13

Zhang Daoling Tests Zhao Sheng Seven Times

The above light-hearted quatrain should not be taken seriously, for it was written by Scholar Tang¹ of the present dynasty [Ming] in playful derision of immortal beings. Ever since the beginning of the universe, three religions have been in existence: the Supreme Ultimate Lord Lao [Lao Zi] founded Taoism [Daoism], Sakyamuni founded Buddhism, and Confucius Confucianism. Confucianism has produced sages and people of virtue, Buddhism has produced Bodhisattvas and Taoism immortals. Of all the followers of the three religions, Confucians lead prosaic and dull lives, and Buddhists live stoically in self-denial. Only the Taoists, in their quest for immortality and bodily transformation, are carefree and unrestrained.

Dear audience, the story that I shall now tell is about how Zhang Daoling tested Zhao Sheng seven times, Zhang Daoling being no less than the very first patriarch of the generations of Taoist celestial masters living on Dragon and Tiger Mountain, and Zhao Sheng his disciple. There is a poem in evidence:

As the story goes, Zhang Daoling, with the courtesy name Fuhan, the first to hold the title of Celestial Master, was a native of the state of Pei and an eighth generation descendant of Zhang Zifang.² He was born in the tenth year of the Jianwu reign period [C.E. 34] during the rule of Emperor Guangwu of the Han dynasty. Before conceiving him, his mother saw in a dream that the seventh star of the Big Dipper fell from the sky and changed into a man over ten feet tall, who held in his palm a magic pill the size of a chicken egg with a fragrance that assailed her nostrils. She took the pill and swallowed it. When she woke up, she felt a fiery warmth in her abdomen, and her room was permeated with an extraordinary fragrance that lingered for months. This was how she became pregnant. In the tenth month, when the pregnancy reached its full term, Daoling was born in the midst of a dazzling light that suddenly lit up the room in the middle of the night. When seven years old, he could already explicate the Daode jing³ and knew all there was to know about Fuxi’s⁴ eight trigrams and books on divination. By the time he reached sixteen, he had mastered all of the Five Classics. Nine feet two inches in height, he had an awe-inspiring appearance with his thick eyebrows, broad forehead, ruddy neck, green eyes, high-bridged nose, square jaws, prominent bony ridge extending from between his eyebrows to the top of his head, arms reaching below his kneecaps,⁵ and a demeanor that was as imposing as that of a dragon or a tiger. He was recommended to the National University for his worthiness and moral integrity. One day he sighed to himself, saying, “A hundred years fly by in an instant like lightning. What if I do attain the highest office there is? It does nothing to prolong life!” Henceforth, he devoted himself to the cultivation of the Tao [Dao; Way] as well as to alchemical experiments in search of an elixir of immortality. Among his fellow students was a Wang Chang, who, deeply convinced of the truth in Daoling’s words, honored Daoling as his mentor and joined him in his journeys to famous mountains in search of the Tao.

When they approached Yuzhang Prefecture they came upon a boy in embroidered clothes, who asked them, “What are you two gentlemen’s plans, that you’ve come such a long way to arrive here at this late hour?” Much taken aback, Daoling realized that this boy was no common sort and told him about their wish to seek the Tao. The boy said, “Mortal beings talk all too flippantly about Taoism. In fact, only by following the Yellow Emperor’s nine-crucible method of preparing the elixir of immortality will one be able to achieve ascension to heaven.” Upon the two travelers’ request for advice, the boy intoned the following two lines:

With this, he disappeared into thin air. Daoling made a mental note of the two lines, without understanding their meaning.

One day, when the onward journey took them to Dragon and Tiger Mountain, Daoling’s heart gave a leap. “‘Dragon on the left, tiger on the right’ could very well be a reference to this place,” he said to Wang Chang. “The ‘celestial abode’ could be a place where secret books are hidden.”

When they climbed to the top of the mountain, there came into sight a stone cave called Bilu Cave. They entered the cave and, following a partly lit winding path, they came upon a double door made of stone. “This door surely leads to a residence of immortals,” thought Daoling to himself. He and his follower Wang Chang then solemnly sat down by the door. On the seventh day, the stone door suddenly swung wide open, revealing stone stools and a stone table with nothing on it but a book. When they took up the book and examined it, they found that it was The Classic of the Yellow Emperor’s Nine-Crucible Divine Elixir. Lifting his hand to his forehead, Daoling exclaimed, “What a stroke of luck!” The two men’s joy knew no bounds. They studied the book day and night and learned everything there was to learn about the method. However, they lacked the means to meet the lavish expenses that would be involved in the purchasing of the ingredients and the crucibles, and keeping a fire going under the latter. Daoling had, in earlier years, learned to cure illness by using holy water. People of the Shu [Sichuan] region being known for their innocence and honesty, Daoling headed there and, together with Wang Chang, settled down on Crane Cry [Heming] Mountain, where, calling himself a patriarch, he started using holy water to cure illness. As the holy water proved to be most e ective, he began to attract more patients as well as disciples who wished to learn how to use holy water.

