27 AT THE ZHUOWEI HERMITAGE, MASTER AND SERVANTS MEET AGAIN

To buy a cup of Dongping wine,

We met and discussed the secrets of immortality.

There is a road that gives access to paradise;

Even those without the destiny can fly, transformed into cranes.

Do not brood in obscurity among misty clouds;

Instead of family and nation, recognize the ineffable Dao.

Too bad if you should have withdrawn to solitude in vain—

Turn away from the world of dust and its disputes.

Let us speak no more of Han Qing’s efforts to rebuild the house, but note instead that time flew like an arrow.

Tuizhi lived as a Daoist errand-boy on Mount Zhuowei. Day after day he got up early and went to sleep late, burning incense and lighting candles, opening and closing the doors, sweeping the dust, moving things here and there. Whenever called upon, he obliged; there was no duty he did not take care of—with one exception: he had never gone to the mountains to chop wood, cut grass, or water the fields. He felt no resentment at all. Even when the Perfected Man scolded and punished him, as happened often, he was still joyful. He composed a song to the tune “Clear River” to give expression to his happiness:

“Who wants to wear linen robes and wide sleeves?

Why speak of golden seals and purple seal-strings?

I eat thin rice and yellow leeks;

I have the blue mountains and the green waters at my disposition.

I regard the fame and profit of human life

As bubbles floating on water.”

More than a year had passed when suddenly one day the Perfected Man called Tuizhi to him. He ordered him, “Tomorrow some Daoist friends will visit me and there is no firewood left in the kitchen. Go cut some.”

“I dare not disobey your command, but where does the Master want me to gather wood?” Tuizhi said.

“It isn’t far,” the Perfected Man said. “A little more than five miles to the southwest of here there is a garden, the flower garden of this mountain. Go cut wood there.”

Tuizhi got together carrying pole, axe, and rope, tied everything up properly, took leave of the Perfected Man, and headed out toward the southwest.

He had not yet walked a mile when heavy snowfall set in. Tuizhi said, “Every day that I didn’t leave the hermitage, the sky was clear and fine. Today, when I’m being sent to cut wood, I have to run into this heavy snowfall. Han Yu, your fate is hard! At Blue Pass I suffered a lot from snow, and as if that wasn’t enough, today some more is added to make my measure full.”

Walking on, he suddenly saw a wooden gate on which was written “Flower Garden of Mount Zhuowei.” Tuizhi pushed it open and stepped inside. Red-blossomed branches were gently swaying, vying in loveliness with each other, while leafy shadows formed intricate patterns on the ground. It truly was an enchanted world, a separate universe.

As Tuizhi was gazing at it, the snow stopped. He laughed and said, “Although this garden looks very lovely, it would only take a strong gust of wind for all these blossoms to be shaken to the ground.” And in fact, after a short while a dark cloud emerged in the southeast that sank everything into a murky darkness. A strong wind arose and blew all the lovely blossoms away and scattered them far and wide. Han sighed and said, “These blossoms are just like me, Han Yu. When I served as an official at court, I blossomed like a beautiful flower; being scattered within an instant, they resemble my own sad fate.” And he burst forth into a ballad:

“Flowers, I look at you.

When flowers open, people love to look at them.

A thousand shades of red, ten thousand shades of purple show their beauty and grace.

Butterflies love them, bees enter them—it is hard to capture in a painting.

I just fear a gust might blow

And rain might beat down,

Scattering you, my flowers.”

He wanted to continue contemplating the flowers, but he was afraid that the Perfected Man might accuse him of being lazy. And so he gathered a bundle of dry wood and quickly left the garden. The burden weighed heavily on his shoulder, and the tears welled from his eyes. He said, “Heaven, why do you submit Han Yu to such suffering and tribulations?”

At that moment he saw a tiger bounding down the mountain slope. When it jumped at him, he was almost scared to death and fell into a half-conscious state.

He only came to when he heard Xiangzi beating the fisher drum and calling in a loud voice, “Uncle, your nephew is here. Quickly, wake up!”

Tuizhi grasped Xiangzi and, in tears, told him, “It is already more than a year since you directed me to come here and meet my master, and in all that time I never left the hermitage. Today he sent me to cut wood, and right away I am attacked and thrown to the ground by a tiger. If you hadn’t come, I might have been eaten by the beast.”

