Tales of the Taoist Immortals (9 page)

Leaving the city, he built a retreat on Mount Mao. He adopted the lifestyle of a hermit, signed his letters with a pseudonym, and traveled deep into the mountains to look for ingredients to make the pill of immortality. When not working in his laboratory, he would play his flute or write poetry.

As T’ao Hung-ching’s fame as a sage began to spread, many people came to his retreat asking to be accepted as students. Some were sincere in their pursuit of the Tao, but most were just curious to meet the Taoist hermit. Hung-ching found the visitors distracting, so he built a two-story house, made the lower level into a dormitory for his students, and retreated to the upper level where he would not be disturbed by nosy guests. Anyone who wanted to see Hung-ching had to relay their messages through a student. This arrangement drove the casual visitors away, and Hung-ching was able to work and study in peace.

One day, a student who had been buying supplies in the
city returned to tell his teacher, “The king of Ch’i has been overthrown. The new king has named his dynasty Liang. I wonder if he’ll be as friendly to us as our old benefactor.” Hung-ching said nothing.

The founder of the Ch’i dynasty (T’ao Hung-ching’s original benefactor) had been succeeded by several weak and corrupt rulers. During the last years of the Ch’i dynasty, T’ao Hung-ching had written a poem that alluded to the rise of a new dynasty named Liang. When the founder of the Liang dynasty discovered this, he decided to honor the sage with gifts and endowments.

Several months after the news of the new dynasty had come, a messenger from the king of Liang arrived at the retreat. When T’ao Hung-ching came out to receive him, the messenger bowed and said, “My lord has asked me to thank you for giving him the confidence to become the son of heaven. He also said that if there is anything that he can help you with, you should not hesitate to ask.”

The sage thanked him and said, “Please tell your lord that all I did was write a poem. I am a hermit who has spent many years trying to make the pill of immortality. I’ve got the equipment and the formulas; all I’m missing are some rare ingredients that can only be found in the mountains. If his majesty can assist me in completing my project, I will be most grateful.”

The king of Liang immediately gave T’ao Hung-ching a large endowment of funds. He even provided a special writ that allowed the sage to travel unhindered anywhere in the kingdom to search for herbs and minerals.

One day, the king himself paid a visit to T’ao Hung-ching’s retreat. Impressed with Hung-ching’s wisdom and breadth of learning, the king begged the Taoist to become his chief minister. Hung-ching had anticipated this, so he
took out a scroll, unrolled it, and presented it to the king. On the scroll was a painting of two oxen, one cropping grass leisurely on the hillside and the other imprisoned inside a golden cage. When the king saw the painting, he understood immediately and said, “You want to be free from the confines of the world. I will respect your wish and not ask for your service again.”

Although he never took office, T’ao Hung-ching maintained a friendly relationship with several generations of the kings of Liang. This earned him the nickname “the Minister from the Mountains.”

With the help of the royal endowment, T’ao Hung-ching finally succeeded in making the pill of immortality. At the time, he was seventy years old, but his complexion resembled that of a youth. He took the pill, expecting to ascend to immortality. Nothing happened. At first, he thought the pill was defective, but when one of his students ingested the pill and flew off to the immortal realm, he was bewildered. When the student returned after a sojourn in the celestial lands, Hung-ching said to him, “Next time when you visit the immortal realm, please ask the guardians why I could not attain immortality.”

Several days later, the student visited the celestial lands again and returned with this message from the lords of heaven: “T’ao Hung-ching is not allowed to enter the immortal lands at this time because he has killed many insects and worms while searching for the ingredients for the pill. Therefore, he must wait another twelve years in the mortal realm before he can become an immortal.”

T’ao Hung-ching took the message to heart. For the next twelve years, he abstained from meat and was careful not to step on insects and worms.

When he was eighty-five, he realized that his time in the
mortal realm was over. Hung-ching purified himself, lit a stick of incense, sat in a meditative posture, and shed his bodily shell. It is said that when the sage’s spirit entered the immortal realm, the room was filled with fragrance and a golden light hovered in the chamber for three days.

T’
AO
H
UNG-CHING
lived during the period of the Six Dynasties (420–589
CE
) and is regarded as one of the greatest patriarchs of the Shang-ch’ing School of Taoism. Adept at all aspects of the Taoist arts, he wrote over eighty treatises on topics that included alchemy, meditation, metallurgy, astronomy, geography, military strategy, divination, and medicine.

17

The First Disciple of Taoism

Wen Shih

It is said that when Wen Shih was born, a purple cloud descended into his mother’s chamber and lotus flowers blossomed in the gardens. Even as a child, Wen Shih was interested in Taoist philosophy, astronomy, and celestial divination. He absorbed the essence of the Tao in the sun, moon, and stars; cultivated his virtue; and hid his wisdom.

