people reject all the five flavors and think that is equal to Reality Cultivation
Those techniques are regarded by orthodox Taoism as Aside-Doors(旁門), or Aside-Doors and Wrong Ways(旁門左道), especially, those techniques involving sexual conducts are called "The Dharn Techniques of Slurry and Sewage" (泥水丹法).
The sexual energy is one of The Three Treasures (Taoism), a Taoist cultivator should save it instead of wasting it.
The Yellow Court Scripture (黃庭經) says:
The Immortals and Taoist cultivators do not have any other special things, they simply accumulate their essential energy to achieve the Reality.
The Jade Green Emptiness Tractate (翠虛篇) says:
Do not say that sexual conducts can lead you to Immortality, and exchange your gold for tiles. When a tree's root is withered, even if its leaves are still green, that is useless. When such a practitioner is enjoying the waving in his Energy-Ocean, he is going to die as quick as a shooting arrow.
In fact, A Taoist monk or nun does not have sex with any one, and does not have any intimate relationship with anyone of the opposite sex -- This is a very important Taoist precept. And the true alchemic practice does not violate any Taoist precepts.
Being able to interpret the scriptures correctly requires lots of merits. If one has not enough merits, no matter how smart he is, no matter he is a scholar, scientist, president, emperor, etc., he just cannot understand the true meanings of the scriptures. Therefore, the scriptures and masters all persuade the practitioners to do virtuous deeds to accumulate merits.
The Scripture of Forty-nine Chapters, by Ultra Supreme Emptiness Emperor, the Heavenly Lord says:
If one has accumulated fully one thousand merits, both his body and his divinity (souls) will become immortal; if his merits are near but less than one thousand, his divinity will become immortal but his physical body will decay; if his contributions benefit trillions of people, he will be a guest of the Jade Pure Pellucid One (The Original Universal Lord). He will slough off his mundane body and become an immortal person, and the immortal person will then become a Real Person.
The Ultra Supreme One's Tractate on Actions and Their Retributions says:
He who seeks to become a heavenly Immortal should accumulate 1300 virtuous merits; and he who seeks to become an earthly Immortal should accumulate 300 virtuous merits.
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs
Randeng Daoren (燃灯道人)
Randeng Daoren (燃灯道人)
Alternative Names (異名):
燃灯道人, Randeng Daoren
Randeng Daoren (Chinese: 燃灯道人; Pinyin: Rándēng Dàorén; literally meaning Burning Lamp Taoist) is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi. He would be renowned as the Superiorman of Mount Condor, Intuition Cave. His role originated from Dipankara, a Buddha in Buddhism.
Following the incident with Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun and Taiyi Zhenren, Nezha would once again see an opportunity to strike down his father, Li Jing and end his great hatred. Soon enough, Randeng Daoren would see Li Jing and immediately tell him to hide behind him less he be killed. Once Nezha appeared directly before Randeng Daoren, Randeng Daoren would say the words, "I thought this problem had been resolved in the Cloud Top Cave. It is not good for you to rekindle your revenge again."
Soon enough, Randeng Daoren would thrust Li Jing forward to fight. Due to the fact that Randeng Daoren had already spat on Li Jing's back - which gave him magical powers - Li Jing was a match for Nezha at last. Nezha, who easily saw the trickery, stabbed his spear at Randeng Daoren; Randeng Daoren easily negated his spear by forming a large white lotus from his own mouth. Once Nezha attempted to attack Randeng Daoren once again, Randeng Daoren had no choice but to unleash a purple cloud from his sleeve -- a purple cloud that would trap Nezha within a large burning golden tower. Following this, Randeng Daoren could effectively control Nezha. However, he decided it best to give the teach the technique to Li Jing less Nezha rebels again. Thus, Randeng Daoren takes his leave after ensuring the Zhou Dynasty into the trust of Li Jing, who is now Li, the Pagoda Bearer.
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
燃灯道人, Randeng Daoren
Randeng Daoren (Chinese: 燃灯道人; Pinyin: Rándēng Dàorén; literally meaning Burning Lamp Taoist) is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi. He would be renowned as the Superiorman of Mount Condor, Intuition Cave. His role originated from Dipankara, a Buddha in Buddhism.
Following the incident with Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun and Taiyi Zhenren, Nezha would once again see an opportunity to strike down his father, Li Jing and end his great hatred. Soon enough, Randeng Daoren would see Li Jing and immediately tell him to hide behind him less he be killed. Once Nezha appeared directly before Randeng Daoren, Randeng Daoren would say the words, "I thought this problem had been resolved in the Cloud Top Cave. It is not good for you to rekindle your revenge again."
Soon enough, Randeng Daoren would thrust Li Jing forward to fight. Due to the fact that Randeng Daoren had already spat on Li Jing's back - which gave him magical powers - Li Jing was a match for Nezha at last. Nezha, who easily saw the trickery, stabbed his spear at Randeng Daoren; Randeng Daoren easily negated his spear by forming a large white lotus from his own mouth. Once Nezha attempted to attack Randeng Daoren once again, Randeng Daoren had no choice but to unleash a purple cloud from his sleeve -- a purple cloud that would trap Nezha within a large burning golden tower. Following this, Randeng Daoren could effectively control Nezha. However, he decided it best to give the teach the technique to Li Jing less Nezha rebels again. Thus, Randeng Daoren takes his leave after ensuring the Zhou Dynasty into the trust of Li Jing, who is now Li, the Pagoda Bearer.
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Rainbow body (虹光身, 光蘊身)
Rainbow body (虹光身, 光蘊身)
Alternative Names (異名):
虹光身, Hong Gworng Sun, 光蘊身, Gworng Whun Sun, Rainbow body
A rainbow body (Chinese: 虹光身 / 光蘊身; Cantonese: Hong Gworng Sun / Gworng Whun Sun; Tibetan language: Jalü or Jalus (Wylie 'ja' lus ) is a body not made of flesh, but consists of pure light.
Besides secret and unrevealed scriptures, the rainbow body is also mentioned in some Mahayana Sutras, for example, Mahayana Secret Sublime Sutra (大乘密嚴經, Taisho Tripitaka 0681, 0682) says:
They had therefore achieved the Wisdom Concentration, and acquired Mind-Created Bodies, which are adorned with mighty supernatural powers. Such bodies are free of any interspaces, bones, or substances, they are like the sun and the moon, like rainbows, electricity, finest gold, luminous pearls, Sphatikas, Pravadas, Hridaras, Campakas, Pavonine Flowers and Moons, and the images from mirrors.
In Dzogchen
The rainbow body is the physical mastery state of Dzogchen of the Nyingmapa Mantrayana and the Bönpo where the trikaya is in accord and the nirmanakaya is congruent with bodymind and the integrity of the mindstream (the heartmind) is realised as Dharmakaya. The corporeal body of the realised Dzogchenpa which is now hallowed, returns to the pure primordial energetic essence-quality of the Five Pure Lights of the five elemental processes of which it is constituted through phowa and the Bardo of Mahasamadhi or Parinirvana. This is then projected as the mindstream through the process of phowa. The realiser of Jalus resides in the 'once upon a time' time out of time, timeless eternal state that is considered a mystery.
According to Dzogchen lore, the attainment of the Rainbow Body is the sign of complete realisation of the Dzogchen view. As Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (2002: p.141) states: “The realised Dzogchen practitioner, no longer deluded by apparent substantiality or dualism such as mind and matter, releases the energy of the elements that compose the physical body at the time of death”.
More specifically, the rainbow body is constituted by the Five Pure Lights. When the view of Dzogchen and the integrity of the mindstream which links the Trikaya is realised prior to the death-Bardo (Skt. antarabhava), the bodymind of the Nirmanakaya (Tib. sprul sku) Dzogchenpa enters samadhi (Tib. ting nge ‘dzin) and commences Phowa or the ‘transferral of consciousness’ into the constituent Five Pure Lights of the Sambhogakaya (Tib. longs sku) to the Dharmakaya, sometimes leaving the non-living faecal elements of the bodymind such as hair and nails.
There have been a number of documented sightings of the Jalus process through the Bardo of death which may take a number of days to complete. The bodymind of the Nirmanakaya in samadhi, all the time decreasing its dimentionality as the constituent Five Pure Lights of the mindstream are transmuted into the 'glorious body' of Sambhogakaya.
From the case studies of those who have realised the rainbow body the practices of tregchöd and thödgal are key.
