Biography of Immortal Shen of Yunfu Mountain 云阜山申仙翁传
Paul PengBiography of Immortal Shen of Yunfu Mountain
Anonymous.
As the book mentions “honorary titles conferred by the previous Song Dynasty” and “veneration offered in the great Yuan Dynasty”, it can be determined that this work was written during the Yuan Dynasty.
The original text consists of one volume, included in the Genealogy and Records category of the Daozang, Mysterious Cavern Division.
Biography of Immortal Shen of Yunfu Mountain
The original text consists of one volume, included in the Genealogy and Records category of the Daozang, Mysterious Cavern Division.It contains the life story of Shen Taizhi (687–755), a Taoist priest of the Tang Dynasty.
He is said to have courtesy name Guangxiang, a native of Jiyang. In his early years, he received the teachings of the Golden Elixir and Fire Dragon Great Achievement from the True Lord of the Nine Heavens.
In the 26th year of the Kaiyuan era, he was summoned to the capital. The Emperor of the Tang acclaimed him as “Immortal Lord” and bestowed upon him the title “Grand Preceptor”.
Later, having foreseen the An Lushan Rebellion, he begged to return to his hometown, and ascended to immortality in the fourth month of the 14th year of the Tianbao era.
Before his departure, the Immortal Lord gave a palace maid named Chen a pill called Crimson Snow Pill, saying that whoever took it would be reborn after a hundred years and become an earth‑immortal.
During the Yuanhe era, Xue Zhao encountered the ghost of Lady Chen, and the two together became earth‑immortals, fulfilling the Immortal Lord’s prophecy.
These are later fabricated stories attached by Taoists.