“Uncle, don’t cry,” Xiangzi said. “In this gourd I have some hot wine. Drink some to keep out the cold.”

“If I drink wine, how can I face the master on my return?” asked Tuizhi.

When Xiangzi saw that he refused the wine, he said, “Well, in that case, pick up your wood and go back. In two days I will visit you again.”

“If you come to see the master, please put in a word for me, asking him to treat me better than the common crowd. That would make me happy,” Tuizhi said.

“If I don’t come, I will definitely write the Perfected Man a letter,” Xiangzi replied.

“Don’t forget!” Tuizhi said.

“When you see an immortal crane in the sky carrying a letter, that will be my message to the Perfected Man,” Xiangzi told him.

Then Tuizhi took leave of Xiangzi, shouldered his firewood, and walked towards Zhuowei Grotto to deliver it. On the way he sighed and said,

“My tears flow like water

That as an official I received the emperor’s proclamations,

But now have sunk low to become a woodcutter in the mountains.

I have already carried burdens that are painful beyond words,

And now I am threatened by fierce tigers to boot,

So that my soul almost flew to the palace of King Yama.

Luckily my nephew returned;

He will put in a word for me with the immortal of Great Veil Heaven.”

When he arrived at the grotto with his load of firewood, he found the gate firmly locked. He set down the wood and called in a loud voice, “Master, open the gate.”

“The Master won’t let us open the gate,” a youth answered. “He said you are a prime minister at court; how come you don’t know the difference between high and low?”

“The Master sent me to cut firewood,” Tuizhi said. “Because I had difficulty carrying it, I am a little late. I hope the Master will forgive me.”

“I only told you to cut firewood,” the Perfected Man said. “Why did you sigh in the garden at the wind and flowers?”

When Tuizhi heard these words, he broke out in a cold sweat. “The garden is five miles from here. How does he know what happened there?” he thought to himself.

“When I entered the garden I saw that innumerable flowers had opened in red and white, so beautiful that they stirred my heart,” he admitted. “Suddenly a gust of wind blew them to the ground. Because of that I made a poem and sighed a few times.”

“What did you talk about with Han Xiangzi on the road?” the Perfected Man then asked.

Again, Tuizhi was startled and thought to himself, “Unless he is a celestial immortal, how can he know all these things?”

Again he knelt down and reported, “On the path I encountered a tiger, but luckily my nephew Xiangzi came along and saved my life. My nephew ordered me to serve you attentively. No other words were exchanged.”

“If that is so, open the gate and let him in,” the Perfected Man said.

Han came in and handed the firewood to the cook. Suddenly he heard the Perfected Man call to him, “Han Yu, you were a high minister at court, and you are still of two minds. I’ve tried again and again, but my well-meant exhortations are wind blowing past your ears. You’ve made no progress. Go back to court and become an official again!”

“When I first came here, I didn’t know east from west, south from north,” Han objected. “I relied completely on my Master’s support. Please be merciful and forgive my transgressions.”

“I don’t blame you,” the Perfected Man said. “Well, we don’t have enough flour in the hermitage. Take two bushels of wheat, grind them through the night, and give me the flour tomorrow.”

“Master, where is the mill?”

“Show him the mill,” the Perfected Man called to one of the young Daoists.

When Tuizhi had looked at it carefully, he turned back and said to the Perfected Man, “Master, it is not that I seek to shirk the work, but I am sixty-four years old and haven’t much strength left. I can’t push this mill by myself. Furthermore, there isn’t much time in one night. How can I finish grinding two bushels of wheat all by myself?”

The Perfected Man did not answer, but just called to Cool Breeze and Bright Moon, “Go on, you two, encourage Han Yu to grind the flour. But you’re not allowed to help him.”

Cool Breeze and Bright Moon escorted him to the mill room. Tuizhi said, “My brothers, I am old and my strength is failing. How can I grind two bushels of wheat in one night? Please help me a bit.”

Cool Breeze and Bright Moon said, “We would be willing to lend you a hand in grinding the wheat, but the Master’s rules are extremely strict. He ordered us to drive you on in your work and not let you be lazy. How would we dare help you push the millstone?”