Encouraged by the faith and trust that he had inspired, the patriarch laid down some rules. Patients had to write truthful accounts of all the ill deeds that they had done since they were born. The patriarch would then write down their confessions and cast the confessions into the pond in front of the patriarch’s house. The patients would then vow to the gods not to repeat their sins, on pain of instant death. Only after taking such a vow would they be allowed to drink the holy water. After recovery, they were to pay for the service with five bushels of rice. The patriarch’s disciples spread out to di erent areas to pursue the same practice. They dedicated to the gods all the rice and silk they received, keeping not the slightest speck of anything for themselves. Thus it came about that people attributed all minor ailments to punishment by the gods and willingly made a clean breast of their sins. After recovery, they were so ashamed of their previous behavior that they changed their ways and dared not commit further sins. (If this practice gains popularity throughout the land, how can there be no peace?)

After several years had gone by in this way, Daoling amassed a sizable fortune, which he spent on ingredients for the immortality elixir. He then retired with Wang Chang into a private room, and their project of producing Dragon and Tiger pills got under way. It took three years before the pills of immortality were ready. After taking the pills, the sexagenarian patriarch rejuvenated till he looked like a young man of thirty. Henceforth, he could be in more than one location at the same time, touring the east and west streams on a small boat while, at the same time, intoning the scriptures in the hall with never a pause. When visited by guests, his multiple manifestations would greet them and send them o or engage them in games of chess over cups of wine. Unable to tell which manifestation of the patriarch was the true one, witnesses all marveled at the wondrous ways of the immortals.

One day, a Taoist priest came to say that in the western section of the city, there was a white tiger spirit that was addicted to the drinking of human blood. A local resident was killed every year to be o ered to the spirit as sacrifice. It pained the patriarch’s heart to hear of such a practice, and he made a personal appearance there when the day for the sacrifice was drawing near. He did indeed witness the local people tie up a man and, led by a band of musicians, send the man into the temple dedicated to the spirit of the white tiger. Upon inquiry, the patriarch received answers that tallied with the Taoist priest’s account. Should they fail to o er human sacrifices, a raging rainstorm would sweep over the region and wipe out all crops, seedlings, and animals. Out of fear, the local community would buy a man at a high price every year and send him, all stripped and trussed up, into the temple for the spirit to suck his blood in the middle of the night. This had become a tradition that the authorities found impossible to abolish.

“Why don’t you release this man,” said the patriarch, “and put me there instead?”

The local residents replied, “This poverty-stricken fellow with no one to turn to for help is willing to forsake his life as human sacrifice. The fifty thousand in cash that he received from us has already been spent to the last penny on the funeral service for his father and the wedding of his younger sister. For him, to die is to fulfill his obligation. Why should you o er to die for him?”

“I just don’t believe that a supernatural being would take human lives,” replied the patriarch. “Should this turn out to be true, I shall assume full responsibility for myself and die with no regrets.”

In discussing the matter among themselves, the locals said, “It’s none of our business that he doesn’t believe a bit of this. A human life needs to be o e red—it doesn’t matter whose it is.” Accordingly, the man bound in ropes was set free, as the patriarch suggested. Having regained his life, the man bowed in gratitude and left. As the locals pressed forward to bind him up, the patriarch stopped them, saying, “Being a volunteer, I will certainly not try to escape. Why do I need to be tied up?” Everyone agreed.

As the patriarch stepped into the temple, what met his eyes were swirling wisps of incense amid fearsome-looking clay figures of gods brightly lit by lamps and candles. On the altar were already laid out a host of sacrificial o erings. After paying homage to the spirit and saying the prayer, the locals locked the patriarch up in the temple and sealed the door. Motionless, he sat with closed eyes, waiting for the spirit to appear.

In the depth of the night, a gust of fierce wind brought the white tiger spirit into the presence of the sage. At the very moment the spirit reached out for him, rays of red light flashed forth from the patriarch’s mouth, ears, eyes, and nose by the power of the immortality elixir and fixed the white tiger spirit in their web.

“Who are you?” asked the spirit in consternation.

“By order of the Lord on High,” replied the patriarch, “I, with jurisdiction over all gods of the four seas and five mountains, am conducting an investigation in di erent places in multiple physical manifestations of myself. What accursed vermin are you to dare to bring devastation to human lives here? So heinous is your crime that your destruction by heaven is inevitable!”

Before the white tiger spirit could rise to his own defense, he found himself surrounded on all sides by multiple manifestations of the patriarch emitting red light from head to toe. The white tiger spirit was so dazzled that he could not so much as open an eye and had to kowtow to ask for mercy. The white tiger spirit had been, in fact, the god of metal. After the five strong men dug a tunnel through the Shu Mountains,⁶ the metal essence in the mountains leaked out and was transformed into a white tiger that haunted the region, wreaking havoc on the local residents. It was not until after the local people erected a temple and promised to o er annual human sacrifices to him that the harassments stopped. Now, the patriarch, with his experience with alchemy, had come to be a true master of the element of fire. Fire being the element that overcomes metal, the patriarch’s victory was a matter of course. There and then, he subdued the white tiger spirit and made him pledge to stop destroying human lives. Thus warned, the white tiger spirit went away.

