The Yan Xiyan 阎希言

Yan Xiyan (? - 1588) was a native of Shanxi during the Ming Dynasty, and his given name was Xiyan. At the age of 27, he was on the verge of death from an illness but was cured after a high-ranking Taoist taught him sitting meditation techniques.

In the 14th year of the Jiajing reign (1535), he abandoned his family to study Taoism. Later, he traveled from Mount Taihe to Qianyuan Temple in Juqu. Yan kept his hair in a single topknot and never wore a headscarf or combed his hair, earning him the nickname "Yan the Unkempt" among people at that time.

He often advised others to practice hidden virtues, be generous in giving, refrain from lechery and killing, avoid worry and anxiety, and not overthink. He also taught his disciples: "To have no thought unguarded is called 'illumination'; to have no desire unquelled is called 'forgetting'." He further said, "If you know to stop in joy, there will be no joy; if you reflect in anger, there will be no anger. Grasp these two sayings, and you will enter the state of forgetting."

He resided at Qianyuan Temple for over 50 years and passed away in the 16th year of the Wanli reign (1588), in the tenth lunar month.

Details of his life can be found in Gazetteer of Jiangning Prefecture and Wang Shizhen's Biography of Taoist Yan.