Tuizhi saw that he would have to operate the mill by himself, and so he turned it until dawn, by which time he had only just ground eight quarts. Together with Cool Breeze and Bright Moon he went to see the Perfected Man and reported, “Master, I inform you that my strength was not sufficient. In one night I ground only eight quarts of wheat. Please forgive me.”

“I’ll accept it this time,” the Perfected Man said.

Han knocked his head and thanked the Perfected Man. Then he returned to the mill room to continue grinding wheat, and there was no resentment, regret, or anger whatsoever in his heart.

Finally, when he had finished grinding the wheat, he carried it to the Perfected Man and reported his work done. As he had some free time, he went for a walk on the mountain behind the hermitage. Suddenly he saw a group of men carrying a lot of firewood to the hermitage. “Where do you come from?” Tuizhi asked them.

One of the wood carriers said, “We are Daoists at the Perfected Man Mumu’s hermitage. Every day we go up into the mountains to cut wood and grass and carry it to the hermitage.”

“Aren’t you afraid of all this hard work?” Tuizhi said.

“You may use innumerable tricks and schemes, but you cannot avoid Death,” the wood carrier said. “Ever since we left the family and followed the great immortal Mumu, we no longer fear Death. It is our lot to do this hard work. The only hardship we fear is that the great immortal might not keep us.”

“You are indeed right,” Han said. “It is in vain that I was a scholar—my knowledge does not equal yours.”

Two others among the group added, “Your face is like that of our master Han.”

“What master Han?” Tuizhi asked.

“Han Yu, the minister of rites,” the two answered with one voice.

“How do you know him?” Han asked. “He’s a powerful official at court and wouldn’t come to a place like this.”

“Because Minister Han submitted a memorial against the Buddha bone, the emperor was greatly angered and banished him as prefect to Chaozhou,” the two said. “On the long journey of eight thousand miles, the two of us accompanied him half of the way, undergoing innumerable hardships. Then two fierce tigers jumped out of the bushes, carried us off, and dropped us here at Mount Zhuowei. We just barely got away with our lives. Since then we have been cutting wood and grass for the hermitage. It is thanks to the Perfected Man Mumu that we escaped death.”

“Are you perhaps Zhang Qian and Li Wan?”

“I am Li Wan, he is Zhang Qian. Can it be that you are Master Han?”

“In this place we have all left the family and are Daoists. Why do you still call me Master Han?”

“So you really are Master Han,” Li Wan said.

“We have come to live here thanks to the Perfected Man Mumu,” Zhang Qian said. “We thought that Master Han had frozen to death at Blue Pass. How was he supposed to get here?”

“I really am Minister Han; I am no impostor,” Tuizhi said.

“In today’s world there are too many who assume the names of others, so I am skeptical,” Zhang Qian said. “Tell me, why didn’t you go to Chaozhou, but instead come to Mount Zhuowei?”

“I suffered many hardships at Blue Pass, because I didn’t listen to my nephew Xiangzi. My life seemed as doomed as a lantern in the wind or snow on a stove, but fortunately my nephew led me here to become a disciple of the Perfected Man Mumu. Therefore I have served here willingly, burning incense and lighting candles, sweeping the ground and brewing tea.”

“Tell me, why did the young master Han Xiang go to cultivate himself? If you can give me the correct answer, I will believe that you are Master Han,” Zhang Qian said.

“Xiangzi is the only son of my elder brother Han Hui and his wife Mme. Zheng,” Han answered. “At three years old he still couldn’t speak, and it was only when I passed the examinations that he opened his mouth. As he was growing up, his only wish was to leave the family and cultivate himself, and he refused to study. Having married Lin Luying, he shared with her the same bed, but not the same pillow, the same mat, but not the same blanket. One day I encountered two Daoists at the Gold Sprinkle Bridge, who claimed that they understood Heaven and Earth and were skilled in the military and the civil arts. I invited them home to instruct Xiangzi. Due to their influence Xiangzi ran away to cultivate himself and didn’t come back for a long time. There wasn’t a day when I didn’t think of him. Everywhere I posted notices inquiring into his whereabouts.

