Xu Mi 许谧 — Third Patriarch of Shangqing and Recipient of the Zhen Gao Revelations
Paul PengKey Takeaways
- Xu Mi (许谧, 305–376 CE), personal name Mu (穆), courtesy name Sixuan (思玄), was a native of Jurong (句容) in Danyang (丹阳, present-day Jiangsu Province) and the fifth younger brother of Xu Mai (许迈)
- He is venerated as the third patriarch of the Shangqing tradition (上清派三祖) — specifically holding the rank of Third Perfected Duke (第三代真公) in the Shangqing lineage — and was the principal human recipient of the Shangqing revelations transmitted by Yang Xi (杨羲, 330–c.386 CE) between 364 and 370 CE
- Yang Xi (杨羲) was a gifted medium, calligrapher, and Taoist practitioner who served in the Xu household; he received visitations from celestial beings of the Shangqing heaven and transmitted their teachings in his own hand to Xu Mi and his son Xu Hui (许翙, also known as Xu Huangmin 许黄民)
- He served a distinguished official career — chief secretary, Doctor of the Imperial Academy, magistrate of Yuyao County, Gentleman of the Ministry of Rites, and ultimately Cavalier-in-Attendance (散骑常侍) — while inwardly cultivating the Dao
- He retired to Maoshan (茂山, present-day Jurong, Jiangsu) in his later years and died in the first year of the Taiyuan era (太元元年, 376 CE) at the age of seventy-two
- He was posthumously honored as Shangqing Zhenren (上清真人) and, during the Xuanhe era (宣和, 1119–1125 CE) of Song Emperor Huizong, granted the title Taiyuan Guangde Zhenren (太元广德真人)
Xu Mi (许谧, 305–376 CE) — the Eastern Jin official who served as Cavalier-in-Attendance while receiving the Shangqing revelations from Yang Xi, becoming the third patriarch of the Shangqing tradition and retiring to Maoshan before his death in 376 CE.
Historical Context: The Xu Family and the Shangqing Revelation
Xu Mi (许谧) came from a distinguished family of Jurong (句容) in Danyang commandery — the same region that would become the heartland of the Shangqing tradition. His elder brother Xu Mai (许迈) was also a Taoist practitioner of note, having studied under Bao Jing (鲍靖, Prefect of Nanhai and father-in-law of Ge Hong) before withdrawing into mountain seclusion. The Xu family's combination of elite social standing, literary cultivation, and Taoist practice made them the ideal recipients for the Shangqing revelation.
Xu Mi gained fame at a young age — well-educated, gifted in literary composition, refined in manner, and modest in conduct. He associated closely with many virtuous and prominent figures of his time, building the social network that would later support the Shangqing tradition's spread among the Eastern Jin elite.
Official Career: Serving the State While Cultivating the Dao
Xu Mi served a distinguished official career: chief secretary (主簿) and administrative official in his native county; Doctor of the Imperial Academy (博士); magistrate of Yuyao County (余姚令); Gentleman of the Ministry of Rites (礼部郎); and ultimately Cavalier-in-Attendance (散骑常侍) — a high-ranking imperial advisory position. Throughout this career, he outwardly engaged in secular official duties while inwardly cultivating true Taoist learning and practicing the profound Dao.
The Shangqing Revelation: Yang Xi and the Xu Household
The defining event of Xu Mi's life — and one of the most important events in the history of Chinese Taoism — was the series of Shangqing revelations that Yang Xi (杨羲, 330–c.386 CE) transmitted in the Xu family household between 364 and 370 CE. Yang Xi was a gifted medium, calligrapher, and Taoist practitioner who served in the Xu household. During this period he received visitations from celestial beings of the Shangqing (上清, Highest Clarity) heaven, who transmitted to him an entirely new corpus of Taoist scriptures, meditation practices, and cosmological teachings — all recorded in Yang Xi's own distinctive calligraphy.
Xu Mi was the principal human patron and recipient of these revelations. The celestial beings addressed their teachings specifically to Xu Mi and his son Xu Hui (许翙, also known as Xu Huangmin 许黄民) — the Xu family was not merely the physical location of the revelations but their intended audience. Without Xu Mi's social standing, his household's resources, and his personal cultivation, the Shangqing revelation could not have taken root in the Eastern Jin world.
