The Li Suxi 李素希

Li Suxi (1329-1421) was a native of Luoyang, living during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. His courtesy name was Youyan, and he held the honorific title "Great Master Mingshi Taoguang" (Great Master of Illuminating Origins and Concealing Brilliance).

In the late Yuan Dynasty, he left his family and became a Taoist priest at Wudang Mountain. In the early years of the Hongwu period (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty, he served as the abbot of Wulong Palace (Five-Dragon Palace); later, he retreated to Ziran An (Natural Hermitage).

In the third year of the Yongle period (1405), the langmei trees (a rare local tree species at Wudang Mountain) bore fruit. He sent Taoist priest Yi Benzhong to the imperial capital to present the fruits as tribute to the emperor. In the fourth year of the Yongle period (1406), he again sent Taoist priest Lü Zhengzhong to offer the langmei fruits to the emperor. In the tenth year of the Yongle period (1412), the emperor issued an imperial edict, dispatching ministers to build over 30 Taoist temples and palaces at Wudang Mountain. Li Suxi was officially appointed as "Tidian" (administrative supervisor) of Xingsheng Wulong Palace (Prosperous Sage Five-Dragon Palace) at Wudang Mountain by imperial order.

He passed away in June of the nineteenth year of the Yongle period (1421) at the age of 90.

(Source: Records of Taihe Mountain, the Great Yue / Dayue Taihe Shan Zhi, Records of Wudang Mountain / Wudang Shan Zhi)