The Wu Yan 武演

Wu Yan was a native of Lanyang (now part of Henan Province) during the Ming Dynasty, and his courtesy name was Shizhen.

As recorded in Kaifeng Fu Zhi (Gazetteer of Kaifeng Prefecture), he was intelligent and extraordinary from childhood. When he grew up, he accompanied his father, who was on an official assignment, to Hanzhong. There, he encountered True Person Bai, who secretly imparted to him the doctrines of internal and external Jindan (Golden Elixir) as well as its essential formulas. Later, Wu Yan returned to his hometown, where he sat cross-legged on a rush cushion all day long, calming his mind and refining his inner nature.