Early the following morni ng, local residents were shocked to find the patriarch still in the temple, safe and sound. To their questions, he gave a full account of what had happened and assured them that the spirit would not come again to prey on human lives and do harm. As the locals reverently asked for his name, he replied, “I am Zhang Daoling of Crane Cry Mountain.” With these words, he left with light and airy steps. In front of the White Tiger Temple, the local people built three additional front halls to hold images of Patriarch Zhang. The practice of human sacrifice was thus brought to an end. There is a poem in evidence:

In the Green Rock Mountains in Guanghan, there was a giant python that preyed upon human lives. A whi of the poisonous breath that the python pu ed during the daytime was enough to send wayfarers to their deaths. Again, the patriarch o ered his services and got rid of the poisonous python so that the local people could walk during the daytime in the mountains again without fear.

On the fifteenth night of the first month of the first year of the Han’an reign period [C.E. 142] under Emperor Shun, the patriarch was sitting by himself in his abode on Crane Cry Mountain when he heard celestial music wafting faintly toward him from the east. As the sounds of a divine chariot drew near, he stepped out into the yard for a look and saw a white chariot descending slowly from a purple cloud to the east. In the chariot, amid a halo of a dazzling brilliance too bright for the eyes to look upon, sat a dignified god with a complexion as fair as jade and as clear as ice. Standing in front of the chariot was none other than the boy in embroidered clothes whom Daoling had encountered in Yuzhang Prefecture.

“Fear not,” said the boy. “This is the Supreme Ultimate Lord Lao Zi himself.” The patriarch hastened to make his obeisance.

Lao Zi addressed him in these words: “It pained me deeply to see many demons wreaking havoc recently in the Shu region. Your assistance in subduing them for me in the interests of the local people was an act of boundless beneficence and will surely earn you a place on the Red Terrace.”⁷ So saying, he handed to the patriarch The Auspicious Alliance Registers of the Orthodox Unity [Zhengyi mengwei milu], nine hundred and thirty volumes of scriptures of the Three Pure Ones; seventy-two books on talismanic registers, alchemy, and secret formulas; a pair of male and female swords; and a seal for the Surveyor of Merit. He then reminded the patriarch, “I will see you in the abode of the immortals in a thousand days.” The patriarch bowed in acknowledgement before Lao Zi rose in the air and floated away on a cloud.

Henceforth the patriarch pored over the books every day and cultivated his nature in accordance with the instructions. Word came to him that millions of demon soldiers under the command of eight demon generals were ravaging the region of Yizhou and killing numerous people. With a mandate from Lao Zi, the patriarch brought along The Auspicious Alliance Registers and headed for Green City Mountain, where he set up a glazed altar with a tablet for the Celestial Honored Primordial on the left and thirty-six volumes of the scriptures on the right. He also erected ten talismanic banners and set up platforms all around him. Striking the bells and chimes, he gathered together celestial troops and deployed them for the capture of the demon generals. In the meantime, the demon generals and their demon soldiers, armed with knives, arrows, and stones, charged at him. He raised a finger on his left hand, and that finger changed into a great lotus flower with dense foliage impenetrable by any weapon. The demons then lit over a thousand torches in an attempt to burn him to death. At a flick of his sleeve, the fire turned back onto the demons.

Calling out from afar, the demons demanded, “Why does the master, a resident of Crane Cry Mountain, come to harass us in our territory?”

The patriarch replied, “Your heinous crimes against humanity have become known to heaven. I am here by order of the Venerable Lao Zi to punish you. Should you plead guilty, you will come to no harm if you quickly leave for the barren western region and stop plaguing the people. The moment you resume your old ways, you will perish along with all your o spring.”

The following day, the demon generals, still defiant, sought the help of six demon kings, who led millions of demon troops on an expedition against the patriarch. After they had pitched camp, the patriarch suggested, in a bid to convince them of his power, “Let all of us show the best of our magic powers and see who will come out the winner.” The six demon kings agreed.

The patriarch had Wang Chang pile up some wood and light a fire. No sooner had the patriarch thrown himself into the raging flames than a green lotus flower appeared under his feet and raised him out of the fire.

The six demon kings laughed. “That’s a cheap trick,” they said. Parting the flames with their hands, two of the demon kings took the plunge, only to reemerge with singed beards and eyebrows. Flinching with pain, they scurried back to their previous positions. The other four dared not even budge an inch.

The patriarch then threw himself into the water but just as soon rose to the surface on the back of a yellow dragon, without even a wet spot on his clothes.