Those who have realised the rainbow body according to tradition
Togden Ugyen Tendzin
Khenpo A-chos
In 1953 Ayu Khandro realised the rainbow body.
Cross-cultural correlates
Though the Jalus is particular to Dzogchen, there are interesting cross-cultural correlates:
In the Judeo-Christian tradition refer "resurrection body" and "glorified body".
In Taoism, a high level Xian (仙) can transmute his flesh body into light (photons), can transform himself to anything, and can have many dividing bodies, so that he can appear as various forms synchronously at many places, or be invisible to human eyes. When his body disperses, he is the diffuse uncreated(pre-cosmic) energy; when the energy converge, he can appear as a living being. Such an Immortal is also called Real Person (真人) by Taoist Scriptures.
In Tantrism and some schools of yoga, a comparable state is called "vajra body," or the "adamantine body".
In Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, refer the "radiant body."
Buddhist terms | Chinese mythology | Dzogchen | Taoism
Alternative Names (異名):
虹光身, Hong Gworng Sun, 光蘊身, Gworng Whun Sun, Rainbow body
A rainbow body (Chinese: 虹光身 / 光蘊身; Cantonese: Hong Gworng Sun / Gworng Whun Sun; Tibetan language: Jalü or Jalus (Wylie 'ja' lus ) is a body not made of flesh, but consists of pure light.
Besides secret and unrevealed scriptures, the rainbow body is also mentioned in some Mahayana Sutras, for example, Mahayana Secret Sublime Sutra (大乘密嚴經, Taisho Tripitaka 0681, 0682) says:
They had therefore achieved the Wisdom Concentration, and acquired Mind-Created Bodies, which are adorned with mighty supernatural powers. Such bodies are free of any interspaces, bones, or substances, they are like the sun and the moon, like rainbows, electricity, finest gold, luminous pearls, Sphatikas, Pravadas, Hridaras, Campakas, Pavonine Flowers and Moons, and the images from mirrors.
In Dzogchen
The rainbow body is the physical mastery state of Dzogchen of the Nyingmapa Mantrayana and the Bönpo where the trikaya is in accord and the nirmanakaya is congruent with bodymind and the integrity of the mindstream (the heartmind) is realised as Dharmakaya. The corporeal body of the realised Dzogchenpa which is now hallowed, returns to the pure primordial energetic essence-quality of the Five Pure Lights of the five elemental processes of which it is constituted through phowa and the Bardo of Mahasamadhi or Parinirvana. This is then projected as the mindstream through the process of phowa. The realiser of Jalus resides in the 'once upon a time' time out of time, timeless eternal state that is considered a mystery.
According to Dzogchen lore, the attainment of the Rainbow Body is the sign of complete realisation of the Dzogchen view. As Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (2002: p.141) states: “The realised Dzogchen practitioner, no longer deluded by apparent substantiality or dualism such as mind and matter, releases the energy of the elements that compose the physical body at the time of death”.
More specifically, the rainbow body is constituted by the Five Pure Lights. When the view of Dzogchen and the integrity of the mindstream which links the Trikaya is realised prior to the death-Bardo (Skt. antarabhava), the bodymind of the Nirmanakaya (Tib. sprul sku) Dzogchenpa enters samadhi (Tib. ting nge ‘dzin) and commences Phowa or the ‘transferral of consciousness’ into the constituent Five Pure Lights of the Sambhogakaya (Tib. longs sku) to the Dharmakaya, sometimes leaving the non-living faecal elements of the bodymind such as hair and nails.
There have been a number of documented sightings of the Jalus process through the Bardo of death which may take a number of days to complete. The bodymind of the Nirmanakaya in samadhi, all the time decreasing its dimentionality as the constituent Five Pure Lights of the mindstream are transmuted into the 'glorious body' of Sambhogakaya.
From the case studies of those who have realised the rainbow body the practices of tregchöd and thödgal are key.
Those who have realised the rainbow body according to tradition
Togden Ugyen Tendzin
Khenpo A-chos
In 1953 Ayu Khandro realised the rainbow body.
Cross-cultural correlates
Though the Jalus is particular to Dzogchen, there are interesting cross-cultural correlates:
In the Judeo-Christian tradition refer "resurrection body" and "glorified body".
In Taoism, a high level Xian (仙) can transmute his flesh body into light (photons), can transform himself to anything, and can have many dividing bodies, so that he can appear as various forms synchronously at many places, or be invisible to human eyes. When his body disperses, he is the diffuse uncreated(pre-cosmic) energy; when the energy converge, he can appear as a living being. Such an Immortal is also called Real Person (真人) by Taoist Scriptures.
In Tantrism and some schools of yoga, a comparable state is called "vajra body," or the "adamantine body".
In Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, refer the "radiant body."
Buddhist terms | Chinese mythology | Dzogchen | Taoism
Qingxu Daode Zhenjun (清虛道德真君)
Qingxu Daode Zhenjun (清虛道德真君)
Alternative Names (異名):
清虛道德真君, Qingxu Daode Zhenjun
Qingxu Daode Zhenju (Chinese: 清虛道德真君; Pinyin: Qīngxū Dàodé Zhēnjūn) a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods.
Daode Zhenjun is the renowned superiorman of Mount Green Top, Purple Cave. At one point in time during the Yang Ren incident, Zhenjun would realize that Yang Ren's time is not yet over, and he thus needs to exist for a longer period of time. Due to this, Insouciant would unleash his Yellow Kerchiefed Genie to scoop up Yang Ren and effectively bring him to his mountain by creating a large dust storm. Next, Insouciant would place a set amount of magic on both of Yang Ren's eyes (because Yang Ren previously had his eyes removed as punishment by King Zhou of Shang). Following this, Zhenjun would blow on Yang Ren's face and tell him to awaken. Following this point, Zhenjun would have Yang Ren as his disciple for the remainder of his alloted time.
At one point in time when Huang Feihu had been completely surrounded by Wen Zhong's forces, Zhenjun would engulf Huang and his entourage in a sleep-inducing fog and would then move them outside the valley. As seen following this, Zhenjun has the ability to create clone forms of any individual at will (due to his magic gourd). Some time later when Huang had been struck in the arm by Chen Tong's magical dart, Zhenjun would summon his disciple, Huang Tianhua, and tell him to quickly save his father -- who is in difficulty. Before the leave of his disciple, Zhenjun would first hand Tianhua a flower basket, his Non-Evil Sword, and tell him to hurry back once his objective is completed
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
清虛道德真君, Qingxu Daode Zhenjun
Qingxu Daode Zhenju (Chinese: 清虛道德真君; Pinyin: Qīngxū Dàodé Zhēnjūn) a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods.
Daode Zhenjun is the renowned superiorman of Mount Green Top, Purple Cave. At one point in time during the Yang Ren incident, Zhenjun would realize that Yang Ren's time is not yet over, and he thus needs to exist for a longer period of time. Due to this, Insouciant would unleash his Yellow Kerchiefed Genie to scoop up Yang Ren and effectively bring him to his mountain by creating a large dust storm. Next, Insouciant would place a set amount of magic on both of Yang Ren's eyes (because Yang Ren previously had his eyes removed as punishment by King Zhou of Shang). Following this, Zhenjun would blow on Yang Ren's face and tell him to awaken. Following this point, Zhenjun would have Yang Ren as his disciple for the remainder of his alloted time.
At one point in time when Huang Feihu had been completely surrounded by Wen Zhong's forces, Zhenjun would engulf Huang and his entourage in a sleep-inducing fog and would then move them outside the valley. As seen following this, Zhenjun has the ability to create clone forms of any individual at will (due to his magic gourd). Some time later when Huang had been struck in the arm by Chen Tong's magical dart, Zhenjun would summon his disciple, Huang Tianhua, and tell him to quickly save his father -- who is in difficulty. Before the leave of his disciple, Zhenjun would first hand Tianhua a flower basket, his Non-Evil Sword, and tell him to hurry back once his objective is completed
Superiormen of Fengshen Yanyi | Fengshen Yanyi characters | Taoism | Chinese gods | Chinese mythology
Magu (麻姑)
Magu (麻姑)
Alternative Names (異名):
麻姑(Chinese), Mágū(pinyin), Ma Ku(Wade-Giles), Ma Gu, Magu, Hemp Maid(literally)
Ma Gu (Chinese: 麻姑; pinyin: Mágū; Wade-Giles: Ma Ku; literally "Hemp Maid") is a legendary Daoist xian (仙 "immortal; transcendent") associated with the elixir of life, and symbolic protector of females in Chinese mythology. Stories in Chinese literature describe Ma Gu as a beautiful young woman with long birdlike fingernails, while early myths associate her with caves. Ma Gu xian shou (麻姑獻壽 "Ma Gu gives her birthday greetings") is a popular motif in Chinese art.
