The Wu Shouyang 伍守阳
Paul PengWu Shouyang (1574-1644) was a native of Ji'an, Jiangxi at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
His original name was Yang, with the courtesy name Duanyang and the literary name Chongxuzi.
At the age of ten, he resolved to study and master the Confucian classics; at thirteen, he became fond of Taoist learning and sought the true path of transcendence (from the mundane world).
In the 21st year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1593), he received the personal instruction on alchemical methods from Cao Huanyang. After that, he extensively read books by Taoist immortals and sages, and later studied under Li Niwan and Wang Kunyang. He was once conferred the Three Precepts, becoming a successor of the Longmen Sect, and identified himself as the 8th-generation disciple of the Longmen Sect of the Quanzhen School.
In the theory of alchemical methods (danjing), he innovated the traditional techniques of the Northern Sect. He had a large number of followers in later generations, and his school enjoyed great prosperity.
His direct disciples included Wu Shouxu, Wu Taichu, Gu Yutao, Li Xiren, Zhu Taihe, Zhu Xingyuan, among others.
His works include Tiansxian Zhengli Zhilun (Direct Discourse on the Correct Principles of Heavenly Immortals), Xianfo Hezong Yulu (Recorded Sayings on the Unity of Taoism and Buddhism), Jindan Yaojue (Essential Secrets of the Golden Elixir), Dandao Jiupian (Nine Essays on the Elixir Path), etc. Together with his disciple Liu Huayang, he founded the Wuliu School, an important school of Golden Elixir (jindan) during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
