The Ren Dun 任敦

The Ren Dun 任敦

Paul Peng

Ren Dun

A native of Bochang (present-day Boxing County, Shandong Province) in the late Western Jin Dynasty. His courtesy names were Shangneng and Shangyin.
During the Yongjia era (307–313), he came to Yunyang Mountain (present-day Maoshan Mountain, a sacred site of Taoism in Jiangsu Province) and resided there to practice the Chishizhi Method—a Taoist alchemical and ascetic practice centered on refining and consuming "red stone resin" (a mineral substance believed by Taoists to nourish vitality and aid in immortality cultivation).

Whenever he went in and out of markets, he always held Taoist scriptures in his hand. He propagated Taoist teachings and instructed the common people; as a result, people in the mountains, forests, and surrounding villages all respectfully followed his guidance and embraced Taoist ethics.


Ren Dun was skilled in medical treatment. For those suffering from severe and intractable illnesses, anyone who received his healing would recover completely. In daily life, he rarely spoke, yet he possessed the ability to divine good and bad fortunes.


Later, he foresaw the rebellion led by Sun En (a major Taoist rebel in the Eastern Jin Dynasty). Shortly after, he attained shijie (a Taoist term referring to the "release of the corpse"—a form of ascension where a practitioner’s physical body is believed to transform or dissipate, symbolizing transcendence to immortality) at Muzhao Mountain.


(Sources: Lishi Zhenxian Tidao Tongjian [Comprehensive Mirror of the True Immortals Who Embodied the Dao Through the Ages], Volume 7; Sandong Zhunang [Precious Sack of the Three Caverns]; Sandong Qunxian Lu [Record of the Assembly of Immortals from the Three Caverns])
Paul Peng — Zhengyi Taoist Priest, Longhu Mountain

About the Author

Paul Peng

Paul Peng is a Zhengyi Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi — the ancestral home of the Celestial Masters' tradition. Ordained at 25 after a dream from the Celestial Master, he has practiced for 25 years under Master Zeng Guangliang. He is one of the curators of this store, which is officially authorized by Tianshi Fu. All items are consecrated at the temple by the resident priest team.

Read his full story →
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