“In the year when I prayed for snow at the Southern Altar, there was a Daoist who claimed to be Xiangzi. He ascended the altar in my place and by his prayers caused a great snowfall. On my birthday, there was again a Daoist claiming to be Xiangzi, who came to deliver me so that I would leave the family. He tried again and again, but I didn’t believe him and so he left abruptly. It was only when I reached Blue Pass that I understood that my nephew Xiangzi really is an immortal, and that the two Daoists I once met at the Gold Sprinkle Bridge in fact were Han Zhongli and Lü Dongbin.

“Well, did I answer correctly?”

Zhang Qian broke into tears and said, “We are Zhang Qian and Li Wan. Why didn’t you recognize us, Master?”

Tuizhi also began to cry. As the three men were sharing their feelings of sadness, the Perfected Man Mumu suddenly shouted at them from close by, “Grief and joy, reunion and separation—these are all customs of the world of dust; they are pits of fire. Here with me all worries are relinquished, all memories are left behind. Why have you three still not shaken them off, that you indulge in such childish sentimentality?”

When Tuizhi recounted what had happened, the Perfected Man Mumu said, “These are all karmic obstructions from your previous lives, roots of sin in your present lives. Having come to my place, you must hand everything over to nothingness. Never again bring up the past.”

“I respectfully obey the Master’s command,” Han replied. From then on, Zhang Qian and Li Wan happily continued as Tuizhi’s Daoist companions.

Two days later the Perfected Man suddenly called, “Han Yu, an immortal crane has come with a letter. Quickly fetch it for me.”

Han hurried to collect the letter and handed it to the Perfected Man. Having perused it, the Perfected Man said, “Your nephew Xiangzi writes that you are old and cannot lead such a hard life. Quickly go wash yourself, and then look after this ox.”

When Tuizhi looked at the ox, he saw that its mane was ten feet long and its legs eight feet high. It looked as vicious as a fierce tiger. So he objected, “Master, this ox will be hard to control.”

The Perfected Man said, “I give you a few words of instruction to remember”:

(To the tune “Wild Geese Descending”)

“I too once met an enlightened teacher who transmitted to me a marvelous formula

By pointing out to me the moon in the sky.

When the moon is full, the Jade Buds are born,

As the moon wanes, the Golden Flower declines.

As Three and Five are applied in their proper time,

Old and young separate by themselves.

Send it into the hut of the Yellow Matron;

Do not let it lightly leak out.

This is my formula.

When you see that the Numinous Turtle has completely absorbed the Golden Crow’s blood,

Make a determined decision

To become a deathless immortal.

“There is an iron ox who supports you across the river;

There is a clay horse set loose in the mountains.

There is a stone lion who holds a rope fast between his teeth.

How can waves lap in a dry well?

There is a clay earth god who recites essays,

A wooden arhat who chants the Diamond Sutra,

A beauty in a painting who can sing songs.

There is a paper door god who can perform a war dance with his lance,

And before your eyes a snake swallows an elephant.

I do not lie: my home is in the Southern Ocean;

But whether you believe it or not—Two and Three all the more manifest the Great Yang.”

“I have memorized everything that you gave me as instruction,” Han said. “However, this ox has a vicious temperament. How am I to control it?”

“You have to feed him at the first, fourth, seventh and tenth watches—and don’t get the timing wrong,” the Perfected Man said. “Furthermore, I give you a sword of wisdom. When the ox is wild and won’t submit to your control, chop off his head with this sword, and he will be subdued.”

Following his orders, Tuizhi tied up the ox in a shed and fed it with hay and water at the first, fourth, seventh and tenth watches, not daring to be remiss for even a day. For more than three years the ox was submissive and did not rage.

One day, the Perfected Man called, “Han Yu, the cook is out of firewood today. Go once more and fetch some. When you come back, I also have something else to talk to you about.”

“Last time I cut wood in the flower garden. Where should I go today?” Tuizhi asked.

“Northeast of here is a mountain called Mount Green Dragon,” the Perfected Man said. “On this side it belongs to Mount Zhuowei, but the other side is looked after by other people. You mustn’t go there to cut wood. If by mistake you cut other people’s wood, you will cause your inner organs all to become inflamed so that even if you had four heads, eight arms, seven mouths, and eight tongues, you would be unable to drive out the resultant evil pneuma. Under no circumstances would I come to save you.”

