Biography of King Mu of Zhou Dynasty 穆天子传

In the second year of the Taikang reign of the Western Jin Dynasty (281 CE), local villagers in Jixian County plundered the tomb of King Xiang of Wei dating from the Warring States Period, and unearthed several cartloads of bamboo slips. After collation and compilation, these slips became a collection of books, among which was Biography of King Mu of Zhou.

Biography of King Mu of Zhou Dynasty

This book records the story of King Mu of Zhou traveling across the world, crossing the quicksand deserts in the north, climbing Mount Kunlun in the west, and meeting the Queen Mother of the West. Xun Xu, the Palace Secretary Supervisor of the Western Jin Dynasty, wrote a preface for this book, stating that "though its language is not refined, it is all ancient text and quite worth reading". Guo Pu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty annotated the book, "citing many tales of the strange and supernatural". Thus, the book became one of the famous supernatural stories of the Jin Dynasty and circulated widely in later generations. Taoist Priest biographies of immortals draw a great deal of material from this work. The existing Ming Dynasty block-printed editions and the edition included in the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries all consist of six volumes. The edition in the The Daozang is compiled into two volumes and included in the Biographical Category of the The Dongzhen Section.