The name
Ma Gu's name compounds two common Chinese words. Ma (麻, pictographically showing plants drying in a 广 "shed, shack") originally meant "hemp, Cannabis sativa" (cultivated in China prior to 4000 BCE, Li 1974); but has extended meanings of "sesame" (zhima 芝麻), " numbed; tingling" (mazui 麻醉 "anesthetic; narcotic"), "pockmarked; pitted" (mazi 麻子 "hemp seed, pockmark"), and an uncommon Chinese surname. Gu (姑, combining the 女 "woman" radical and a gu 古 "old" phonetic) is primarily used in female Chinese kinship terms for "father's sister" (gugu 姑姑), "husband's sister" (dagu/xiaogu 大/小姑 "elder/younger sister-in-law"), and "husband's mother" (wenggu 翁姑 "husband's parents"); gu can also mean "young woman, maiden, maid" (guniang 姑娘 "girl; daughter; prostitute"), and religious titles (daogu 道姑 "Daoist priestess", nigu 尼姑 "Buddhist nun"). Accurately translating Ma Gu into English is problematic, depending upon whether she was a "maid", "priestess", or "goddess" of "hemp", "marijuana", or something else. Victor H. Mair (1990) proposed that Chinese wu (巫 "shaman"), pronounced *myag in Old Chinese, was a loanword from Old Persian *maguš "magician; magi", hypothetically comparable with Ma Gu.
Chinese Ma Gu (麻姑) is called Mago in Korean and Mako in Japanese. Mago (마고, 麻姑) is a cosmogonic goddess in Korean creation myths. Hwang (2004:1) calls her "the Great Goddess" and proposes "Magoism, the archaic gynocentric cultural matrix of East Asia, which derives from the worship of Mago as creatress, progenitress, and sovereign." According to the Budoji, Korean mytho-history began with the "Era of Mago." Japanese Mako (麻姑) is usually a literary reference to the Chinese story (below) about Ma Gu's long fingernails, for instance, Mako sōyō (麻姑掻痒 "Ma Gu scratches the itch") metaphorically means "things going like one imagined".
Cultic origins
While Ma Gu folktales are familiar in East Asia, the sociologist Wolfram Eberhard (1943, 1968:123-126) was the first Western scholar to analyze them. He categorized Ma Gu under a cultural chain of Yao love songs and festivals. Based on references in Chinese texts, Eberhard proposed two centers for the Ma Gu cult, in the present-day provinces of Jiangxi and Hubei. Evidence for an "original cultic center" (1968:124) near Nancheng (南城) county in southwestern Jiangxi includes several place names, including two mountains. The famous Ma Gu Shan (麻姑山 "Ma Gu Mountain") is located in Nancheng, and Daoists regard its Danxia Dong (丹霞洞 "Cinnabar Cloud Grotto", see Hahn 2007:29-30) as the 28th of 36 sacred dongtian (洞天 "Grotto-heavens, heaven-reaching grottos"). The famous Tang Dynasty Daoist calligrapher Yan Zhengqing visited Mt Magu and inscribed the Magu Shan Xiantan Ji (痲姑山仙墰記 "Record of the Mountain Platform where Magu Ascended to Immortality"). A second Ma Gu Mountain is located in Jianchang county (建昌, near Nanfeng 南豐). Ma Gu Wine (麻姑酒) is made in Jianchang and nearby Linchuan. In addition, Ma Gu is an alternate name for Hua Gu (華姑 "flower maid") Mountain in Xuancheng county of Anhui. Evidence for a secondary area for the Ma Gu cult in Hubei includes the Song dynasty temple near Hankou, along with the Ma Gu Temple on Mount Heng. Several early folktales from Sichuan province associate Ma Gu with caves and one describes a shaman who invoked her. Regarding the traditions that she was born in Jiangxi and became an immortal xian in Shandong, Eberhard says.
This ascent to heaven, typical of Taoists, connects her with the immortal saints, and indeed she is regarded as a symbol of long life and rebirth, and therefore in the Chinese drama, appears a good omen during birthday celebrations. (1968:124)
Early descriptions
Campany (2002:259-270) provides details of Ma Gu mythology in his annotated translation of Ge Hong's Shenxian Zhuan (神仙傳 "Biographies of Divine immortals", ca. 317 CE). He compares four Chinese textual variations of Ma Gu stories.
(1) The Shenxian Zhuan Daoist hagiography of Wang Yuan (王遠, or Wang Fangping 王方平) and Ma Gu has the longest early descriptions of her. Wang was supposedly a Confucianist scholar who quit his official post during the reign (146-168 CE) of Emperor Huan of Han and went into the mountains to became a Daoist xian. Later, while traveling in Wu (modern Zhejiang), Wang met Cai Jing 蔡經, whose physiognomy indicated he was destined to become an immortal, and taught him the basic techniques. After Cai had been gone for "over a decade", he suddenly returned home, looking like a young man, announced that Lord Wang would visit on the "seventh day of the seventh month" (later associated with the Cowherd and Weaver Girl lovers' festival), and ordered preparations for a feast. After Wang and his celestial entourage arrived on the auspicious "double-seven" day, he invited Ma Gu to join their celebration because "It has been a long time since you were in the human realm." She replied by invisible messenger. "Maid Ma bows and says: 'Without our realizing it, more than five hundred years have passed since our last meeting!'" After apologizing that she would be delayed owing to an appointment at Penglai Mountain (a legendary island in the Eastern Sea, where the elixir of immortality grows), Ma arrived four hours later.
She appeared to be a handsome woman of eighteen or nineteen; her hair was done up, and several loose strands hung down to her waist. Her gown had a pattern of colors, but it was not woven; it shimmered, dazzling the eyes, and was indescribable – it was not of this world. She approached and bowed to Wang, who bade her rise. When they were both seated, they called for the travelling canteen. The servings were piled up on gold platters and in jade cups without limit. There were rare delicacies, many of them made from flowers and fruits, and their fragrance permeated the air inside [Cai's home] and out. When the meat was sliced and served, [in flavor] it resembled broiled mo, and was announced as kirin meat.
Maid Ma declared: "Since I entered your service, I have seen the Eastern Sea turn to mulberry fields three times. As one proceeded across to Penglai, the water came only up to one's waist. I wonder whether it will turn to dry land once again." Wang answered with a sigh, "Oh, the sages all say that the Eastern Sea will once again become blowing dust." (tr. Campany 2002:262)
When Ma Gu was introduced to the women in Cai's family, she transformed some rice into pearls as a trick to avoid the unclean influences of a recent childbirth. Then Wang presented Cai's family with a strong liquor from "the celestial kitchens", and warned that it was "unfit for drinking by ordinary people". Even after diluting the liquor with water, everyone became intoxicated and wanted more.
Maid Ma's fingernails resembled bird claws. When Cai Jing noticed them, he thought to himself, "My back itches. Wouldn't it be great if I could get her to scratch my back with those nails?" Now, Wang Yuan knew what Cai was saying in his heart, so he ordered him bound and whipped, chiding, "Maid Ma is a divine personage. How dare you think that her nails could scratch your back!" The whip lashing Cai's back was the only thing visible; no one was seen wielding it. Wang added, "My whippings are not given without cause." (tr. Campany 2002:263)
Some later versions of this legend say Ma was Wang's sister. The poet Li Bai immortalized two Classical Chinese expressions from this story. Ma Gu saobei (麻姑掻背 "Ma Gu scratches [my] back") refers to her extraordinary fingernails. Canghai sangtian (滄海桑田 "blue ocean [turns to] mulberry fields") means "great changes over the course of time"; Joseph Needham (1959:599-600) says early Daoists observed seashells in mountainous rocks and recognized the vast scale of geologic transformations.
(2) The Lieyi zhuan (列異傳 "Arrayed Marvels", late 2nd or early 3rd century), attributed to Cao Pi (187-226 CE) has three stories about Wang Fangping.