Wen Shih served in the court of the Chou emperor as an astronomer. One night, as he was charting the course of the stars, he saw a purple vapor rising out of the east. Tracking it across the sky, he noticed that it was moving gradually
toward the west. “A sage is journeying west and will soon reach the border town at Han Ku Pass,” he said. “I want to be there to meet him.”

The next morning, Wen Shih asked for permission to leave the court observatory and be assigned to the garrison at Han Ku Pass. When he arrived at his new post, he summoned his subordinate, Hsü Chia, and said to him, “If you see anyone extraordinary entering the town, let me know immediately.”

Not long after Shih had settled in the frontier town, Lao Tzu arrived riding a blue ox. Hsü Chia hurriedly went to his superior and said, “A strange man riding a blue ox is coming to our town.”

Wen Shih was delighted. He went to the city gates, bowed to Lao Tzu, and said, “Today I have the honor of meeting a sage. Please allow me to offer you the hospitality of my town.”

Lao Tzu thanked Wen Shih and replied, “I’m just an old man who is leaving his old home in the east to live in his new home in the west.”

But Shih persisted, “Honored One, when I saw a purple vapor in the sky moving from east to west, I knew that a great teacher would arrive in this town. Please stay and teach me about the Tao.”

“What makes you think I’m the person you’re looking for?” inquired Lao Tzu.

“It was last winter in the tenth month that I first saw the purple vapor in the sky,” answered Shih. “After some calculations, I deduced that it would arrive here this month. Last night, I also saw dragons and serpents hovering over Han Ku pass. All these signs tell me that the great sage will arrive today.”

Lao Tzu smiled and said, “I have heard about your ability
to read omens and divine the future. You have the potential to understand the Tao and help others along the path.”

Wen Shih bowed again. “May I have the honor of knowing your name?”

Lao Tzu replied, “I have many names, for I have appeared in many incarnations. I have taught the Yellow Emperor as well as the kings Yao, Shun, and Yü. In my current incarnation I am named Li Erh.”

That night, Wen Shih honored Lao Tzu with a feast. After the banquet, he prostrated himself before the sage and formally asked to be accepted as a student. Lao Tzu stayed in the border town for a hundred days and taught Wen Shih the arts of the Tao.

When it was time for his teacher to leave, Wen Shih declared, “I would like to accompany you on your journey and serve you.”

Lao Tzu refused, saying, “Although your roots are deep, you are not ready to climb with me to the clouds or fly to the four directions. You have a good understanding of the teachings, but you are still lacking in experience. When you can merge with the natural way, go to Szechwan and look for a blue ox. The ox will show you where to find me.” He then dictated a book of five thousand words to his student. This book was the
Tao-te-ching
.

Wen Shih built a tower at Han Ku Pass and devoted himself to practicing what he had learned from Lao Tzu. One day, he looked at the sky and saw bands of multicolored clouds circling the North Star. When tendrils of starlight came through the window of Shih’s meditation chamber and alighted on him, he knew that it was time for him to travel to Szechwan and find his teacher.

When Shih arrived in Szechwan, he began to ask people if they had seen a blue ox. “This man is insane,” the citizens
whispered to each other. “Who has ever seen an ox with a blue hide?”

Shih was not disappointed, however, and continued his search. One day, as he was resting by the road, he saw a young cowherd walking down the hillside leading a blue ox. Shih ran to the boy and said, “Can you please tell me who the owner of this ox is?”

The cowherd replied, “My lady has a child who loves this ox. The ox ran away two days ago. Since then my young master has not stopped crying.”

When Wen Shih heard this, he was delighted. He said to the boy, “When you see your young master, please tell him that Wen Shih has arrived.”

The cowherd took the ox to his master and said, “Wen Shih asked me to tell you that he has arrived.” The child jumped up, clapped his hands, and said, “He’s finally here! Invite him in at once.”

When Wen Shih stepped into the mansion, the child was transformed into Lao Tzu. Thousands of rays of golden light emanated from his body, and a purple aura glowed around his head. A canopy emerged from the ground, and inside the pavilion was a seat surrounded by lotus flowers.

The old man walked to the chair, sat down, and said to Wen Shih, “When I left you, you were but a novice who aspired to cultivate the Tao. Today, I see a man with the air of an immortal. Your spirit has journeyed to the purple chamber of the Celestial Palace; you have merged with the North Star; and your name has been entered into the roster of the immortals.”

When Lao Tzu finished speaking, the room was suddenly filled with celestial messengers and immortals. Wen Shih stepped onto a cloud and was escorted into the immortal
realm by the personal attendants of the highest lords of heaven.

W
EN
S
HIH
, also known as Wen Tzu, lived in the latter part of the Chou dynasty (1122–221
BCE
). He is reputed to be the first student of Lao Tzu and is the author of the Taoist classic
Wen Tzu
.

PART THREE