The six demon kings laughed again. “Fire is indeed formidable, but what can water do to us?” With a splash, all six of them jumped in, but they rolled head over heels several times in the water before they could get out, choking with enough swallowed water to fill their bellies.

Next, the patriarch threw himself onto a rock, which, at this very juncture, split open, letting him come out at the back.

The six demon kings again roared with laughter. “With our strength, we can get through mountains, not to mention this little rock!” With shoulders thrust forward, they did push themselves into the rock, but, at the chanting of some incantation by the patriarch, all six got stuck midway. Unable to extricate themselves, they wailed with grief. Fuming with anger, the eight demon generals changed themselves into eight slant-eyed tigers. Baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, they charged at the patriarch, who, in the twinkling of an eye, changed into a lion to chase after them. The demon generals now changed into eight giant dragons to clutch at the lion, which, in its turn, changed into a roc with golden wings. Opening wide its huge beak, it was on the point of pecking out the dragons’ eyeballs when the demons changed again into multicolored clouds and mist that darkened heaven and earth, whereupon the patriarch transformed himself into a red sun that rose into the high heavens and dispelled the clouds and mist with its piercing rays.

With the demon generals at their wits’ end, the patriarch picked up a stone and tossed it toward heaven. In a trice, it changed into a huge boulder the size of a small hill, hanging over the demons’ camp by a thread as thin as lotus-root fibre. On top of the rock were two mice fighting to be the first one to gnaw through the thread. At this critical juncture, the demon kings and the demon generals, witnessing the whole scene from a vantage point up on high, were seized with the fear that all their o spring were to perish. With one accord, they begged pitiably for mercy, pledging that they would move to the kingdom of Sala⁸ in the West rather than ever even think of molesting the people of China again. Consequently, the patriarch ordered that the six demon kings return to the northern section of hell and the eight demon generals move to the West.

Now that the demon kings were freed from the boulder, they ganged up with the demon generals and showed no eagerness to go. Since demons, as the patriarch knew, could not be sent away with too much civility, he intoned a divine incantation that rose into the high heavens. The very next moment, Wind Uncle stirred up the winds, Rain Master unleashed the rain, Thunder God started the thunders rolling and Lightning Mother shot bolts of lightning. The celestial generals and soldiers assembled and, wielding their various weapons, fought the demons till none remained in sight. Not until then did the patriarch call o his magic. “From now on,” he said to Wang Chang, “the people of Shu can sleep in peace.” There is in evidence a lyric poem to the tune of “The Moon over the West River”:

The patriarch turned to Wang Chang again: “My time to ascend to heaven is near. Let’s not forget Bilu Cave, where I first entered the Taoist order.” Thereupon, they returned to Yuzhang and settled down again on Dragon and Tiger Mountain, where they continued to devote themselves to making the elixir of immortality with the nine cycles and seven returns method.⁹

One day, the tinkling celestial music of the kind he had heard before at Crane Cry Mountain again fell on the patriarch’s ears. Hastily he adjusted his clothes and dropped to his knees in front of the steps. Up there, moving back and forth without attempting to descend, was Lao Zi himself with an entourage of thousands of celestial beings on chariots and horses. At another bow from the patriarch, Lao Zi sent a messenger to address him in these words: “Your accomplishments have earned you a place among the celestial beings. I sent you into the Shu region to separate demons from humans, so as to purify the air. However, you killed an excessive number of demons, presumptuously summoned wind and rain, and called into service enough celestial soldiers to darken the sky and fill the canopy of the heavens with the reek of killing. All of this runs counter to heaven’s love for life. The Lord on High is taking you to task and that is why I cannot get near you today. You are now to retire into a life of seclusion and to cultivate your inner nature assiduously. There will be two other people to ascend to heaven with you at the same time. When that time comes, I will be waiting for you in the Eight Scenes Palace in the Realm of Exalted Purity.” After this was said, the divine chariot returned the way it had come. In sincere repentance, the patriarch went back to Crane Cry Mountain with Wang Chang.

There was much discontented talk among his disciples on the mountain that the patriarch, with his infinite powers, was showing favoritism and a reluctance to share his knowledge, for he limited his teaching to Wang Chang only. The patriarch said to them, “How can you rise above the mortals when you have not yet discarded your worldly ways? What you can get from me will be nothing but some techniques of sexual hygiene, or the taking of herbs to prolong your life span. At noon on the seventh day of the first month next year, a man of short stature with a square face, wearing a sable coat and a brocade jacket, will come from the east. He will be no less a true Taoist than Wang Chang.” The disciples were not sure if they were to believe him.

At noon on the seventh day of the first month of the following year, the patriarch said to Wang Chang, “Your junior fellow apprentice is here.” He then gave Wang Chang a series of instructions as to what to do. Thus instructed, Wang Chang stepped out of the temple, and, lo and behold, to the inward amazement of all the disciples, there was indeed a man coming from an easterly direction with his attire and physical features exactly fitting the patriarch’s descriptions. Wang Chang said under his breath to the other disciples, “Our master is going to pass on all his knowledge to this man. When he comes to the gate, do not announce his arrival. You can insult him and deny him admittance. He will certainly give up and go on his way.” Throwing glances at each other, the disciples thought this was a good idea. (Wang Chang is acting on secret instructions from the master. The other disciples are being used without realizing it.)

