Ge Hong (284-344), styled Zhichuan and also known as Baopuzi, was a native of Jurong in Danyang (now part of Jiangsu Province) during the Jin Dynasty. He was the great-grandnephew of Ge Xuan.
From a young age, he was fond of learning. Though his family was poor, he personally cut firewood to sell in exchange for paper and ink. At night, he would copy books and study, gaining fame for his mastery of Confucianism.
He was by nature free from excessive desires, had no craving for glory and wealth, and disliked socializing. Whenever he sought books or inquired about the meaning of texts, he did not hesitate to travel thousands of miles.
He had a particular interest in the methods of immortality cultivation and nourishing life. He studied under Zheng Yin and learned the secret techniques of alchemy.
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In the first year of the Xianhe era of Emperor Cheng of the Jin Dynasty (326), Situ Wang Dao summoned him to serve as a provincial zhubu Later, he was selected as a cavalier attendant-in-ordinary and concurrently held the position of grand historian, but Ge Hong firmly declined these posts, stating that he, being elderly, wished to engage in alchemy.
Hearing that cinnabar was produced in Jiaozhi, he sought to be appointed as the magistrate of Goulou. He then took his nephews and set off for Guangzhou, where he settled in Luofu Mountain to practice alchemy. He lived a leisurely and cultivated life there, never ceasing his writing.
He passed away in the second year of the Jianyuan era of Emperor Kang of the Jin Dynasty at the age of sixty-one. His works include Baopuzi (Master Who Embraces Simplicity) (both inner and outer chapters), Golden Cabinet Prescriptions, Biographies of Immortals, and Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital, among others.
(Sources: Biography of Ge Hong in Book of Jin, Self-Narration in Baopuzi)
