Fan Li, courtesy name Shaobo, was a native of Xu. He served Tai Gong Wang, the great general of the Zhou dynasty, and enjoyed wearing cinnamon and drinking water. He became a minister of Yue and assisted Goujian in defeating Wu. Later, he boarded a boat and went to sea, changed his name and surname, went to Qi, and became Chiyizi. More than a hundred years later, he appeared in Tao, where he was known as Tuo Zhu Jun. He accumulated wealth in the tens of millions and was called Táo Zhū Gōng. Later he abandoned it, selling medicine in Lanling. People of later generations always recognized and saw him.

Fan Li's withdrawal from power after achieving his greatest success is the perfect embodiment of wu wei — acting in accordance with the Dao and then stepping back, neither clinging to fame nor fearing obscurity. This principle, central to the teachings of Laozi, holds that the sage accomplishes without possessing and acts without attachment.

His story closely parallels that of Jie Zitui, who likewise withdrew into the mountains after rendering great service to his lord — both men choosing the freedom of the Dao over the gilded cage of worldly reward.

Fan Li used cinnamon, with a modest heart but lofty aspirations. Receiving instruction from his teacher Wang, he was both hidden and regretful. A dragon appeared in the land of Yue; having achieved success, he returned to his body. He cast aside thousands of gold pieces and freely expanded or retracted with the Dao.

This eulogy distills the Taoist ideal of the sage-statesman: one who enters the world fully, achieves what must be achieved, and then withdraws without a trace. The Lie Xian Zhuan is filled with such figures — from the ancient longevity of Peng Zu, who endured across centuries through inner cultivation, to the cosmic sovereignty of the Yellow Emperor, who sought the Dao through both governance and self-mastery. Fan Li stands among them not as a hermit, but as proof that the path of immortality can run straight through the heart of the world.