The third gives a version of the incident of Cai Jing's inappropriate fantasy concerning Maid Ma and her luxuriant four-inch nails. Here, Cai Jing's home is located in Dongyang; he is not whipped but rather flung to the ground, his eyes running blood; and Maid Ma herself, identified as "a divine transcendent" (shenxian), is the one who reads his thoughts and does the punishing. (Campany 2002:268)
Kohn's (1993:355-358, "The Hemp Lady") translation includes a woodblock from the illustrated Zengxiang Liexian zhuan.
(3) The Yiyuan (異苑 "Garden of Marvels", early 5th century), by Liu Jingshu (劉敬叔), records a story about Mei Gu (梅姑 "Plum Maid") or Ma Gu, and suggests her cult originated during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE).
During Qin times, there was a Temple to Maid Mei 梅 – or, as one version has it, Maid Ma – beside a lake. When alive, she had possessed arts of the Dao. She could walk on water in her shoes. Later she violated the laws of the Dao, and her husband, out of anger, murdered her and dumped her body in the lake. Following the current, it floated on the waves until it reached the [present site of] the temple. A subordinate shaman directed that she be encoffined but not immediately buried. Very soon a square, lacquered coffin appeared in the shrine hall. [From then on], at the end and beginning of each lunar month, people there could make out through the fog an indistinct figure, wearing shoes. Fishing and hunting were prohibited in the area of the temple, and violators would always become lost or drown. Shamans said that it was because the Maid had suffered a painful death and hater to see other beings cruelly killed. (tr. Campany 2006:269)
Campany reads this legend to describe founding a temple, probably on Lake Gongting, and translates these "shaman" and "shrine" references in the future tense. Compare the present tense translation of Miyakawa (1979:86) who interprets her body floating to an existing temple.
(4) The Qi Xie ji (齊諧記, 6th century) associates Ma Gu with snakes. It describes her as a commoner from Fuyang, Zhejiang, rather than a Daoist transcendent, who loved raw meat hash. She captured a strange beast resembling a sea turtle and a serpent, and ate it with her companion Hua Ben (華本 "Flower Root"). When Ma started choking, Hau could see a snake flicking its tongue inside her mouth. She later enjoyed a meal at Hua's house, but upon learning that they had eaten snake meat, she vomited blood and died. Campany concludes.
This story hints at an even older stratum of legend behind the Maid Ma cult: like other territorial gods known to Chinese religious history, she may have begun as a theriomorphic deity (perhaps snake-headed) who gradually metamorphosed into a human being and finally – the process culminating in Ge Hong's Traditions narrative – into a full-fledged transcendent. Seen in this light, several details of the Traditions hagiography might be read as betraying these chthonic origins. Among these are Maid Ma's long nails, the featuring of meat dishes among the fantastic foods served by the travelling canteen, and the scene describing the "summoning" of Maid Ma, which is reminiscent of shamanic invocations of deities to attend spirit-writing sessions. (2002:269-270)
Hemp goddess?
Ma Gu can be literally translated "Hemp Goddess/Priestess". The Way of Infinite Harmony is a modern Daoist sect that worships Ma Gu and espouses the spiritual use of cannabis.
Hellmut Wilhelm's book review (1944:213) of Eberhard's original German book (1943) suggested that Ma Gu was associated with cannabis. Eberhard dismissed this hypothesis in the English version.
I have no indication that the goddess ever was a goddess of the hemp plant (ma) as H. Wilhelm surmised (Monumenta Serica vol. 9, p. 213 note 9). She often wears aboriginal attire, a dress with a collar made of leaves, but not of hemp, which only sometimes has developed, according to a late fashion into a cape of cloth. (1968:125)
Campany mentions the Chinese use of ma "hemp" fibers as a weaving material.
(Note also her shimmering, multicolored gown, "not of this world"; but we are told that it was not woven, at least not in an ordinary way.) I know of no attempt to explain the name Ma gu (literally, "the Hemp Maiden"). (2002:267, fn. 487)
The cultural and linguistic origins of Ma Gu remain an open question.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Gu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Taoism | Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
麻姑(Chinese), Mágū(pinyin), Ma Ku(Wade-Giles), Ma Gu, Magu, Hemp Maid(literally)
Ma Gu (Chinese: 麻姑; pinyin: Mágū; Wade-Giles: Ma Ku; literally "Hemp Maid") is a legendary Daoist xian (仙 "immortal; transcendent") associated with the elixir of life, and symbolic protector of females in Chinese mythology. Stories in Chinese literature describe Ma Gu as a beautiful young woman with long birdlike fingernails, while early myths associate her with caves. Ma Gu xian shou (麻姑獻壽 "Ma Gu gives her birthday greetings") is a popular motif in Chinese art.
The name
Ma Gu's name compounds two common Chinese words. Ma (麻, pictographically showing plants drying in a 广 "shed, shack") originally meant "hemp, Cannabis sativa" (cultivated in China prior to 4000 BCE, Li 1974); but has extended meanings of "sesame" (zhima 芝麻), " numbed; tingling" (mazui 麻醉 "anesthetic; narcotic"), "pockmarked; pitted" (mazi 麻子 "hemp seed, pockmark"), and an uncommon Chinese surname. Gu (姑, combining the 女 "woman" radical and a gu 古 "old" phonetic) is primarily used in female Chinese kinship terms for "father's sister" (gugu 姑姑), "husband's sister" (dagu/xiaogu 大/小姑 "elder/younger sister-in-law"), and "husband's mother" (wenggu 翁姑 "husband's parents"); gu can also mean "young woman, maiden, maid" (guniang 姑娘 "girl; daughter; prostitute"), and religious titles (daogu 道姑 "Daoist priestess", nigu 尼姑 "Buddhist nun"). Accurately translating Ma Gu into English is problematic, depending upon whether she was a "maid", "priestess", or "goddess" of "hemp", "marijuana", or something else. Victor H. Mair (1990) proposed that Chinese wu (巫 "shaman"), pronounced *myag in Old Chinese, was a loanword from Old Persian *maguš "magician; magi", hypothetically comparable with Ma Gu.
Chinese Ma Gu (麻姑) is called Mago in Korean and Mako in Japanese. Mago (마고, 麻姑) is a cosmogonic goddess in Korean creation myths. Hwang (2004:1) calls her "the Great Goddess" and proposes "Magoism, the archaic gynocentric cultural matrix of East Asia, which derives from the worship of Mago as creatress, progenitress, and sovereign." According to the Budoji, Korean mytho-history began with the "Era of Mago." Japanese Mako (麻姑) is usually a literary reference to the Chinese story (below) about Ma Gu's long fingernails, for instance, Mako sōyō (麻姑掻痒 "Ma Gu scratches the itch") metaphorically means "things going like one imagined".
Cultic origins
While Ma Gu folktales are familiar in East Asia, the sociologist Wolfram Eberhard (1943, 1968:123-126) was the first Western scholar to analyze them. He categorized Ma Gu under a cultural chain of Yao love songs and festivals. Based on references in Chinese texts, Eberhard proposed two centers for the Ma Gu cult, in the present-day provinces of Jiangxi and Hubei. Evidence for an "original cultic center" (1968:124) near Nancheng (南城) county in southwestern Jiangxi includes several place names, including two mountains. The famous Ma Gu Shan (麻姑山 "Ma Gu Mountain") is located in Nancheng, and Daoists regard its Danxia Dong (丹霞洞 "Cinnabar Cloud Grotto", see Hahn 2007:29-30) as the 28th of 36 sacred dongtian (洞天 "Grotto-heavens, heaven-reaching grottos"). The famous Tang Dynasty Daoist calligrapher Yan Zhengqing visited Mt Magu and inscribed the Magu Shan Xiantan Ji (痲姑山仙墰記 "Record of the Mountain Platform where Magu Ascended to Immortality"). A second Ma Gu Mountain is located in Jianchang county (建昌, near Nanfeng 南豐). Ma Gu Wine (麻姑酒) is made in Jianchang and nearby Linchuan. In addition, Ma Gu is an alternate name for Hua Gu (華姑 "flower maid") Mountain in Xuancheng county of Anhui. Evidence for a secondary area for the Ma Gu cult in Hubei includes the Song dynasty temple near Hankou, along with the Ma Gu Temple on Mount Heng. Several early folktales from Sichuan province associate Ma Gu with caves and one describes a shaman who invoked her. Regarding the traditions that she was born in Jiangxi and became an immortal xian in Shandong, Eberhard says.