The content of these revelations — preserved in Yang Xi's original manuscripts and later compiled by Tao Hongjing (陶弘景, 456–536 CE) into the Zhen Gao (《真诰》) — included new methods of inner visualization, new cosmological maps of the celestial hierarchy, new names and forms of the divine spirits inhabiting the body, and new ritual practices for communicating with the celestial authorities.
Xu Hui: Continuing the Transmission
Xu Mi's son Xu Hui (许翙, courtesy name Huangmin 黄民) was the co-recipient of the Shangqing revelations and became the fourth patriarch of the Shangqing tradition. The father-son transmission of the Shangqing teachings — from Yang Xi to Xu Mi and Xu Hui — established the lineage pattern that would define the Shangqing tradition's subsequent history. Xu Hui's careful preservation of Yang Xi's original manuscripts was the direct precursor to Tao Hongjing's later compilation of the Zhen Gao.
Retirement to Maoshan and Death in 376 CE
In his later years, Xu Mi withdrew from public life to live in seclusion on Maoshan (茂山, present-day Jurong, Jiangsu Province) — the sacred mountain that would become the principal sacred site of the Shangqing tradition and give the tradition its alternative name, the Maoshan School (茂山宗). Maoshan is the mountain where the Three Mao Lords (三茂君) — Mao Ying (茂盈), Mao Gu (茂固), and Mao Zhong (茂衷) — had practiced and attained immortality during the Western Han dynasty, making it already a site of Taoist veneration before the Shangqing revelation.
Xu Mi passed away in the first year of the Taiyuan era (太元元年, 376 CE) at the age of seventy-two.
Posthumous Honor and Temple Legacy
Emperor Gaozu of the Liang dynasty (梁高祖, r. 502–549 CE) had a special shrine called Cizhen Guan (慈真观) built in Xu Mi's honor, and his former residence was converted into Zongyang Guan (宗阳观), later renamed Ziyang Guan (紫阳观, Purple Yang Taoist Temple). During the Xuanhe era (宣和, 1119–1125 CE) of Song Emperor Huizong, he was posthumously granted the title Taiyuan Guangde Zhenren (太元广德真人, True Person of Great Primordial and Vast Virtue).
Zhengyi Perspective
In the Zhengyi tradition, Xu Mi's story illuminates the relationship between the Zhengyi and Shangqing traditions — two of the most important streams of Eastern Jin Taoism, both rooted in the Jiangnan region. It should be noted that the Zhengyi Celestial Masters' formal institutional base at Longhu Mountain (龙虎山) in Jiangxi was consolidated over time; during Xu Mi's lifetime in the Eastern Jin period, the two traditions were developing in parallel in the Jiangnan region, and their subsequent history involved both competition and mutual influence.
Xu Mi's dual life — outward official service, inward Taoist cultivation — also reflects a pattern that the Zhengyi tradition recognizes and honors. The Zhengyi priest who performs state rituals, who serves the community through healing and exorcism, who mediates between the human world and the celestial authorities — is enacting the same integration of outward service and inward cultivation that Xu Mi embodied throughout his official career. The celestial beings who appeared to Yang Xi in the Xu household addressed their teachings to a man who had spent decades in precisely this integration.
Related Concepts
- Jin Dynasty (晋朝): the historical period of Xu Mi's life Jin Dynasty
- What is Taoism (道教是什么): the broader tradition What is Taoism
Source Texts
- Tao Hongjing (陶弘景). Zhen Gao (《真诰》, Declarations of the Perfected). Liang dynasty (compiled c. 499 CE). [Primary source; compiled from Yang Xi's original manuscripts.]
- Anonymous. Xuanpin Lu (《玄品录》, Record of Mysterious Ranks). Tang dynasty.
- Zhao Daoyi (赵道一). Lishi Zhenxian Tidao Tongjian (《历世真仙体道通鉴》), Vol. 21. Yuan dynasty.