When the man came to the gate, calling himself Zhao Sheng, a native of Wu Prefecture, and saying that he was there to pay his respects to the venerable Taoist master, the disciples countered, “The master is away on a journey. We dare not admit you on our own authority.” Leaving Zhao Sheng standing there with his hands respectfully clasped in front of his chest, the disciples went their separate ways. The man was not let in even after nightfall, and so he spent the night outside the gate without a roof over his head.

The following day, the disciples opened the gate, only to find Zhao Sheng still standing with his hands clasped and still asking to see the master. The disciples said, “Our master is a most narrow-minded man who has taught us absolutely nothing over the tens of years we have been serving him. What do you think you can get from him?”

Zhao Sheng replied, “To teach or not to teach is entirely the master’s decision. I have come over such a long distance for no greater wish than to see him, if only once, so that I would not have admired him in vain all my life.”

“We would gladly comply with your wish,” said the disciples, “but our master is indeed away and we have no idea when he is coming back. Please do not stay around so stubbornly, for you will only be compromising your future.”

“It is out of heartfelt sincerity that I have come all the way here,” said Zhao Sheng. “Should the patriarch be away for ten days, I will wait for ten days, or a hundred days for that matter.”

After several days passed without a sign of Zhao Sheng’s even turning his back, the disciples’ detest of him intensified. Gradually, they began to hurl insulting words at him. So insolent did they become that they eventually even treated him like a beggar and used foul language to pour scorn upon him. Zhao Sheng, on his part, became even more pleasant in his manner and did not mind the abuse in the slightest. (An indication of his unusual qualities.) Every day he went to the village before noon to buy his one meal of the day and, after eating, returned to the gate to resume his wait. By night, he slept at the foot of the steps by the gate, as no one would let him in. After more than forty days went by in this way (Who else would be willing to do that?), the disciples told each other, “Even though we can’t get rid of him, we have luckily kept the whole thing from the master, who is still in the dark after so many days.” Hardly were these words out of their mouths than the patriarch sounded the bell in the hall and assembled the disciples for the following announcement: “The young man by the name of Zhao has su ered enough humiliation over the last forty days and more. He may be summoned in today.”

The disciples were dumbfounded. Not until then did they realize the full extent of their master’s prophetic power. Wang Chang, thus ordered by the master, went to call Zhao Sheng in.

At the sight of the patriarch, Zhao Sheng made obeisance amid tears and sobs and asked to be accepted as a disciple. The patriarch knew he was sincere in seeking the Tao, but he nevertheless wanted to test the man further. After a few days, he ordered Zhao Sheng to go to a farmhouse to keep watch over millet crops.

Zhao Sheng accordingly made his way to the fields. There was only one small thatched hut out there all by itself, though there was no lack of wild beasts running around. From morning to night, Zhao assiduously drove away the beasts, with never a lapse of attention. On one glorious moonlit night, Zhao Sheng was sitting alone in the hut when a strikingly beautiful woman came to him and said with a deep bow, “I am a farmer’s daughter living in West Village. I was out on an excursion with friends to admire the moon when I went into a field to relieve myself and lost sight of my friends. I tried to find them but lost my bearings and ended up here. My feet are so sore that I can’t move another step. I would be deeply grateful if you, sir, could kindly let me spend the night here.” Before Zhao Sheng could object, the woman had already lain down on his bed with flirtatious moans of pain. Without suspecting anything, Zhao Sheng could not do otherwise than let her have the bed. He himself spread some hay on the ground as bedding and slept in his clothes all night. The following day, the woman again pleaded sore feet and deliberately refused to move a step. Coquettishly, she asked Zhao Sheng to serve her tea and meals, which Zhao Sheng resignedly did. She then set out to seduce him with suggestive remarks and, at nighttime, went so far as to take o her clothes, get into bed, and ask Chao Sheng to get her a quilt and put some clothes on her. As unperturbed as iron and stone at the woman’s lecherous advances, Zhao Sheng did not so much as even step into the hut again and sat by the field all through the night until daybreak. On the fourth day, the woman disappeared from sight. There on the earthen wall for him to see was a quatrain that read,

The ink of the delicate and coquettish calligraphy was still fresh. With a hearty laugh, Zhao Sheng exclaimed, “How long can the pleasures of youth last?” He then took o a shoe and wiped the writing away with it. (None but honorable men are allowed to take up the Taoist order.) Verily,

Time flashed by. Before one knew it, spring had gone and autumn came. By order of the patriarch, Zhao Sheng took up his axe and set o for the far side of the mountain to chop firewood. At his powerful stroke, a withered pine tree yielded to his axe with a whish, exposing the roots to view. When he pulled up the roots for a look, his eyes came upon a shining pot of gold underneath. A voice in the sky said, “This is a gift to Zhao Sheng from heaven.”