This ascent to heaven, typical of Taoists, connects her with the immortal saints, and indeed she is regarded as a symbol of long life and rebirth, and therefore in the Chinese drama, appears a good omen during birthday celebrations. (1968:124)
Early descriptions
Campany (2002:259-270) provides details of Ma Gu mythology in his annotated translation of Ge Hong's Shenxian Zhuan (神仙傳 "Biographies of Divine immortals", ca. 317 CE). He compares four Chinese textual variations of Ma Gu stories.
(1) The Shenxian Zhuan Daoist hagiography of Wang Yuan (王遠, or Wang Fangping 王方平) and Ma Gu has the longest early descriptions of her. Wang was supposedly a Confucianist scholar who quit his official post during the reign (146-168 CE) of Emperor Huan of Han and went into the mountains to became a Daoist xian. Later, while traveling in Wu (modern Zhejiang), Wang met Cai Jing 蔡經, whose physiognomy indicated he was destined to become an immortal, and taught him the basic techniques. After Cai had been gone for "over a decade", he suddenly returned home, looking like a young man, announced that Lord Wang would visit on the "seventh day of the seventh month" (later associated with the Cowherd and Weaver Girl lovers' festival), and ordered preparations for a feast. After Wang and his celestial entourage arrived on the auspicious "double-seven" day, he invited Ma Gu to join their celebration because "It has been a long time since you were in the human realm." She replied by invisible messenger. "Maid Ma bows and says: 'Without our realizing it, more than five hundred years have passed since our last meeting!'" After apologizing that she would be delayed owing to an appointment at Penglai Mountain (a legendary island in the Eastern Sea, where the elixir of immortality grows), Ma arrived four hours later.
She appeared to be a handsome woman of eighteen or nineteen; her hair was done up, and several loose strands hung down to her waist. Her gown had a pattern of colors, but it was not woven; it shimmered, dazzling the eyes, and was indescribable – it was not of this world. She approached and bowed to Wang, who bade her rise. When they were both seated, they called for the travelling canteen. The servings were piled up on gold platters and in jade cups without limit. There were rare delicacies, many of them made from flowers and fruits, and their fragrance permeated the air inside [Cai's home] and out. When the meat was sliced and served, [in flavor] it resembled broiled mo, and was announced as kirin meat.
Maid Ma declared: "Since I entered your service, I have seen the Eastern Sea turn to mulberry fields three times. As one proceeded across to Penglai, the water came only up to one's waist. I wonder whether it will turn to dry land once again." Wang answered with a sigh, "Oh, the sages all say that the Eastern Sea will once again become blowing dust." (tr. Campany 2002:262)
When Ma Gu was introduced to the women in Cai's family, she transformed some rice into pearls as a trick to avoid the unclean influences of a recent childbirth. Then Wang presented Cai's family with a strong liquor from "the celestial kitchens", and warned that it was "unfit for drinking by ordinary people". Even after diluting the liquor with water, everyone became intoxicated and wanted more.
Maid Ma's fingernails resembled bird claws. When Cai Jing noticed them, he thought to himself, "My back itches. Wouldn't it be great if I could get her to scratch my back with those nails?" Now, Wang Yuan knew what Cai was saying in his heart, so he ordered him bound and whipped, chiding, "Maid Ma is a divine personage. How dare you think that her nails could scratch your back!" The whip lashing Cai's back was the only thing visible; no one was seen wielding it. Wang added, "My whippings are not given without cause." (tr. Campany 2002:263)
Some later versions of this legend say Ma was Wang's sister. The poet Li Bai immortalized two Classical Chinese expressions from this story. Ma Gu saobei (麻姑掻背 "Ma Gu scratches [my] back") refers to her extraordinary fingernails. Canghai sangtian (滄海桑田 "blue ocean [turns to] mulberry fields") means "great changes over the course of time"; Joseph Needham (1959:599-600) says early Daoists observed seashells in mountainous rocks and recognized the vast scale of geologic transformations.
(2) The Lieyi zhuan (列異傳 "Arrayed Marvels", late 2nd or early 3rd century), attributed to Cao Pi (187-226 CE) has three stories about Wang Fangping.
The third gives a version of the incident of Cai Jing's inappropriate fantasy concerning Maid Ma and her luxuriant four-inch nails. Here, Cai Jing's home is located in Dongyang; he is not whipped but rather flung to the ground, his eyes running blood; and Maid Ma herself, identified as "a divine transcendent" (shenxian), is the one who reads his thoughts and does the punishing. (Campany 2002:268)
Kohn's (1993:355-358, "The Hemp Lady") translation includes a woodblock from the illustrated Zengxiang Liexian zhuan.
(3) The Yiyuan (異苑 "Garden of Marvels", early 5th century), by Liu Jingshu (劉敬叔), records a story about Mei Gu (梅姑 "Plum Maid") or Ma Gu, and suggests her cult originated during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE).
During Qin times, there was a Temple to Maid Mei 梅 – or, as one version has it, Maid Ma – beside a lake. When alive, she had possessed arts of the Dao. She could walk on water in her shoes. Later she violated the laws of the Dao, and her husband, out of anger, murdered her and dumped her body in the lake. Following the current, it floated on the waves until it reached the [present site of] the temple. A subordinate shaman directed that she be encoffined but not immediately buried. Very soon a square, lacquered coffin appeared in the shrine hall. [From then on], at the end and beginning of each lunar month, people there could make out through the fog an indistinct figure, wearing shoes. Fishing and hunting were prohibited in the area of the temple, and violators would always become lost or drown. Shamans said that it was because the Maid had suffered a painful death and hater to see other beings cruelly killed. (tr. Campany 2006:269)
Campany reads this legend to describe founding a temple, probably on Lake Gongting, and translates these "shaman" and "shrine" references in the future tense. Compare the present tense translation of Miyakawa (1979:86) who interprets her body floating to an existing temple.
(4) The Qi Xie ji (齊諧記, 6th century) associates Ma Gu with snakes. It describes her as a commoner from Fuyang, Zhejiang, rather than a Daoist transcendent, who loved raw meat hash. She captured a strange beast resembling a sea turtle and a serpent, and ate it with her companion Hua Ben (華本 "Flower Root"). When Ma started choking, Hau could see a snake flicking its tongue inside her mouth. She later enjoyed a meal at Hua's house, but upon learning that they had eaten snake meat, she vomited blood and died. Campany concludes.
This story hints at an even older stratum of legend behind the Maid Ma cult: like other territorial gods known to Chinese religious history, she may have begun as a theriomorphic deity (perhaps snake-headed) who gradually metamorphosed into a human being and finally – the process culminating in Ge Hong's Traditions narrative – into a full-fledged transcendent. Seen in this light, several details of the Traditions hagiography might be read as betraying these chthonic origins. Among these are Maid Ma's long nails, the featuring of meat dishes among the fantastic foods served by the travelling canteen, and the scene describing the "summoning" of Maid Ma, which is reminiscent of shamanic invocations of deities to attend spirit-writing sessions. (2002:269-270)
Hemp goddess?
Ma Gu can be literally translated "Hemp Goddess/Priestess". The Way of Infinite Harmony is a modern Daoist sect that worships Ma Gu and espouses the spiritual use of cannabis.
Hellmut Wilhelm's book review (1944:213) of Eberhard's original German book (1943) suggested that Ma Gu was associated with cannabis. Eberhard dismissed this hypothesis in the English version.
I have no indication that the goddess ever was a goddess of the hemp plant (ma) as H. Wilhelm surmised (Monumenta Serica vol. 9, p. 213 note 9). She often wears aboriginal attire, a dress with a collar made of leaves, but not of hemp, which only sometimes has developed, according to a late fashion into a cape of cloth. (1968:125)
Campany mentions the Chinese use of ma "hemp" fibers as a weaving material.
(Note also her shimmering, multicolored gown, "not of this world"; but we are told that it was not woven, at least not in an ordinary way.) I know of no attempt to explain the name Ma gu (literally, "the Hemp Maiden"). (2002:267, fn. 487)
The cultural and linguistic origins of Ma Gu remain an open question.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Gu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Taoism | Chinese mythology
Li Jing (李靖)
Li Jing (李靖)
Alternative Names (異名):
李靖, Lǐ Jìng, Li Jing
Li Jing (Chinese: 李靖; Pinyin: Lǐ Jìng) a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods (more commonly known as Fengshen Yanyi).
