Tales of the Taoist Immortals (5 page)

No one knows where Lan Ts’ai-ho came from. The legends say that he was always dressed in colorful rags, had flowers in his hair, and carried a three-foot-long branch that he used as a walking stick. Sometimes he would dress as a male and sometimes as a female. He wore only one shoe; the other foot was always bare. In summer he would stuff cotton and wool into his clothing; in winter he would lie naked on the ice and blow hot breath from his mouth.

Ts’ai-ho had no home. He wandered around the towns and villages entertaining people and never stayed in one
place for more than a month. His favorite haunts were restaurants and wine shops, where he would drink and entertain the patrons with songs about life in the immortal lands. But T’sai-ho’s favorite audiences were the children and the elderly who gathered at the street corners to hear him sing.

Whenever Ts’ai-ho was given coins for his performance, he would tie them to a string and drag them behind him as he walked. If he lost his money, he was not concerned. If he had money left after paying for his food and drinks, he would give it to the poor.

One day, while eating and drinking on the terrace of a restaurant, Lan Ts’ai-ho heard the music of reeds and pipes. When a crane flew down from the sky and landed on his table, he knew it was time for him to leave for the immortal realm. He jumped onto the crane’s back, threw his shoe and sash on the ground, and flew up to the sky. When the people in the street tried to pick up his belongings, both the shoe and the sash vanished.

While wandering around in the immortal lands, Lan Ts’ai-ho met Lü Tung-pin and Chungli Ch’uan. Taken by Ts’ai-ho’s carefree manner and beautiful voice, the two elder immortals invited the youth to travel with them to visit the famous mountains and lakes of the celestial realm.

L
AN
T
S’AI-HO
lived during the Five Dynasties (907–960
CE
). Not much is known about him except that he was a street entertainer and was famous for his beautiful singing voice.

8

The Hermit Aristocrat

Ts’ao Kuo-chiu

Ts’ao was a brother of the queen mother and the
kuo-chiu
(maternal uncle) of the emperor. However, despite being born into nobility, he was not interested in politics and power. His younger brother, on the other hand, was ruthless and cruel and used his royal connections to obtain land, jewels, and even other men’s wives.

When Ts’ao failed to steer his brother away from his unethical ways, he said to himself, “There is nothing left for me to do in the palace.” He left the capital, went into the woods, and devoted his life to cultivating the Tao.

One day, the immortals Lü Tung-pin and Chungli Ch’uan happened to walk by Ts’ao’s retreat.

Lü Tung-pin called out, “I’ve heard that you had given up the life of a prince to cultivate the Tao. Tell me, where’s the Tao that you are cultivating?”

Ts’ao pointed to the sky.

Immortal Lü then said, “And where’s heaven?”

Ts’ao pointed to his heart.

Immortal Chungli Ch’uan clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Well said. The way of the Tao is the way of heaven and the way of heaven is in your heart. You have seen your original nature.”

The three men laughed together. Lü Tung-pin and Chungli Ch’uan then invited Ts’ao to travel with them to the immortal realm.

T
S’AO
K
UO-CHIU
lived during the early part of the Sung dynasty (960–1279
CE
). Not much is known about him except that he shunned nobility and devoted his life to studying the Tao.

PART TWO

Sages

9

The Father of Ch’i-Kung

Chen Hsi-yi

Chen Hsi-yi was born into a well-to-do family as Chen Tuan. He did not speak until he was five, but once he began, he could read and write and quote the Confucian and Taoist classics from memory. By fifteen he had also mastered the arts of divination, medicine, and astronomy.

When Chen Tuan’s parents died, he said to his relatives, “What I learned in the past was book knowledge. From now on, I will seek out living teachers to show me how to cultivate the Tao.” So Tuan sold all his possessions, gave the money to the poor, and left his home.

His decision to devote his life to cultivating the Tao was admired by scholars, intellectuals, and would-be Taoist practitioners alike. Many approached him, asking to be accepted as students. However, Tuan was not interested in their company. He knew that these people were not really interested in cultivating the Tao; they only wanted to be recognized as “sages” so they could be appointed to government positions.

The T’ang emperor invited Chen Tuan to the palace. When Tuan arrived at court, he did not prostrate himself before the throne. Instead, he merely bowed. The imperial officials were shocked by this behavior, but Chen Tuan’s actions made the emperor respect him even more.

“I will be honored if you will become my adviser,” the emperor said to Chen Tuan.