Zhao Sheng thought to himself, “What do I, a man who has renounced the world, need gold for? What’s more, I have done nothing to deserve any gift from heaven,” whereupon he covered the gold with dirt. Having gathered together his load of firewood, he felt a fatigue stealing over him and sat down for a rest, leaning against a rock. All of a sudden, a fierce wind sprang up and three tigers with brown spots leaped out of the valley. Zhao Sheng remained where he was, undisturbed. The three tigers descended upon Zhao Sheng, gnawing his clothes but otherwise doing him no physical harm. Without showing the slightest fear, Zhao Sheng said to the tigers, “I, Zhao Sheng, have never done anything against my conscience. Having renounced the world and entered the Taoist order, I have traveled a distance of a thousand li to search for an enlightened master who can show me the way to immortality. If I owed you a debt in my previous life, I will not recoil from serving as your meal. If not, I advise you to leave this place quickly and stop harassing me.” Thus admonished, the three tigers left with ears drooped and heads lowered. Zhao Sheng said, “They must have been sent by the mountain god to test me. Life or death is all a matter of fate. What do I have to fear?” That day, he returned with his load of firewood, without mentioning to any of the other disciples his adventures with the gold and the tigers. (He thinks nothing of what others marvel at.)

Another day, the patriarch sent Zhao Sheng to the marketplace to buy ten bolts of silk. After paying for it, Zhao Sheng took the silk and started on his way back. He had gone only part of the way when a shout came from behind: “Stop thief !” He looked back and saw the man who had just sold him the silk, running swiftly toward him. The man grabbed Zhao Sheng and said, “How could you have taken my silk without paying a cent! Give me back the silk, or you’ll know no peace!”

Zhao Sheng said not a word in defense of himself. “My master needs the silk,” he thought to himself. “If I give the silk back to this man, what shall I say to my master?” Thereupon, he took o his own sable coat and gave it to the man as payment for the silk. But the man was not satisfied until Zhao Sheng added his brocade jacket. Only then did the man turn away.

When presented with the silk, the patriarch asked Zhao Sheng, “Where have your clothes gone?” Zhao Sheng replied, “I happened to have a rush of heat. So I took them o .”

The patriarch said with a sigh, “He does not begrudge his possessions, nor does he pass judgment on others’ wrongdoing. Such a man is indeed hard to come by.” Thereupon he gave Zhao Sheng a cotton robe, which the latter joyfully put on himself.

On another occasion, Zhao Sheng and the other disciples were harvesting crops in the fields when a man was suddenly spotted by the side of the road, bowing and begging for food. This man in rags was covered with dust and grime and gave o a repelling stench from the sores and pus all over his body. He could not walk, for both of his feet were festering. Zhao Sheng’s peers covered their noses and sharply ordered the man to go away. Zhao Sheng was the only one who had compassion. He helped the man sit down in the hut and attended to his needs, serving him food that he spared from his own portion. He boiled a bucketful of hot water and washed his festering sores clean. When the man complained of coldness and asked for clothes, Zhao Sheng unbuttoned his cotton robe and took o his shirt to provide the man with some protection against the cold. When night fell, Zhao Sheng kept him company lest he be too lonely. When, in the middle of the night, the man called out for help to relieve himself, Zhao Sheng hastily rose to help him go outside to do his business and then helped him back into the hut. By day, he fed the man with what he spared from his own food, while he himself went halfstarved. By night, he also took good care of him. More than ten days went by in this way without any slackening of e ort on his part. His sores having gradually healed, the man suddenly took his departure one day without even a word of farewell, but Zhao Sheng harbored no grudge against him. A later poet had this to say in his praise:

One day early in summer, the patriarch assembled his students for a climb to the crest of Heavenly Pillar Peak. Situated to the left of Crane Cry Mountain, it had cli s on three sides in the shape of a city fortress. The patriarch led his disciples to the very top, where they looked down and saw a peach tree standing out horizontally from the cli like an outstretched arm above an abyss of unfathomable depth. The branches of the tree were laden with appealingly ripe peaches. The patriarch said to his students, “I will teach the essence of Taoist magic to whoever can get the peaches.” The two hundred thirty-four disciples, excluding Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng, had scarcely taken a quick look than they were, to a man, so overwhelmed by dizziness that, shaking all over in cold sweat, they recoiled with great haste lest they should fall. The only one who remained undaunted was Zhao Sheng. Stepping forward to face the assembly of fellow disciples, he declared, “Since our master orders that the peaches be picked, there will surely be a way to get them. Our master’s presence here also ensures that I will be protected by the spirits and gods from meeting my death in the deep valley.” So saying, he measured the distance to the tree with his eyes and jumped. (What thorough understanding and good reasoning!) What a marvel it was that he landed, with his legs stretched apart, right on the peach tree. With the peaches within easy reach, he looked up and saw that over the twenty to thirty feet of distance from the tree to the edge of the cli , there was nothing whatsoever for him to hang on to for an upward climb, so he tossed up the peaches he had picked for the sage to catch. Then followed another round of picking, tossing, and catching, and so it went on until the tree was stripped of all its fruit. Having caught all of the peaches, the patriarch ate one. Wang Chang also ate one. With one kept for Zhao Sheng, there remained two hundred thirty-four to be distributed among the disciples, with not a peach too many or too few. (Could this peach have been produced by magic as well?)