Li Jing is renowned throughout the Shang Dynasty as a high ranking commander officer of the Old Pond Pass. His wife is Lady Yin, and he has three sons, Jinzha, Muzha, and Nezha. Throughout his past, Li Jing had studied under Superiorman Danger Skipper of Mount Kunlun, and had soon become a master of exceedingly fast underground travel (even to the extent of traveling thousands of miles without a single individual noticing). Thus, Li Jing gave a new name to the art of speed after being forced down to the Red Dust.
In time, Li Jing would have a third son by the name of Nezha, as destined by the heavens. However, Nezha would cause untold chaos and trouble in the future, such as that with the Eastern Sea Dragon King Ao Guang and Madam Rockie. Due to Nezha, Li Jing would almost need to give up his own life to Ao Guang if it weren't for the sacrifice of Nezha's body. Following the bitter luck attained with his third son, Li Jing would even burn the primary sacrificial temple that had been built as a container for Nezha's spirit following his death. However, such an action would only lead for Nezha to vow to kill his father. Following Nezha's return thanks to his master, Taiyi Zhenren, various servants would scutter to Li Jing's inner quarters and announce Nezha's return. After heading out and realizing that his third son indeed was standing before him, he would utter the words, "You vermin! When you were my child, you caused untold calamities. Why do you reincarnate and disturb the peace?" Thus, a major conflict between Li Jing and Nezha was about to unfold.
After battling off against the celestial being Nezha, he soon realized that his mortal body did not match 1 to 100 compared to that of Nezha's. Thus, Li Jing would run as fast as he could underground in a state of incredible fear for his life. In luck, Li Jing happened to run into his second son, Muzha. Following Muzha's defeat by Nezha's hands, Li Jing would try to commit suicide with his knife blade. Quickly appearing, Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun would rescue Li Jing's life and contain Nezha. In time, Nezha would be forced to submit fake harmony with his father after being restrained by another superiorman by the name of Randeng Daoren. To effectively constrain his son, Randeng Daoren would teach Li Jing how to use the golden tower art as to trap Nezha within a burning tower if opposed. Thus, following this point, Nezha would be forced to submit to Li Jing, or now better known as Li the Pagoda Bearer.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Fengshen Yanyi characters | Chinese gods | Taoism | Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
李靖, Lǐ Jìng, Li Jing
Li Jing (Chinese: 李靖; Pinyin: Lǐ Jìng) a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods (more commonly known as Fengshen Yanyi).
Li Jing is renowned throughout the Shang Dynasty as a high ranking commander officer of the Old Pond Pass. His wife is Lady Yin, and he has three sons, Jinzha, Muzha, and Nezha. Throughout his past, Li Jing had studied under Superiorman Danger Skipper of Mount Kunlun, and had soon become a master of exceedingly fast underground travel (even to the extent of traveling thousands of miles without a single individual noticing). Thus, Li Jing gave a new name to the art of speed after being forced down to the Red Dust.
In time, Li Jing would have a third son by the name of Nezha, as destined by the heavens. However, Nezha would cause untold chaos and trouble in the future, such as that with the Eastern Sea Dragon King Ao Guang and Madam Rockie. Due to Nezha, Li Jing would almost need to give up his own life to Ao Guang if it weren't for the sacrifice of Nezha's body. Following the bitter luck attained with his third son, Li Jing would even burn the primary sacrificial temple that had been built as a container for Nezha's spirit following his death. However, such an action would only lead for Nezha to vow to kill his father. Following Nezha's return thanks to his master, Taiyi Zhenren, various servants would scutter to Li Jing's inner quarters and announce Nezha's return. After heading out and realizing that his third son indeed was standing before him, he would utter the words, "You vermin! When you were my child, you caused untold calamities. Why do you reincarnate and disturb the peace?" Thus, a major conflict between Li Jing and Nezha was about to unfold.
After battling off against the celestial being Nezha, he soon realized that his mortal body did not match 1 to 100 compared to that of Nezha's. Thus, Li Jing would run as fast as he could underground in a state of incredible fear for his life. In luck, Li Jing happened to run into his second son, Muzha. Following Muzha's defeat by Nezha's hands, Li Jing would try to commit suicide with his knife blade. Quickly appearing, Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun would rescue Li Jing's life and contain Nezha. In time, Nezha would be forced to submit fake harmony with his father after being restrained by another superiorman by the name of Randeng Daoren. To effectively constrain his son, Randeng Daoren would teach Li Jing how to use the golden tower art as to trap Nezha within a burning tower if opposed. Thus, following this point, Nezha would be forced to submit to Li Jing, or now better known as Li the Pagoda Bearer.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Fengshen Yanyi characters | Chinese gods | Taoism | Chinese mythology
Five Precepts in Taoism (五戒)
Five Precepts in Taoism (五戒)
Alternative Names (異名):
五戒, Wu Jie (Pinyin), Ng Gye (Cantonese), Five Precepts in Taoism
The Five Precepts in Taoism (Chinese: 五戒; Pinyin: Wu Jie; Cantonese: Ng Gye), constitute the basic code of ethics undertaken mainly by Taoist lay-cultivators. For Taoist monks and nuns, there are more advanced and stricter precepts. These precepts are the same as the Buddhist Five Precepts, but with minor differences.
According to The Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Scripture of Precepts, the five basic precepts are:
The first precept: No Murdering;
The second precept: No Stealing;
The third precept: No Sexual Misconduct;
The fourth precept: No False Speech;
The fifth precept: No Taking of Intoxicants.
Their definitions can be found in an excerpt of The Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Scripture of Precepts:
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against killing is: All living beings, including all kinds of animals, and those as small as insects, worms, and so forth, are containers of the uncreated energy, thus one should not kill any of them."
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against stealing is: One should not take anything that he does not own and is not given to him, whether it belongs to someone or not."
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against sexual misconduct is: If a sexual conduct happens, but it is not between a man and a woman who are married to each other, it is a Sexual Misconduct. As for a monk or nun, he or she should never marry or practice sexual intercourse with anyone."[1]
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against false speech is: If one did not hear, see, or feel something, or if something is not realized by his Heart, but he tells it to others, this constitutes False Speech."
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against taking of intoxicants is: One should not take any alcoholic drinks, unless he has to take some to cure his illness."[2]
The Elder Lord said: "These five precepts are the fundamentals for keeping one's body in purity, and are the roots of the upholding of the holy teachings. For those virtuous men and virtuous women who enjoy the virtuous teachings, if they can accept and keep these precepts, and never violate any of them till the end of their lifetimes, they are recognized as those with pure faith, they will gain the Way to Tao, will gain the holy principles, and will forever achieve Tao -- the Reality."
Notes
[1] The precept against Sexual Misconduct also outlines that sexual acts such as masturbation, premarital sexual conduct, adultery, prostitution, having intercourse with prostitutes, homosexual intercourse, etc, are all sexual misconducts. (Original commentary: Even if a man and a woman are married to each other, if they have intercourse too frequently, that is also considered Sexual Misconduct.)
[2] Smoking, taking of drugs, and the like, are also forbidden by the precept against Intoxicant-Taking.
See also
Five Precepts in Buddhism
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs | Chinese philosophy | Chinese traditional religion | Chinese thought | Pantheism
Alternative Names (異名):
五戒, Wu Jie (Pinyin), Ng Gye (Cantonese), Five Precepts in Taoism
The Five Precepts in Taoism (Chinese: 五戒; Pinyin: Wu Jie; Cantonese: Ng Gye), constitute the basic code of ethics undertaken mainly by Taoist lay-cultivators. For Taoist monks and nuns, there are more advanced and stricter precepts. These precepts are the same as the Buddhist Five Precepts, but with minor differences.
According to The Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Scripture of Precepts, the five basic precepts are:
The first precept: No Murdering;
The second precept: No Stealing;
The third precept: No Sexual Misconduct;
The fourth precept: No False Speech;
The fifth precept: No Taking of Intoxicants.
Their definitions can be found in an excerpt of The Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Scripture of Precepts:
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against killing is: All living beings, including all kinds of animals, and those as small as insects, worms, and so forth, are containers of the uncreated energy, thus one should not kill any of them."
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against stealing is: One should not take anything that he does not own and is not given to him, whether it belongs to someone or not."