“How could I dare incite evil people and bring trouble upon you, Master?” Tuizhi said. He took carrying pole, axe, and rope, and set out.

After two or three miles he suddenly noticed three old men playing chess on a cliff. He thought to himself, “These three old men seem so happy, yet in my old age I have become a woodcutter in the mountains. It’s just like this:

“In old age I work diligently; at night I am busy.

With absolute sincerity I rely on Heaven.

Only if I get taken up by a divine immortal

Will I be sure that I can avoid Death.”

He went to the cliff and watched the old men at their game. When one of them saw him standing there, he asked, “You are a woodcutter. Why are you standing there instead of cutting wood? Do you perhaps know how to play chess?”

“I know how to play, but won’t,” Tuizhi said. “It is said, ‘The best move in chess is not to play it.’”

“You sound neither like a woodcutter nor like one of us,” one of the old men said.

“Listen to what I have to say, you three masters,” Han said. “My name is Han Yu, and I was minister of rites at the court. I was banished, because I couldn’t control my tongue. On the way into exile I suffered many hardships at Blue Pass in the Qin Mountains. Fortunately my nephew Xiangzi led me to Mount Zhuowei, where I took the Perfected Man Mumu as my teacher of the Dao. Today I was sent by my master to Mount Green Dragon to cut wood. When I saw you three masters playing chess here, I realized that you are divine immortals descended to earth, and so I came to ask you to deliver me.”

“How long have you been with the Perfected Man?” the three old men asked with one voice.

“Already three winters and summers,” Han answered.

One old man pursued, “In the long time you’ve been on this mountain, what has the Perfected Man told you? How does he expound the Dao to you?”

“When I first arrived, he made me burn incense and sweep the ground,” Han replied. “Later he sent me to cut firewood and look after an ox. Today he has sent me again to cut firewood. He has not transmitted a single word of instruction to me.”

“If the Perfected Man is unwilling to transmit the Dao to you, you should look for another place to stay,” one of the old men said. “If you waste more years, you will soon have reached old age. Then how will you achieve your goal?”

“It is my good fortune to have met you today,” Han said. “I beg you to instruct me to the best of your ability. To the day I die I shall not forget the mercy you have shown me.”

The three old men said, “The Perfected Man Mumu is our Daoist friend, with whom we meet here often. As you are his disciple, we couldn’t forgive ourselves if we didn’t give you some instruction. Please listen to us”:

(To the tune “Luojiangyuan”)

“In spring a hundred herbs grow;

Life is growing wherever one gazes.

It would seem a good time to roam,

But I sit in my hut.

In silence, all noise is excluded.

I hope to accomplish the perfect change.

Yet who knows?

If affinity is sparse and your lot shallow, it will be difficult to meet.

“In summer it gets gradually hotter,

Yet my mind is in a cool place.

Having abandoned children and wife,

I go to live in a thatched hermitage.

I find some men whose heart is set on the Dao,

And embrace Heaven and Earth each at the right time.

As the simurgh flies and the crane dances, I ascend to the Jasper Pool,

And see with my own eyes the marvelous significance of the fish and the kite.¹

“In autumn as the days grow gradually cooler,

Those who have left the family roam at ease.

Having traveled enough after several dozen years,

I finally meet an enlightened master who expounds the Dao to me.

He transmits to me the inner and outer elixir;

In my mind everything becomes bright and shining.

Without noticing it, the yang spirit descends within three years.

“In winter the snow flies chaotically;

The mind of him who has left the family knows itself.

Cold and heat do not contradict each other;

Gods and ghosts do not oppress each other.

When fatigue comes, I use my bent arm as a pillow,

When hunger comes, I subsist on dates and fruits.

Water from a mountain brook quenches my thirst.

This is the secret of the marvelous mystery.”

When Han heard this, he said, “These views of the four seasons are meant for immortals. I, Han Yu, am a common mortal. How could I get to see these scenes?”

“Minister Han, the Perfected Man Mumu is coming,” said one of the old men. When Han turned to look, the three old men had vanished.

He said to himself, “The three venerable immortals instructed me very clearly. I have eyes, yet did not see, and missed another opportunity.”

