The Liao Chong 廖冲

Liao Chong (471-568), styled Qingxu, was a native of Lianzhou in the Southern Dynasties (now part of Guangdong Province, China).

As recorded in Gazetteer of Guangdong (Guangdong Tongzhi): He served as the chief secretary of a county (Junzhubu) during the Liang Dynasty, and later held the position of Xicao Jijiu (an official in charge of ceremonial and educational affairs in the imperial court or local governments). He was skilled in literary composition, and his works were highly praised by Emperor Wu of Liang.

Prince Xiangdong (a title of a royal prince in the Liang Dynasty) invited him to serve as the Changshi of the Prince's Palace (an official assisting the prince in administrative and advisory affairs). In the third year of the Datong era (537 AD), he resigned from his official post, withdrew to live in seclusion at Jingfu Mountain, embraced Taoism, wore a yellow Taoist hat (a symbol of Taoist practitioners), and practiced the Taoism techniques of "Huangbai" (alchemical practices aiming to refine cinnabar into gold, a traditional Taoist alchemical art) and "Fuqi" (breathing exercises for cultivating vital energy, a core practice in Taoist physical and spiritual cultivation).

He passed away in the second year of the Guangda era of Emperor Fei of the Chen Dynasty (568 AD) at the age of 98.