The patriarch asked the disciples which one of them could bring Zhao Sheng up. Looking at each other in dismay, they dared not venture a response. The patriarch himself went to the edge of the cli and stretched out an arm toward Zhao Sheng. In a twinkling, the arm grew until it was twenty to thirty feet long and reached Zhao Sheng, who then climbed up the arm. The disciples were dumbfounded, one and all. The patriarch handed over to Zhao Sheng the peach that was left for him and announced with a smile, “It is because of Zhao Sheng’s pure heart that he could land right on the tree without a single false move. Now I would like to take the plunge to test if my heart is pure. If so, I should be able to come back up with a giant peach.”

The disciples remonstrated with him: “A true master of Taoist magic though you are, how can you jump down into the unfathomably deep abyss just to see what will happen? Zhang Sheng had you to help him. If you fall, who is there to help you? You cannot do this on any account.” Several of the disciples grabbed the master by his gown and pleaded with him not to go. Only Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng uttered not a word. Ignoring all the remonstrations, the patriarch threw himself over the cli . The crowd looked at the peach tree, but the patriarch was not there. With no way of knowing whether the master was dead or alive now that he had disappeared into the abyss, inaccessible by any means, the stunned disciples let out wails of grief.

Zhao Sheng said to Wang Chang, “Our master is like our father. Now that he has thrown himself over the cli , what peace of mind can there be for us? We might as well also jump down and see what will happen,” whereupon Zhao Sheng and Wang Chang gave a mighty leap and landed right in front of the patriarch, who was sitting safe and sound on a rock. At the sight of Zhao and Wang, the patriarch laughed out loud. “I just knew the two of you would come,” he said. These episodes have been told by storytellers as “The Seven Tests of Zhao Sheng.” Which seven?

As a matter of fact, it was the patriarch who was the mastermind behind all seven tests. The gold, the woman, the tiger, and the beggar were all transformations of spirits who assumed these shapes at his command. The silk vender was not any more real. This was a case of testing the real with the unreal.

All those who wish to enter the Taoist order must, before all else, rid themselves of the seven emotions. What are the seven emotions? They are joy, anger, worry, fear, love, hate, and desire. This is what the patriarch meant when he said to his disciples, “How can you rise above the mortals when you have not discarded your worldly ways?” But the contemporary men of the world are so wrapped up in their own self-importance that they bristle with resentment at the slightest reproachful tone from their teacher. How can they be expected to su er humiliation, much less the misery of forty days and forty nights in open air, for the sake of seeking out a teacher?

As for the element of lust that everyone is born in and eventually dies of, who can claim not to be under its spell? Dear audience, let us suppose that you are living alone with much leisure time on your hands. Wouldn’t you be in raptures at the most welcome sight of a woman, unattractive though she might be? Now if it were a woman of striking beauty who set out to use her charms on you, wouldn’t you be seized with desire? Among the ancients, Liuxia Hui¹⁰ was, in all likelihood, the one and only man ever to have resisted such temptations.

In our own times, for the sake of a few strings of cash, brothers can fall out with each other, friends can turn against each other. Finding a penny by the roadside is enough to make one beam with joy and thank his lucky star. Who would not be stirred at the sight of an unclaimed pot of gold that is to be had for the taking?

An approaching fierce-looking dog, let alone tigers, can send shivers down one’s spine, but Zhao Sheng was not any less fearless than even Master Lü Chunyang,¹¹ who fed himself to hungry tigers.

As regards the episode of buying silk, wouldn’t you agree that in buying or selling, people nowadays revel in gaining even a penny’s worth of advantage over the other party but burst out into curses at the slightest unfairness? Who would pay twice for the same thing? What a magnanimous mind it took to give his own clothes up without a grudge, in spite of the gross injustice done to him!

As for serving parents bedridden with some foul disease, those o spring less than totally filial would be filled with disgust, though they make no such remarks in public. Now, attending to the needs of a roadside beggar at Zhao’s own expense was by no means an unworthy deed.

Finally, jumping twice from the cli was evidence of his unshakable devotion to his master, for whose sake he would have died with no regrets. All seven tests proved that Zhao Sheng had rid himself totally of all attachments to the seven worldly emotions and was ready to achieve the Tao. (These are well-chosen words that lay bare the ugly side of life.) Indeed,

Let us not encumber our story with more of such idle comments. Impressed by the unflinching faith of Zhao Sheng and Wang Chang in Taoism, the patriarch passed on to them all the secrets he had learned, down to the last detail. After three days and three nights of such sessions, the two of them learned all there was to learn. When the patriarch flew up the cli , the two followed him up. Their fellow disciples were astounded at their return.

