Gu Chun was a native of Liyang and served as an officer during Emperor Cheng's Han dynasty reign. He died from illness, but his body did not grow cold — a sign recognized in the Taoist tradition as a mark of true immortal attainment. His family prepared the funeral rites and observed mourning, yet they still dared not nail down the coffin. After three years, he put on a hat and head covering again and sat at the county gate; people in the town were greatly shocked. His family came to welcome him back, but he refused to go with them. The coffin was opened and found to contain clothes but no body. He stayed at the gate for three nights, then left for Chang'an and stopped at the Heng Gate. When people learned of this and went to welcome him, he left again for Taibai Mountain, where he absorbed vital energy through Taoist inner cultivation. A sacred shrine was built on the mountain; whenever he came, he would stay overnight at the shrine.

After Gu Chun's death, his body remained warm for some time. Five years after the coffin was closed, it opened on its own at the gate. Looking into the empty casket, they saw that his body had vanished but his clothes remained. He left a track at Taibai Mountain and absorbed vital energy from its mysterious roots.