Tales of the Taoist Immortals (8 page)

One day, eight old men appeared at the gates of Liu An’s palace asking for an audience. The guards looked at them and said, “If you want to see our lord, you’d better have something to offer him. There are three things that our lord is especially interested in. First, he wants to learn the arts of longevity and immortality. Second, he wants to meet scholars of renown. Third, he wants to recruit retainers who are experts in the martial arts. You are all old and weak. What can you offer our lord?”

When the old men heard this challenge, they laughed and replied, “We have heard that the Prince of Huai-nan is a generous man and does not judge people by appearances. However, if you think that your master will only receive those who are young and able, then we will be glad to oblige him.” Immediately the eight old men were transformed into youths.

The guards dropped to their knees, begged for forgiveness, and ran to inform their master that eight immortals had arrived. Liu An quickly went out to greet the visitors, who by then had resumed their appearance as old men. The prince knelt down, bowed to the men, and said, “It is an honor for me to receive such distinguished guests.”

That night, Liu An prepared a feast to honor the eight Taoists. During the dinner, one of the old men stood up and said to the prince, “We see that you are sincere in your pursuit of the Tao. Each of us has a specialty that he can teach you. One of us can command the elements, make rain, and change the course of rivers. Another can move mountains, tame wild beasts, and summon spirits and ghosts. Another can hide the movement of armies and make them appear at different places at the same time. Another cannot be harmed by fire, water, or weapons. Another can create and craft anything he wants—animals, plants, or in-animate
objects. Another can see impending disasters and is skilled in the arts of longevity and immortality. Another can transform dirt into gold and lead into silver. Still another can fly in the sky and tunnel beneath the earth. Of these skills, which would you like to learn?”

An replied, “All I wish is to be able to predict catastrophes and live a happy and long life.”

Liu An spent nine years learning from the old men and eventually succeeded in making the pill of immortality. However, on the day that he completed his apprenticeship, his son was killed accidentally by one of the emperor’s secretaries during a sword-fighting practice session. Fearing that the lord of Huai-nan would sentence him to death, the secretary told the emperor that Liu An was plotting a rebellion.

The evening before the emperor issued an order to arrest Liu An, the old men said to the prince, “You should leave the palace immediately. This is a warning from heaven. If you tarry, you’ll be captured and executed.”

Liu An heeded the advice of his teachers immediately. He went to his laboratory, took a pill from the cauldron, and swallowed it. In his hurry to leave the palace, An knocked the cauldron onto its side and scattered the remaining little red pills over the floor. Before the pills could be picked up by the servants, they were eaten by the cats and dogs in the household.

When the emperor’s soldiers arrived at Liu An’s palace, he was nowhere to be found. The officer questioned the townspeople, who told him, “We saw the lord of Huai-nan floating up to the sky with cats and dogs flying up behind him.”

L
IU
A
N
, also known as Huai-nan Tzu, lived during the early part of the Han dynasty (206
BCE
–219
CE
). His court was a haven for Taoist alchemists, diviners, and magicians. He is reputed to have recorded and collected the teachings of his Taoist retainers into a classic titled
Huai-nan Tzu
.

15

The Hermit of Mount T’ien-tai

Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen

Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen learned the arts of the Tao from a hermit. After he completed his apprenticeship, Ch’eng-chen traveled throughout the country, visiting famous Taoist mountains and sacred places. His friends included the great T’ang dynasty poets Li Po and Wang Wei, and he would often be seen with them floating down the river singing and composing poetry.

The T’ang dowager empress was so impressed with Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen’s knowledge of the arts of longevity that she appointed him her spiritual adviser. Ch’eng-chen was
not attracted to court life, and after a few months in the capital, he asked for permission to return to the life of a common citizen.

The T’ang emperor was also interested in the Taoist arts. Once, after Ch’eng-chen had left the palace, the emperor invited him back and asked him, “How can I cultivate the Tao?”

Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen replied, “Minimize your desire, embrace simplicity, and practice noninterference.”

The emperor said, “These principles are good for cultivating myself, but can they be used to govern a country?”

“Ruling the country begins with cultivating the self,” answered Ch’eng-chen. “If your mind is clear and if you are free from desire, then the nation will naturally be prosperous and the people will be contented.”

The emperor was very impressed with this answer. He sighed and said, “This is exactly what Kuang-ch’eng Tzu told the Yellow Emperor.” He then asked Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen to remain at the palace to be his adviser, but the sage declined, saying, “Court life is not for me.”