Nothing was left for him to do but to cut and shoulder the firewood. Leaving Mount Green Dragon, he carried his load back to the grotto. When he called to his master to open the gate, the Perfected Man told an attendant to let him in. He carried the firewood to the kitchen and handed it over. He was about to return to his chamber when the Perfected Man suddenly called to him, “Han Yu, did you meet anyone as you went to Mount Green Dragon to cut wood?”

“I met three old men who were playing chess on that rock cliff. When I watched them, they asked me what my name was and where I came from. I said, ‘I am a disciple of the Perfected Man Zhuowei and have come from Mount Zhuowei.’ The three old men said they were friends of yours, Master.”

“What did you ask them?”

“I asked them what yellow sprouts are,” Tuizhi said. “They said they were the root of Heaven and Earth, the refined pneuma of the human body. They also taught me how to circulate the pneuma in the four watches, and instructed me about the Eight Trigrams hidden within and the Nine Divisions that exist in union outside. I didn’t understand the mysterious marvels that were implied by these terms. Would you explain them to me clearly?”

The Perfected Man said,

(To the tune “Blossoming Branch”)

“First understand the secrets of Heaven and Earth,

Then distinguish yin and yang.

If there is Former Heaven, there is the Mother;

Without the Mother there is no Heaven either.

This is the source of our Daoism.

Count the Cosmic Orbit from the beginning;

Reverse qian and kun.

Choose the foundation of Later Heaven;

Refine yourself to seize Former Heaven.

If you know who is after and who is before,

You become a sage and immortal.

The center of li is empty;

The center of kan is full.

In the center of li a thing is lacking;

Seek it in kan to return to the primordium.

As Green Dragon and White Tiger struggle with each other,

See beginning and end in the oral formula;

Obtain the sacred method whose marvel lies in the mind transmission.

Flowing backward one accomplishes the elixir as the Dragon swallows the Tiger’s marrow.

By going with the flow one accomplishes one’s humanity as the Tiger seizes the Dragon’s saliva.

Guard against the unsheathed, green-tipped sword in front of your heart.

Fear that it is difficult to stay in the boat among fast-flowing water and wind-whipped waves.

Feel, just feel, the Yellow Matron is enticing you;

Wait, just wait, the Maiden is opening the lotus.

These things are difficult to speak of.

After five thousand days, the mind is firm;

After thirty hours, something moves in the dark.

Only when the primordial Embryo is bathed,

And one has sat facing a wall for nine years,

Will one become an immortal beyond the clouds on the Isles of the Blessed.”

“Former Heaven and Later Heaven, Yellow Sprouts and White Snow, Dragon and Tiger, Lead and Mercury—of these I already know a thing or two,” Tuizhi said. “But there are also the marvelous practices of the Great Liquid and Returned Elixir, the Nine Revolutions and Seven Reversals. May I ask you to clearly reveal these?”

“You have already learned about eighty to ninety percent of the practice, but there is still the three-word formula, which I shall transmit to you today and which will lead you to enlightenment,” the Perfected Man said.

“Will you teach me the three-word formula?” Han pursued.

“The first word is ‘sincerity,’ the second ‘silence,’ the third ‘softness.’ By sincerity you enter; by silence you maintain; by softness you employ. By sincerity you become stupid; by silence you become loquacious; by softness you become coarse.”

When Tuizhi heard the word “coarse,” he suddenly comprehended. It was as if a key had opened a lock, as if the switch had been turned on a mechanism. It was a complete awakening.

He said to the Perfected Man, “I have awakened in my mind.”

“Since you have awakened, what further difficulty is there?” said the Perfected Man. He took up some immortal wine, poured a cup, and handed it to Tuizhi. The latter bowed and drank it in one gulp, whereupon he felt his inner organs purified and his spirit strengthening. The Perfected Man sang a song to the tune “Buying Good Wine”:

“I have transmitted to you the practice of entering the Dao—never stop practicing it.

I have told you the path of cultivating perfection—you need fierce determination.

You must maintain your primordial yang and not let it leak out.

I gave you the moon in the sky.

When it is full, the Golden Flower will form itself;

When it wanes, the Red Lead will also wane.

Let the Lovely Maid and the Baby Boy be joyful;

Watch the White Snow and the Yellow Sprouts germinate.

