Biographies of the Divine Immortals 神仙传

Compiled by Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty.

According to Ge Hong's own preface, this book is "a ten-volume collection compiled from records of ancient immortals found in immortal scriptures, Internal Alchemy elixir recipes, works of various schools, teachings of former masters, and discussions of venerable Confucian scholars".

Biographies of the Divine Immortals

Ge Hong compiled this work with the intention of proclaiming that immortals through cultivation have existed since ancient times, and proving that immortality can be learned and eternal life attained. According to Treatise on Biographies of the Divine Immortals by Liang Su, the Tang Dynasty edition of this book recorded one hundred and ninety immortals. The existing edition in the Han-Wei Collection only contains ninety-two figures, and the version in the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries has eighty-four, none of which are the complete text.

The accounts of figures such as Guangchengzi, Laozi, Pengzu, Heshi Gong, Liu An, Li Shaojun and Zhang Daoling in the book are much more detailed than those recorded in Records of the Grand Historian and Book of the Han. The biographies of Hu Gong, Ji Zixun, Liu Gen, Zuo Ci, Gan Shi and Feng Junda are consistent with those in Biography of Fangshu in the Book of the Later Han. Evidently, Ge Hong's compilation was based on existing sources, and over long circulation, these stories became established facts.

Later Taoist scriptures and immortal biographies were greatly influenced by this book, and literati also frequently drew material from it for their novels and poems. The work is listed in the Catalogue of Lost Scriptures in the The Daozang.