The Lü Yan 吕喦

Lü Yan lived during the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. He was a native of Yongle County, Hezhong Prefecture (present-day Yongji, Shanxi). According to another account, he was from Jingchuan and went by the courtesy name Dongbin, the literary name Chunyangzi, and also called himself Huidaoren (the Daoist of Return).

He was commonly known as Ancestor Lü, Patriarch Chunyang, or Lü Dongbin, and was one of the Eight Immortals in Chinese folk mythology.

Lü Yan took the imperial examination for the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) but failed. After that, he wandered across the land. He studied under Zhong Liquan, who taught him the skills of the Golden Elixir (a core practice in Daoist alchemy), the art of prolonging life, the "Great Dao Heavenly Evasion" swordsmanship, and the secret texts of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Elixir. Subsequently, Lü Yan retreated to the mountains and forests, devoting himself to Daoist cultivation while upholding justice and acting as a chivalrous figure.

He regarded delivering the world with compassion as his path to Daoist perfection, took Golden Elixir techniques as his internal cultivation, and promoted the Daoist ideas of attaining longevity to remain in the world and cultivating the true self to become an immortal. He also integrated the theories of Confucianism and Buddhism, advocated the practice of Daoist internal alchemy (Neidan), and helped form the Zhong-Lü Golden Elixir School, which exerted an influence on the development of Daoism after the Song and Yuan dynasties.

Lü Yan was revered as one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of Quanzhen Daoism. In the first year of the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1119), he was conferred the title "Zhenren Miaotong" (Perfected One of Subtle Penetration) by imperial decree. In the sixth year of the Zhiyuan era of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty (1269), he was granted the title "Zhenjun Chunyang Yanzheng Jinghua" (True Lord of Pure Yang, Evolving Righteousness and Awakening Transformation). In the third year of the Zhida era of Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan Dynasty (1310), he was further bestowed the title "Dijun Chunyang Yanzheng Jinghua Fuyou" (Imperial Lord of Pure Yang, Evolving Governance, Awakening Transformation and Blessing Protection).

Lü Yan had a large number of works attributed to him, but the authenticity of these texts is mixed—most were falsely attributed to him during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The relatively reliable ones include Song of Breaking Delusion and Upholding the Right Dao, Chapter of Lingbao, Chapter of One Hundred Questions, Chapter of Pointing to the Mystery, Chapter of Three Accomplishments for the Elbow, Song of Pointing Directly to the Great Elixir, Song of Tapping the Trigrams, and Song of the Valley Spirit.

(Sources: Records of the Divine Transformation and Subtle Penetration of Imperial Lord Chunyang, Comprehensive Mirror of the Dao-Achieving True Immortals Through the Ages)