As his fame as a Taoist sage grew, Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen was approached by scholars, government officials, and Taoist practitioners, all of whom wanted to learn from him. Not liking the publicity, he went into the mountains and became a hermit. Eventually, he settled on Mount T’ien-tai.

One day, Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen saw Lu Tsang walking up the mountain path to his hut. Lu Tsang was a Taoist adept and a friend of Ch’eng-chen’s from their younger days. But whereas Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen had decided to retreat from worldly affairs, Lu Tsang had accepted an appointment in the government.

On reaching the hut, Lu Tsang inquired, “Why didn’t you build your retreat on Chung-nan Mountain? It’s where all the Taoist hermits go.”

Ch’eng-chen replied, “Chung-nan is too crowded with people who see the Taoist lifestyle as the short path to fame and political power.”

When Lu Tsang heard this, he was ashamed. Chung-nan Mountain had acquired a reputation of being the “home” of sages, and many Taoist practitioners, including Lu Tsang, had chosen to settle there, hoping that they would attract the emperor’s attention and receive an appointment.

About the same time that Ch’eng-chen retreated to Mount T’ien-tai, a Taoist practitioner from Manchuria by the name of Chiao Ching-chen was searching for the islands of immortality in the eastern oceans. He encountered a hermit on a small island who told him, “You need not journey across the sea to find the islands of immortality. Return to China and find the sage Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen. He can show you the path to immortality.”

After much searching, Chiao Ching-chen found Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen and became his student. He completed his training and flew off to the immortal realm.

Surprised that he should attain immortality before his teacher, Ching-chen asked the celestial lords, “Why is my teacher Ch’eng-chen still in the mortal realm?”

The celestial lords responded, “Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen is destined to reach the highest level of immortality. The reason that he is still in the mortal realm is because he needs to complete his books. If he left now, many generations of people would not attain the Tao.”

When Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen was about eighty years old, he and his friend Wen Ching were invited to a Taoist festival. The two men stayed in adjoining rooms in a guest house. In the middle of the night, Wen Ching was awakened by sounds of children chanting. He sat up, listened again, and discovered that the sounds were coming from
Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen’s room. He went outside and looked through his friend’s window. To his shock, he saw a large bright disk hovering over Ch’eng-chen’s head.

Wen Ching returned to his room and said to himself, “I’ve heard that the Mudball Cavity in the head of the highest adepts is capable of emitting celestial voices and sounds. I have known Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen all this time, and I never knew he had attained such a high level of cultivation!”

When Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen was eighty-nine years old, he called his students together and said, “I can see celestial messengers coming to invite me to the immortal lands. Continue to practice diligently; I hope to see you all in the immortal realm.” He then sat in a meditation posture, closed his eyes, and liberated his spirit.

His students took his body and buried it on Mount T’ien-tai. When news of Ssu-ma Ch’eng-chen’s departure from the mortal realm reached the palace, the emperor honored the great sage by writing an epitaph on his tomb.

S
SU-MA
C
H’ENG-CHEN
lived during the T’ang dynasty (618–906
CE
) and is regarded as one of the greatest patriarchs of the Shang-ch’ing School of Taoism. He wrote many treatises on meditation and is responsible for introducing the technique of insight meditation (or internal gazing) into Taoist practice.

16

Minister from the Mountains

T’ao Hung-ching

T’ao Hung-ching was born into a poor but educated family. It is said that when he was conceived, a green dragon descended into his mother’s womb and two immortals offered her incense.

Learning was important in the T’ao family, and all the children were instructed in the Confucian and Taoist classics. By the age of ten, Hung-ching was adept at music, astronomy, geography, military strategy, metallurgy, and
the martial arts. However, his favorite book was Ko Hung’s text on the arts of longevity and immortality titled
Pao-p’u Tzu
(
The Sage Who Embraces Simplicity
).

When his mother pressed him to enter the civil service, T’ao Hung-ching reluctantly accepted a post in the provincial government. However, after his mother passed away, he decided to leave the world of politics forever. He returned his official’s robes to the local governor and asked the emperor for permission to retire. By then, Hung-ching was already well known as a Taoist adept and was admired by many. The emperor not only respected Hung-ching’s wishes and permitted him to leave his post, but gave him a monthly stipend of cloth, grain, and vegetables. With these gifts and endowments, Hung-ching was able to retire from public life and study the Taoist arts.