The Ding Shaowei 丁少微

Ding Shaowei (?–982) was a native of Zhenyuan in Bozhou (present-day Luyi County, Henan Province) during the Taiping Xingguo era of the Northern Song Dynasty.

He was a Taoist priest on Mount Hua. He strictly observed fasting and vegetarian rituals, and was particularly meticulous in upholding Taoist liturgical ceremonies. Endowed with Taoist mystical arts, he was skilled in "qi absorption" (a Taoist practice of refining vital energy) and consuming nourishing elixirs. He aspired to purity and cleanliness: he built ritual altars and clean chambers in his mountain residence, and performed devotional worship every morning and evening—he never slackened in this practice for more than fifty years.

He was as famous as Chen Tuan, but Chen Tuan was fond of drinking and indulged his nature; their approaches to the Dao differed, so they never had any interactions.

In the third year of the Taiping Xingguo era (979 AD), there was a severe drought in the imperial capital. The emperor issued an edict summoning Ding Shaowei to the capital to pray for rain, and his prayer took immediate effect.

In the fourth year (980 AD), Ding Shaowei went to the imperial court and presented golden elixirs, giant sunflower seeds (a symbol of vitality in traditional culture), black ganoderma, and other items. The emperor was extremely pleased and allowed him to stay in the capital for several months before he returned to the mountain.

Ding Shaowei passed away in the seventh year of the Taiping Xingguo era. Accounts of his life can be found in The History of the Song Dynasty·Biography of Recluses, Chronicle of Emperor Taizong, and Lishi Zhenxian Tidao Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror of the True Immortals Who Embodied the Dao Through the Ages), Volume 47.