Eight immortals once lived on earth and were real people. Now they have become immortal saints and sometimes roam the earth in human form, observing the affairs of humanity.
The myths of China are full of amazing and fantastic stories about people who received immortality as a result of self-cultivation according to Taoist practices. There were various ways to become immortal. According to some beliefs, a Taoist, leaving for Heaven, takes his body with him. At the same time, mysterious transformations take place, the body is filled with the substance of heavenly energy and forever gains immortality. In other cases, transformations occur due to the fact that a person drank the elixir of immortality, most often prepared in the Heavenly palaces, or ate the pill of immortality. You can also taste the peach from the tree of Immortality, which grows in the garden of the Goddess Sivanmu and gives fruit once every three thousand years, and there is also a magic formula written on paper, read it and became immortal.
Thus, there are a lot of ways, choose any.
The immortal Taoist who entered eternal life leads an existence that does not depend on earthly laws. He can live in beautiful caves on the sacred mountains or on the blessed islands in the sea. He can even take up residence in Heaven with the permission of the Jade Emperor. In any case, this is no longer a person, but a saint with unrealistic capabilities for a person. For thousands of years, their physical appearance remained the same as it was in earthly life.
Immortals could take on human form and communicate with humans; although they appeared on earth in human clothing, they could immediately be distinguished from humans by their facial expressions. They could fly on clouds, or travel with fog and even lightning. They ruled over heavenly animals, they were credited with the ability to reincarnate, they often possessed various magical objects endowed with magical powers, it could be a fan, cord, staff, etc. The saints were often at odds with each other and had banal fights, some of them were evil and cruel, others were kind and merciful. Sometimes they even married people and lived on earth for this, but this was not particularly welcomed in Heaven.
In China, in the Shandong province on the Yellow Sea coast, there is a small town called Penglai, founded in the 11th century AD. He is famous for the fact that according to the legends, immortals live in this beautiful place. In the ancient chronicles of the Annals of the Mountains and Seas, it is described that immortals live on Mount Penlai. There is plenty of food, there is no cold or heat, fruits grow in the garden that can cure any disease and even resurrect the deceased. Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty to create the Chinese Empire, came here over 2000 years ago in search of the elixir of immortality and even sent expeditions to find the magical island of immortals. It is believed that, instead of the island of the immortals, the expedition discovered the Japanese islands and founded the Japanese state.
The myths of the eight immortals are the most widespread in China. These immortals, revered and beloved by the people, were once people, famous historical figures, and then, becoming saints, retired in high mountains, far from earthly joys and sorrows.
Zhong Li Quan is the head of the eight immortals. He lived during the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC-249 AD) During his lifetime he was a military leader, and therefore is considered the patron saint of soldiers. He is usually depicted as a fat man with a bare belly. Sometimes he holds a peach in one hand and a fan in the other, with the help of which he revives the dead, since he possessed the secret of making the elixir of life and the powder of reincarnation.
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According to another version, his name was Han Zhong Li, since he was born during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), which corresponds to the late period of the Zhou Dynasty. His second (name - Yun Fang - "Cloud House". Zhong Li was born near Xianyang in Shanxi province, in the second century AD. The first mention of him is in "Xuan-he shu pu" ("List of calligraphic inscriptions of the Xuan -he.”) According to this book, he is tall, with a curly beard, thick hair at the temples, a bare head with two tufts of hair, a tattooed body, bare feet, and this is how he is depicted in the drawings.
Zhong Li Quan is one of the founders of the alchemical art of immortality. He is also one of the founders of the Quanzhen Taoist School (School of Perfect Truth). In Taoism, he was also called Zhenyang Jushi - the first master of True Yang, as well as the Master of the Cloud Hall. He was a student of another immortal - Li Te-guai. During the Mongol Yuan dynasty in the 13-14th centuries A. D. Zhong Li was canonized, which was due to the great veneration of the immortal as one of the patriarchs of Taoism.
The legend says that when Zhong Li Quan was born, the whole room was lit up with an unusual radiance, due to which the child was predicted an extraordinary future. The newborn's appearance was also very unusual: a huge head, a wide forehead, large ears, thick cheeks and bright lips, long eyebrows and a red nose. His arms were as long as those of a three-year-old child, for seven days the baby did not eat anything, did not cry.
When Zhong Li grew up, he became a general who was honored by the emperor's favors. When the Tibetan Tufan tribe, living in the northwest, raided the border area, five thousand soldiers under the command of Zhong Li Quan were sent to meet the enemy. During the general battle, when success seemed a foregone conclusion, the spirit of another immortal, Li Te Guai, flew over the battlefield. Li Te Guai thought, “This is Zhong Li Quan, who had to become a saint in order to rise above the world. But he did not comprehend Tao and loves honor and glory too much. If he now wins the victory, then the imperial favors will completely turn his head. He will be too mired in honor and glory and this will close his path to Tao. May he rather fail and this will make him leave the vanity of this world and embark on the Path of Truth."
Li Te Guai immediately turned into an old man, appeared to the commander of the Tufan tribe and revealed to him a method by which it was possible to defeat the Chinese army. The Tufan warriors defeated the Chinese, Zhong Li Quan himself rushed off the battlefield on horseback, saving his life. He could not return to the emperor in disgrace and, in complete despair, returned to his native village, where he studied philosophy and married a beautiful woman.
One day Zhong Li Quan drew attention to a woman in a mourning robe, who was sitting near a grave mound and fanning the ground. When asked what this means, the woman explained that her husband, before his death, asked her not to remarry until the earth on the grave hill dries up. Now, having found a groom, she wanted to quickly dry up the earth on her husband's grave. Zhong Li Quan took the fan from her and used a spell to dry the grave mound. The widow gratefully departed, leaving the fan in his hands. At home, he told this story to his young wife, and she was terribly indignant at the widow's act. These words of his wife prompted Zhong Li Quan to test her feelings. After whispering the appropriate spell, he pretended to be dead.
A handsome young man immediately appeared in front of the imaginary widow, and a few days later she agreed to marry him. The groom said that in order to get married, he needed a potion prepared from the brain of her late husband. The widow agreed to comply with the groom's request and opened the coffin. She was horrified when she discovered that her ex-husband came to life, and the groom disappeared without a trace. Unable to bear the shame, the woman committed suicide. After all this, Zhong Li Quan set fire to his house and left, taking with him only a fan and the sacred book "Taojing".
In complete despair, Zhong Li met a monk, whom he turned to for advice, what should he do now? (It was, of course, Li Te Guai.) The monk invited him to his place, and they walked together for a long time until they reached the abode of the East China Master. The elder (whom the monk turned to) showed Zhong Li warm hospitality and the latter asked the elder to accept him as a disciple and introduce him to the mystery of life. From that day on the high Mountain of Three Peaks, he began to accustom himself to a new life.
At that time, there was a severe famine in that region, people were dying in thousands. Here for the first time Zhong Li Quan began to apply the acquired knowledge in practice. With the help of alchemy, he turned copper and tin into silver and gold and distributed it to people so that they could buy food for themselves. So he saved many people.
One day he was sitting in a cave deep in thought. Suddenly, the stone wall with a crash split into two halves, and a jade box appeared from the crevice, in which there were mysterious instructions on how to become immortal. He did everything as it was written. Suddenly, the room was filled with colorful clouds, beautiful music was heard, and the heavenly stork invited Zhong Li Quan to go with him to the land of immortality. Since then, he became immortal, and his fan has the wonderful ability to restore life to the dead.