The Yang Mingzhen 杨明真

Yang Mingzhen (1154-1233) was a native of Sanyuan, Yaozhou (now Yao County, Shaanxi Province) during the Jin Dynasty. He styled himself Bizhuzi and was respectfully called "Mr. Paper Jacket" by people of his time.

As recorded in the middle volume of Zhongnan Mountain Ancestral Court Immortals and Real Persons Internal Biography: His family had been farmers for generations, and all four of his brothers became Taoist monks.

Yang Mingzhen first studied under Ma Danyang. Later, he went to Shandong Province, where he served as an attendant to Qiu Chuji and Wang Yuyang. From then on, he traveled back and forth to Zhongnan Mountain. During the Cheng’an and Taihe eras, his reputation spread widely in the Guanzhong region. At that time, Senior Official Gao, who held the position of Transportation Commissioner and held the title "Jiayi" (a mid-level official rank in the Jin Dynasty), suffered from heartache. Yang Mingzhen immediately performed "qi transmission" (a Taoist practice of channeling vital energy) and guidance, along with massage, to relieve his pain, and the treatment proved effective.

For a time, princes, dukes, and senior officials successively paid their respects to him and became his disciples. Yang Mingzhen had never learned to read or write, but he composed poems and essays extemporaneously every day, often with remarkable and insightful lines that won admiration from everyone. In daily life, he was unconstrained by trivial matters, living a simple and calm life. In the second year of the Zhengda era (1225), he had a longevity pagoda built in advance beside his ancestral tomb. In the second year of the Tianxing era (1233), he passed away without illness at the age of 80.

His disciples compiled more than 300 poems and essays he had created into a collection named Chang’an Ji (Chang’an Collection), which was passed down to later generations.