Tuan thanked the emperor, but court life did not appeal to him. So as not to offend the emperor, he wrote a poem explaining why he could not stay.

For the next twenty years, Chen Tuan lived in the Wu-tang Mountains, devoting his time to studying and practicing the arts of longevity. Later, he moved to Mount Hua, where he met the immortal Lü Tung-pin and learned the technique of spirit travel.

Chen Tuan was fond of practicing a form of ch’i-kung called “sleeping meditation.” Often, he would “sleep” for days and even months. Once, a woodcutter looked inside the cave where Chen Tuan was meditating and thought he saw a corpse. When the woodcutter went in to have a closer look at the dead man, Chen Tuan suddenly sat up and said, “I was having such a good sleep. Why did you disturb me?” The woodcutter turned and ran down the slope.

Once, Chen Tuan ran into a crowd of peasants fleeing from a burning village. At that time, the T’ang dynasty had
fallen and the countryside was devastated by civil war. Among the refugees was a woman carrying a basket, and inside the basket were two tiny infants. Chen Tuan heard one of the peasants say, “Where can we find an emperor who will bring peace to the land?” He pointed to the woman with the children and said, “There are your two emperors.” These children were Chao Kang-yin, who would become the first emperor of the Sung dynasty, and his younger brother, who would succeed him as the second emperor.

Another time, Chen Tuan saw three men walking into an inn. The men sat down at a table and ordered wine. Approaching the eldest of the group, Chen Tuan said, “You are only a subordinate star in the presence of the Great North Star. You can never hope to be your companions’ equal.” It turned out that the two young men were Chao Kang-yin and his brother, the future emperors; the older man was destined to become only a minor noble.

When Chao Kang-yin became emperor, he remembered Chen Tuan’s predictions and decided to ask the sage to be his adviser. When Tuan told the emperor that he preferred the company of the clouds around Mount Hua to that of people, Chao Kang-yin sighed and thought to himself, “This man has shaken off the dust of the world. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to keep him in the palace.” Aloud, he said to Chen Tuan, “I will respect your wishes. But, let us remain friends. Some day, when the country is prosperous and peaceful again, I would like to learn more about the Tao.” So Chen Tuan returned to his retreat on Mount Hua.

During the early years of Chao Kang-yin’s reign, the country was still ravaged by rebels and bandits. The emperor looked at the maps of his kingdom and noticed that Mount Hua would be a perfect place to build a garrison.
However, the mountain was sacred to the Taoists; it was also where Chen Tuan had built his hermitage. The Sung emperor decided to pay the sage a visit.

As the emperor approached Tuan’s retreat, the sage was already standing in front of his door waiting. Before Chao Kang-yin could bring up the subject of building a garrison, Chen Tuan said, “Let’s play a game of chess. If you win, you can do whatever you want on the mountain. However, if I win, you and your descendants must promise never to station troops on Mount Hua.”

The emperor agreed. “I’m a good player,” he thought. “I should have a good chance of winning.”

Chen Tuan was not only a good player, but he was adept at divination. The sage foresaw the emperor’s every move and won the game.

When Tuan told him how he had won the game, Chao Kang-yin laughed and said, “Your wisdom is mysterious and your abilities are rare. I will honor you with the name Chen Hsi-yi.” (
Hsi
means “rare” and
yi
means “mysterious.”) From that time on, Chen Tuan was known by his new name.

The emperor left Mount Hua and, true to his promise, decreed that no garrisons were to be built on the mountain.

Chao Kang-yin was succeeded by his brother, who was crowned as Sung T’ai-tsung. T’ai-tsung also respected Chen Hsi-yi. He invited the sage to his palace and asked for advice on naming a successor.

“I would like you to see my son Chen-tsung and tell me if he would make a good ruler,” the emperor said.

The sage replied, “I don’t need to see your son to know that he will be a good emperor. On my way here, I looked at the faces of his guards and advisers and saw that these men are destined to become great generals and ministers.”
Sung T’ai-tsung heeded Chen Hsi-yi’s words and named Chen-tsung as his heir.

One summer, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Chen Hsi-yi said to his students, “It is time for me to journey to Mount Omei in the west.” His students understood that their teacher meant it was time for him to leave the earthly realm, so they purified the room with incense and lit two tall candles. Hsi-yi sat on his bed in meditation posture, placed his palm on top of his head, and sent his spirit to the immortal realm. At that time, he was 118 years old.