I shout,

Use this practice to scrape off the dust and dirt,

And become an immortal of the Penglai Isles.”

When Tuizhi heard the Perfected Man’s oral formula, he drank another cup of immortal wine. From then on he raised the Dragon and captured the Tiger day and night, nourished the Mercury and preserved the Lead. And really, the two pneumata exchanged their places, the Three Flowers accumulated in the head, the Dragon coiled around the gate, and the Tiger wound itself around the drug cauldron. The lightning flashed that gives life to the self and nourishment to all beings.

Instantly Tuizhi opened the door of the chamber and saw the ox he had been looking after. Now it was violent as thunder, uncontrollably wild. He shouted at it, “You headstrong beast, how dare you be so ill-mannered?” Then he took the sword of wisdom that the Perfected Man had given him. When the ox saw Han with the sword in his hand, it lowered its horns, opened its eyes wide, and rushed at him. Tuizhi brought the sword down on the ox’s head. The head fell; the sword dropped to the ground. Then suddenly a ray of white pneuma shot up to the gate of Heaven, startling the Jade Emperor. When with his eyes of wisdom he saw that a white pneuma had struck Heaven from Mount Zhuowei, he dispatched golden lads and jade maidens to summon Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, and the other immortals to welcome Tuizhi. But more about that reception later.

Now let us describe how Tuizhi, after he had chopped off the ox’s head, turned around and reported to the Perfected Man, “The ox roared wildly and I chopped off its head with the sword. I have transgressed.”

The Perfected Man said,

“The ox was always in the dust of the common world.

He was stupidity, dullness, dumbness, confusion, laughter, and other ordinary things.

Today you have withdrawn from the body and will go beyond the clouds;

Among your companions, who will again dare apply the whip?”

“Does that mean that the ox has also become immortal?” Han asked.

“The nature of dogs is like the nature of oxen,” the Perfected Man said. “The nature of oxen is like the nature of humans. Once it has changed into the utmost Dao, why shouldn’t it become an immortal?”

Then Tuizhi suddenly realized that the two characters zhuowei together made up the character Han, and mumu combined became Xiang. Looking closely at the Perfected Man’s eyes of the Dao, blue and green with square pupils, he saw that they were the same as Xiangzi’s. He stepped forward, embraced the Perfected Man, and said, “You were Xiangzi all along, and not some Perfected Man Mumu. If you hadn’t instructed me over and over again, I would already have fallen among the ranks of ghosts. How could I have seen this day?”

“Indeed, I am your nephew Xiangzi. I was afraid that your belief was not firm, therefore I split the character Han into the two characters zhuo and wei, and the character Xiang into mu and mu. I deceived you, Uncle, but it was worthwhile, as now your rewards of the Dao are complete. I shall recount to you my past attempts at delivering and transforming you. Please listen”:

(To the tune “Shoal among the Waves”)

“That day down from the celestial gate

I flew on the back of a crane,

And ascended the altar to pray for abundant snow.

I changed a stone into gold and worked many transformations—

All to deliver you and make you change your mind.

“Twice I tried to deliver you at your birthday,

Making flowers grow instantly,

And congratulating you by filling vessels with immediate wine.

The powers of my magical basket and fruit were great,

All to deliver you and make you change your mind.

“I presented the Buddha bone to the illustrious ruler,

Who banished you to the city of Chaozhou.

As a fisherman, woodcutter, farmer, and herdsman I spoke of your whole life,

Wolves and tigers threatened your life,

All to deliver you and make you change your mind.

“In the thatched hut you found temporary shelter;

Your horse died and it was difficult to walk on.

On Mount Zhuowei you met the Perfected Man.

Counting them off on my fingers, twelve attempts

Before I succeeded in making you change your mind.”

Then Xiangzi said, “It took twelve attempts at converting you, Uncle, before you completed your proper rewards today. I shall once more summon an immortal crane, and we shall ride to Heaven together.”

Lifting his head, Tuizhi expressed his gratitude in the following words:

“Attached to high officialdom, my thinking was mistaken;

How was I to know that life and death are intertwined?

Yet now that I am at ease and roam in happiness,

I realize why Han Xiang wanted me to leave the family.”

Did Xiangzi really summon an immortal crane? Please listen to the explanations in the next chapter.