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against sexual misconduct is: If a sexual conduct happens, but it is not between a man and a woman who are married to each other, it is a Sexual Misconduct. As for a monk or nun, he or she should never marry or practice sexual intercourse with anyone."[1]
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against false speech is: If one did not hear, see, or feel something, or if something is not realized by his Heart, but he tells it to others, this constitutes False Speech."
The Elder Lord said: "The precept against taking of intoxicants is: One should not take any alcoholic drinks, unless he has to take some to cure his illness."[2]
The Elder Lord said: "These five precepts are the fundamentals for keeping one's body in purity, and are the roots of the upholding of the holy teachings. For those virtuous men and virtuous women who enjoy the virtuous teachings, if they can accept and keep these precepts, and never violate any of them till the end of their lifetimes, they are recognized as those with pure faith, they will gain the Way to Tao, will gain the holy principles, and will forever achieve Tao -- the Reality."
Notes
[1] The precept against Sexual Misconduct also outlines that sexual acts such as masturbation, premarital sexual conduct, adultery, prostitution, having intercourse with prostitutes, homosexual intercourse, etc, are all sexual misconducts. (Original commentary: Even if a man and a woman are married to each other, if they have intercourse too frequently, that is also considered Sexual Misconduct.)
[2] Smoking, taking of drugs, and the like, are also forbidden by the precept against Intoxicant-Taking.
See also
Five Precepts in Buddhism
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs | Chinese philosophy | Chinese traditional religion | Chinese thought | Pantheism
Fengshen Yanyi (封神演義)
Fengshen Yanyi (封神演義)
Alternative Names (異名):
封神演義, 封神演义, fēngshén yǎnyì, Fengshen Yanyi, The Investiture of the Gods, The Creation of the Gods
Fengshen Yanyi (traditional Chinese: 封神演義; simplified Chinese: 封神演义; pinyin: fēngshén yǎnyì) (translated as The Investiture of the Gods or The Creation of the Gods), also known as Fengshen Bang (Chinese: 封神榜), is one of the major Vernacular Chinese novels written in the Ming Dynasty. The story deals with the decline of the Shang Dynasty and rise of the Zhou Dynasty, intertwining numerous elements of Chinese mythology, including gods and goddesses, Chinese immortals, and spirits. It is, to an extent, representative and descriptive of life in China at the time, where religion played a major role in everyday life. The authorship of Fengshen Yanyi is attributed to Xu Zhonglin (許仲琳; 许仲琳) (d. 1566) or Lu Xixing (陸西星; 陆西星) (d. 1601).
Plot summary
This epic novel (Yanyi refers to the Chinese equivalent of the Western epic) is a fantastic retelling of the overthrow of unscrupulous and merciless ruler Di Xin (also known as Zhòu) of the Shang dynasty by King Wu of Zhou. The story integrates oral and written tales of the many Daoist heroes and immortals, and various spirits (usually represented in avatar form as foxes, chickens, and sometimes even inanimate objects like Jade Pipa) that take part in the struggle. Enchanted by his concubine Daji, who is actually a fox spirit in disguise, Di Xin murders loyal ministers with draconian punishments like incineration on a red-hot pillar of brass or being fed to a pit of snakes. He even attempts to kill his own sons. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty and exorcism of Daji by Jiang Ziya, King Wu of Zhou builds his own dynasty, creating the Zhou feudal system. The slain heroes, even those on the "enemy" side, are endowed with heavenly ranking, being essentially elevated to the position of gods, hence the title.
Some famous anecdotes
In Fengshen Yanyi, there are many stories (altogether 100 stories) in which many gods, goddesses and immortals came to the Earth and changed the fate of everything with their magical power. Here are some famous ones:
Some famous anecdotes
When Di Xin came to a temple of Nüwa, an ancient Chinese goddess, and perform his worship, he noticed that the Nüwa statue was very tempting. Then the lewd emperor cried indecent words like “it would be good if I could marry Her” before the statue, and wrote lustful poems on the walls to show his immense adoration likewise. Nüwa got furious with the insult. Foretelling that Di Xin would be the last emperor of the Shang Dynasty, she sent a one-thousand-year-old fox spirit, a nine-headed pheasant, and a jade-made Pipa spirit to lure Di Xin and render him unaware of his people, which indirectly resulted in the uprising of Zhou and made the decline of Shang more reasonable.
Daji was a kind-hearted beauty originally, and was ordered to enter the palace to be Di Xin’s concubine. The wicked fox spirit murdered Daji on the way to the palace, embodying the exact same appearance of the killed girl and attending the palace’s invitation.
Daji and Bo Yi Kao
Di Xin obliged King Wen of Zhou to stay in You (that is, today’s Henan) for almost seven years, during which King Wen of Zhou’s eldest son, Bo Yi Kao, came to the capital of Shang, Zhaoge (today’s Hebi, Henan) and ask for Di Xin’s mercy. The fox spirit fell in love with the handsome young man, and requested Di Xin to permit Bo to teach her play guqin. Taking advantage of the guqin lessons, Daji ensnared Bo with her splendour. Bo, however, refused Daji for any liaisons, and called her a shameless woman. The irate Daji made a complaint to her husband that Bo had bullied her. Gnashing his teeth, Di Xin killed Bo and minced him into paste, cooked into congee and served to King Wen of Zhou. King Wen of Zhou knew divination, and, by means of the Eight Diagrams, he realised the congee was made from his beloved son. Suppressing the great pain and sadness in his heart, King Wen of Zhou ate up the congee and determined to avenge his dead son.
King Wen of Zhou and Jiang Ziya
Jiang Ziya (or Jiang Taigong, also known as Lu Shang) was an apprentice of an immortal living deep inside an unvisited mountain, and he left his master at the age of 72. He loved fishing, but, strangely enough, he only used a straight fishhook, without bait, three feet above the water, for angling. His neighbours felt odd at his strange fishing skills, and, out of curiosity, asked the old man for the reason of it. “What I’m angling is not a single fish,” smiled Jiang, “but the emperor and the great many vassals. Only those who really wish to be fished would be finally fished by me.” Jiang meant he was waiting for a man who could recognise and need his talent.
Some people told King Wen of Zhou about the weird old man, and the aggressive vassal had a looming interest in Jiang Ziya. One day, King Wen of Zhou paid a visit to Jiang. Jiang did nothing but demanded King Wen of Zhou to help him pull his cart. King Wen of Zhou did so and stopped pulling after he moved eight hundred steps forwards. Jiang told the vassal that his future kingdom (that is, the Zhou Dynasty) should exist for eight hundred years. King Wen of Zhou wished to pull the cart for more few steps, but he was too exhausted to move forwards. Jiang became the prime minister of Zhou afterward. King Wen was succeeded by King Wu.
Bi Gan lost his heart
From the prophecy revealed by the oracle bones, Jiang Ziya predicted that Di Xin’s loyal and benevolent courtier, Bi Gan would die soon, thereby giving a charm to Bi. Before long, Daji, the evil vixen told her husband that she had a heart attack and only a “delicate seven-aperture heart” (Qiqiao Linglong Xin) could relieve her agony. No-one in the palace had that kind of heart — except Bi, who was given a heart by the goddess Nüwa, when he drowned once during his childhood. Bi, loyal as he is, swallowed the charm given by Jiang, grabbed his heart and pulled it out of his body to be given to Di Xin. Bi did not lose his life, nor shed a single drop of blood. Instead, he walked out of the palace and did what Jiang instructed: go straight home immediately without looking back. If he succeeded in doing this, he would recover after one day.
Yet upon the last few steps on reaching home, a female huckster yelled from behind Bi, “Hey! Cheap cabbages without stems (xin)!” (i.e., Baoxin Cai, literally a vegetable with a stem covered inside; xin, heart, rhetorically refers to the stem in this case).
Bi, curious and unsuspicious, turned back and asked the huckster, “How can there be cabbages without stems? ” The old lady donned an evil grin and replied, “You’re right, sir. Cabbages cannot live without stems as men cannot live without hearts (xin).” Bi shouted in his loud voice, fell to the ground and died without knowing that the lady hawker was a disguise made by the jade-made Pipa spirit. Thus, Jiang who was able to foretell Bi’s death, could not prevent the tragedy from happening.