One day, upon waking up from a nap he took while seated, the patriarch said to Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng, “The county of Badong is plagued by demons. Let us go together and get rid of them.” Thereupon the three of them, the master and the disciples, set out for the region. Upon arriving, they were met by twelve fairy maidens in front of the mountain, welcoming them with smiles. The patriarch asked, “Where is the saline spring of this region?” The fairy maidens answered, “It is the large pond right ahead of you. Recently it has been occupied by a poisonous dragon and the water is now contaminated.”

The patriarch drew a magic figure and tossed it into the sky. It flew round and round before changing suddenly into a golden-winged roc that wheeled back and forth over the pond. Greatly alarmed, the poisonous dragon left the pond. No sooner had it gone than the turbid water became clear and limpid again. Each of the twelve fairy maidens o ered the patriarch a jade ring that she took out from her bosom. “We have long been admiring you,” they said. “We will be only too happy to o er you wifely services.”

The patriarch took their rings and, with a twist of his hand, merged the twelve rings into one and threw it into a well. “Whoever gets this ring,” said he to the fairy maidens, “is the one destined for me, and I will marry her accordingly.”

In a bid to be the first one to snatch the ring, the twelve fairy maidens took o their clothes and jumped into the well. The patriarch drew another magic figure and threw it into the well, saying as he did so, “You will be goddesses of the well to the end of time.” He called the local residents together to draw water from the well—water that, after much boiling and simmering, produced salt. He reminded all who planned to get salt this way in the future to make sacrificial o erings to the twelve fairy maidens, who were, in fact, evil spirits that had bewitched men and wreaked havoc in the region. However, subdued by the patriarch with his magic figures and content with the sacrificial o erings, the evil spirits never appeared again. Henceforth, the inhabitants of the region lived under no threat from the fairy maidens but gained profit from the salt-producing well.

Having subdued the evil spirits, the patriarch returned to Crane Cry Mountain. Around noon one day, a man in a black cap and a silk gown with a sword hanging from his waist and a jade casket in his hands appeared before him and said, “Your Reverence is summoned by a holy decree from the divine realm to tour the celestial gardens.” In a trice, there came a purple chariot driven by a black dragon. Ushered by two celestial maidens, the patriarch mounted the chariot and went straight to the golden palace. The assembly of celestial beings announced to him, “You may now proceed to see the Celestial Honored Primordial.” Two celestial boys dressed in red and carrying scarlet sta s led him into a jade hall with gold steps. The patriarch adjusted his gown and went in. After he had made his bows in the hall, the celestial boys, holding the celestial register books, bestowed upon the patriarch the title First Celestial Master. By the authority of The Auspicious Alliance Registers of the Orthodox Unity, he was empowered to declare that all his descendants from generation to generation would inherit the title of Celestial Master and guide the unenlightened mind. The date of his ascension to heaven was also secretly revealed to him.

Back on the mountain, the patriarch gathered The Auspicious Alliance Registers, The Surveyor of Merit Credentials and other scriptures, the two demonsubduing swords, the celestial volumes, and the jade seals together into a sealed package and declared to his disciples, “Before long, I will rise to heaven. Whoever among you can lift this package will be my successor.” With great alacrity, the disciples came forward to try to lift the package, but it was far too heavy for any one of them to move so much as a fraction of an inch. The patriarch said, “Three days after I am gone, my successor of lineal descent will be here to be your master.”

When his time came, the patriarch summoned Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng. “The two of you are true masters of the Tao by now,” he said to them. “I still have some immortality elixir left after several attempts to fly. You may take it and follow me up to heaven today.” At noon, celestial immortals and their retinue descended for the occasion, and, with celestial music leading the way, the patriarch in the company of Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng rose to heaven from Crane Cry Mountain in broad daylight. With their faces turned toward the sky, the disciples watched the clouds for a considerable time until the three men totally disappeared from view. This happened on the ninth day of the ninth month in the first year of the Yongshou reign period under Emperor Heng [C.E. 155], when the patriarch was already one hundred twenty-three years of age.

Three days after the patriarch’s ascension to heaven, his oldest son, Zhang Heng, arrived from Dragon and Tiger Mountain. It was not until then that the disciples came to understand what the patriarch had said about a successor of lineal descent. They showed Zhang Heng the sealed package and related to him the patriarch’s instructions. Gently, Zhang Heng raised it and broke the seal. He then made obeisance to the sky in acknowledgment of the receipt of the sacred scriptures and the jade seal. Henceforth, he dedicated himself to the study of the scriptures and successfully applied his knowledge to the slaying and suppression of demons and evil spirits. Until this day, all his descendants have inherited generation after generation the title of Celestial Master. A later poet wrote these lines about the seven tests of Zhao Sheng: