The Hou Kai 侯楷

Hou Kai (488–573 AD) was a native of Jingzhao Commandery during the Northern Wei Dynasty (now Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, China), and his courtesy name was Faxian.

During the Zhengshi era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (504–508 AD), he studied under Chen Baochi (a prominent Taoist master of Louguan School) and served in the Taoist tradition under Chen for thirty years.

After Chen Baochi passed away, Hou Kai lived in seclusion in Han Valley (Cold Valley). He founded Sansong Guan (Sansong Taoist Temple) and dedicated himself to practicing three core Taoist arts: the Dadong Jing Method (a foundational scripture-based practice of the Shangqing School), the Huangdi Sān Bēn Yùnǚ Technique (a Taoist cultivation method attributed to the Yellow Emperor, related to regulating vital energy), and the Sanhuang Neiwen Héshao Method (a ritual practice from the "Three Emperors" Taoist tradition for invoking spiritual powers to subdue entities). A large number of disciples gathered around him to learn.

During his seclusion in the mountains, he sustained himself solely on wild fruits (lit. "wood food") and stream water, living a contented life that embodied the hermitic spirit of Chao Fu and Xu You—two legendary recluses in ancient Chinese culture renowned for shunning secular fame and wealth.

When local villagers were afflicted by evil spirits (chimei, malicious supernatural beings in Chinese folklore), they all turned to Hou Kai, who would dispel the spirits using Taoist talismans and incantations. In every case, the villagers were immediately relieved and restored to safety.

Hou Kai passed away in October of the second year of the Jiande era of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (573 AD) at the age of eighty-six.

(Source: Louguan Xian Shi Zhuan Bei (Stele of Biographies of the Former Masters of Louguan), Xian Jian (Comprehensive Mirror of Immortals), Volume 30)