In modern culture
The novel has maintained a strong presence in modern Chinese culture. It has also been the adapted into Japanese popular culture, though almost always in heavily modified form, sometimes leaving almost no trace of the original. It has been the subject of numerous television series and video games, including several recently translated for the Western Market, such as Battle Houshin (houshin is the Japanese reading of Fengshen) and Fengshen Yanyi: Legends of Gods and Heroes. It has also been substantially adapted for the manga Hoshin Engi. The most marked and lasting effect, though, is the use of the name - as Fengshen Bang - as a term in modern Chinese meaning "hit list" (as in a top 10 list or similar, such as music charts). Fengshen Bang (封神榜) is also the name of a modern Chinese TV series based on the Fengshen Yanyi, starring Fan Bingbing as Daji, Ma Jingtao as King Zhou of Shang
See also
Chinese mythology
Religion in China
Zhou Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
Welkin Lords
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengshen_Yanyi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Fengshen Yanyi | Chinese novels | Taoism | Chinese classic novels
Alternative Names (異名):
封神演義, 封神演义, fēngshén yǎnyì, Fengshen Yanyi, The Investiture of the Gods, The Creation of the Gods
Fengshen Yanyi (traditional Chinese: 封神演義; simplified Chinese: 封神演义; pinyin: fēngshén yǎnyì) (translated as The Investiture of the Gods or The Creation of the Gods), also known as Fengshen Bang (Chinese: 封神榜), is one of the major Vernacular Chinese novels written in the Ming Dynasty. The story deals with the decline of the Shang Dynasty and rise of the Zhou Dynasty, intertwining numerous elements of Chinese mythology, including gods and goddesses, Chinese immortals, and spirits. It is, to an extent, representative and descriptive of life in China at the time, where religion played a major role in everyday life. The authorship of Fengshen Yanyi is attributed to Xu Zhonglin (許仲琳; 许仲琳) (d. 1566) or Lu Xixing (陸西星; 陆西星) (d. 1601).
Plot summary
This epic novel (Yanyi refers to the Chinese equivalent of the Western epic) is a fantastic retelling of the overthrow of unscrupulous and merciless ruler Di Xin (also known as Zhòu) of the Shang dynasty by King Wu of Zhou. The story integrates oral and written tales of the many Daoist heroes and immortals, and various spirits (usually represented in avatar form as foxes, chickens, and sometimes even inanimate objects like Jade Pipa) that take part in the struggle. Enchanted by his concubine Daji, who is actually a fox spirit in disguise, Di Xin murders loyal ministers with draconian punishments like incineration on a red-hot pillar of brass or being fed to a pit of snakes. He even attempts to kill his own sons. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty and exorcism of Daji by Jiang Ziya, King Wu of Zhou builds his own dynasty, creating the Zhou feudal system. The slain heroes, even those on the "enemy" side, are endowed with heavenly ranking, being essentially elevated to the position of gods, hence the title.
Some famous anecdotes
In Fengshen Yanyi, there are many stories (altogether 100 stories) in which many gods, goddesses and immortals came to the Earth and changed the fate of everything with their magical power. Here are some famous ones:
Some famous anecdotes
When Di Xin came to a temple of Nüwa, an ancient Chinese goddess, and perform his worship, he noticed that the Nüwa statue was very tempting. Then the lewd emperor cried indecent words like “it would be good if I could marry Her” before the statue, and wrote lustful poems on the walls to show his immense adoration likewise. Nüwa got furious with the insult. Foretelling that Di Xin would be the last emperor of the Shang Dynasty, she sent a one-thousand-year-old fox spirit, a nine-headed pheasant, and a jade-made Pipa spirit to lure Di Xin and render him unaware of his people, which indirectly resulted in the uprising of Zhou and made the decline of Shang more reasonable.
Daji was a kind-hearted beauty originally, and was ordered to enter the palace to be Di Xin’s concubine. The wicked fox spirit murdered Daji on the way to the palace, embodying the exact same appearance of the killed girl and attending the palace’s invitation.
Daji and Bo Yi Kao
Di Xin obliged King Wen of Zhou to stay in You (that is, today’s Henan) for almost seven years, during which King Wen of Zhou’s eldest son, Bo Yi Kao, came to the capital of Shang, Zhaoge (today’s Hebi, Henan) and ask for Di Xin’s mercy. The fox spirit fell in love with the handsome young man, and requested Di Xin to permit Bo to teach her play guqin. Taking advantage of the guqin lessons, Daji ensnared Bo with her splendour. Bo, however, refused Daji for any liaisons, and called her a shameless woman. The irate Daji made a complaint to her husband that Bo had bullied her. Gnashing his teeth, Di Xin killed Bo and minced him into paste, cooked into congee and served to King Wen of Zhou. King Wen of Zhou knew divination, and, by means of the Eight Diagrams, he realised the congee was made from his beloved son. Suppressing the great pain and sadness in his heart, King Wen of Zhou ate up the congee and determined to avenge his dead son.
King Wen of Zhou and Jiang Ziya
Jiang Ziya (or Jiang Taigong, also known as Lu Shang) was an apprentice of an immortal living deep inside an unvisited mountain, and he left his master at the age of 72. He loved fishing, but, strangely enough, he only used a straight fishhook, without bait, three feet above the water, for angling. His neighbours felt odd at his strange fishing skills, and, out of curiosity, asked the old man for the reason of it. “What I’m angling is not a single fish,” smiled Jiang, “but the emperor and the great many vassals. Only those who really wish to be fished would be finally fished by me.” Jiang meant he was waiting for a man who could recognise and need his talent.
Some people told King Wen of Zhou about the weird old man, and the aggressive vassal had a looming interest in Jiang Ziya. One day, King Wen of Zhou paid a visit to Jiang. Jiang did nothing but demanded King Wen of Zhou to help him pull his cart. King Wen of Zhou did so and stopped pulling after he moved eight hundred steps forwards. Jiang told the vassal that his future kingdom (that is, the Zhou Dynasty) should exist for eight hundred years. King Wen of Zhou wished to pull the cart for more few steps, but he was too exhausted to move forwards. Jiang became the prime minister of Zhou afterward. King Wen was succeeded by King Wu.
Bi Gan lost his heart
From the prophecy revealed by the oracle bones, Jiang Ziya predicted that Di Xin’s loyal and benevolent courtier, Bi Gan would die soon, thereby giving a charm to Bi. Before long, Daji, the evil vixen told her husband that she had a heart attack and only a “delicate seven-aperture heart” (Qiqiao Linglong Xin) could relieve her agony. No-one in the palace had that kind of heart — except Bi, who was given a heart by the goddess Nüwa, when he drowned once during his childhood. Bi, loyal as he is, swallowed the charm given by Jiang, grabbed his heart and pulled it out of his body to be given to Di Xin. Bi did not lose his life, nor shed a single drop of blood. Instead, he walked out of the palace and did what Jiang instructed: go straight home immediately without looking back. If he succeeded in doing this, he would recover after one day.
Yet upon the last few steps on reaching home, a female huckster yelled from behind Bi, “Hey! Cheap cabbages without stems (xin)!” (i.e., Baoxin Cai, literally a vegetable with a stem covered inside; xin, heart, rhetorically refers to the stem in this case).
Bi, curious and unsuspicious, turned back and asked the huckster, “How can there be cabbages without stems? ” The old lady donned an evil grin and replied, “You’re right, sir. Cabbages cannot live without stems as men cannot live without hearts (xin).” Bi shouted in his loud voice, fell to the ground and died without knowing that the lady hawker was a disguise made by the jade-made Pipa spirit. Thus, Jiang who was able to foretell Bi’s death, could not prevent the tragedy from happening.
In modern culture
The novel has maintained a strong presence in modern Chinese culture. It has also been the adapted into Japanese popular culture, though almost always in heavily modified form, sometimes leaving almost no trace of the original. It has been the subject of numerous television series and video games, including several recently translated for the Western Market, such as Battle Houshin (houshin is the Japanese reading of Fengshen) and Fengshen Yanyi: Legends of Gods and Heroes. It has also been substantially adapted for the manga Hoshin Engi. The most marked and lasting effect, though, is the use of the name - as Fengshen Bang - as a term in modern Chinese meaning "hit list" (as in a top 10 list or similar, such as music charts). Fengshen Bang (封神榜) is also the name of a modern Chinese TV series based on the Fengshen Yanyi, starring Fan Bingbing as Daji, Ma Jingtao as King Zhou of Shang
See also
Chinese mythology
Religion in China
Zhou Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
Welkin Lords
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengshen_Yanyi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Fengshen Yanyi | Chinese novels | Taoism | Chinese classic novels
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