Immortality Cults and Cults of WDBNmBINCࡱ> oqfghip5@ 0nbjbj22 /XXy$   0 x@x@x@8@LC0 CC"DDDDDD$RH DDDDD  DDYDtn D DDʿ  ʿDC ?x@J ʿo0ʿ1ܽ1ʿ0 0     1 ʿDDDDDDD0 0 3<^Z0 0 <Gil Raz Indiana University Immortality Cults and Cults of Immortals In her magisterial study of the deification of Laozi, Anna Seidel has shown that by the second century CE the ancient philosopher had been transformed into a divine being co-eval with the Dao. The deified Laozi has become one of the core elements in defining the emergence of Daoism in the late Han. Thus Laozis revelation to Zhang Daoling, and the acceptance of the latter as a sage, has become an essential part of the definition of Daoism proposed by Michel Strickmann. Their ground breaking studies and insights had shaped the field of Daoist studies today. It has now been almost 40 years since their publications and I feel it is time to re-examine these basic premises which had defined our field. How novel was the deification of Laozi? Was the emergence of the Celestial Masters in the Hanzhong region a religious revolution, and was it the first voluntary religious association and thus a redefinition of religious organization in early medieval China? My purpose is not to dismantle the work of Seidel and Strickmann, but rather to further nuance our understanding of the process by which Daoism, or more precisely Daoist lineages, emerged, constructed their identity and negotiated a space for their practices. In fact, it was Seidel whose articles on Han religious trends had pointed out the path which we should follow in our examination of the sources for Daoism. Her studies of the chenwei }prognostication texts and funerary documents demonstrated the continuity of Han and Daoist textual practices. Recent archaeological studies by Wang Yucheng and Zhang Xunliao have demonstrated that much of the terminology and practices of Six Dynasties Daoists, particularly the use of talismans, are traceable to Han practices. All of these practices can be associated with the obscure social groups  the Masters of Esoterica, fangshi eX. Following Strickmann s insight that social practice is the key determinant in delineating traditions, I set out in this paper to examine the social aspects underlying the emergence of Daoist lineages. In the following, I examine the development of fangshi practices from small lineages of individuals linked in masterdisciple relationships into communal cultic organizations, by focusing on four contemporaneous inscriptions, all dating to the late Eastern Han. These developing cultic practices, I argue, were the ground from which Daoism grew. My analysis will show that the institutionalization of these cults and the emergence of Daoism should be seen as a product of organic growth of indigenous Chinese religion. If correct, my analysis should therefore also reopen the question of the Buddhist impact on the emerging Daoist lineages but that is a question far beyond the scope of this paper. The obvious links between the fangshi of the Han and Three Kingdoms era and Daoist lineages of the Six Dynasties have been pointed out before. However, most studies have focused on tracing names and practices mentioned in Shangqing or Lingbao texts to Han antecedents. Isabelle Robinet has so far made the only attempt to reconstruct the social network of practitioners and their practices linking the fangshi at the court of Cao Cao and the emerging Shangqing lineage. However, as these links focus on the masterdisciple networks they do not explain the appearance of organized communities of adherents. The various practices advocated by the fangshi were intended for personal cultivation of individual practitioners. Barring their involvement in imperial rites, the fangshi did not call for communal practice. However, as the fame of individual practitioners grew they became part of the public domain, especially as their practice proved efficacious. While most formed small coteries of practitioners, some became the focus of widespread cultic practice. Of the 70 hagiographies collected in LXZ, almost half refer to shrines erected in reverence of the adept at specific sites. Some specify the adept became an object of reverence in certain locales, while others seem to indicate that the cult had spread over wide areas. Some adepts who are not associated with shrines in LXZ, are reported to have received cultic reverence in other sources, such as the HouHanshu and Li Daoyuans HSCQ (d.527) Shuijing zhu 4l}l. While these examples clearly indicate that numerous fangshi became subjects of cultic veneration, they do not describe the actual practices associated with the particular shrine and adept, nor do they indicate the extent and form of the cult itself. We may fill in some of these gaps by examining inscriptional evidence of contemporaneous Late Han cults which reveal various levels of practice and pubic participation. The inscriptional evidence demonstrates that comparable instances from hagiographic collections should not be considered as fiction but rather as actual evidence for cultic practice and religious groupings.  We can also assume that similar cults were prevalent throughout the Han polity. While these inscriptions raise many intriguing questions, I will limit myself on this occasion to discuss the following issues: first, the practices and lineage ascribed to the protagonist, and, secondly, the cultic practice associated with the location. I will then show how these individuals, practices and narratives were co-opted into the emerging synthesis. Based on the scope of cultic practice associated with the inscriptions my analysis will be based on the following typology: 1) Small cultic associations, formed around an actual individual  little known, or even unknown, beyond the immediate group; exemplified by the Fei Zhi stele inscription x. 2) Local cultic center - a focus of public worship of a local practitioner; exemplified by the Transcendent Tang Gongfang stele inscription NNUlQ?bx. 3) General cultic center - a localized cult of a practitioner who has become part of the public domain. Already a legendary person in contemporary sources, whatever may have been the original particulars of the practitioner are no longer recoverable; exemplified by the Wangzi qiao stele inscription sP[Ux. 4) Universal cultic center  a cultic center designated and supported by the imperial court, exemplified by the Inscription to Laozi P[. While a chronological progression may be postulated from type 1 to 4, and examples of such developments may be demonstrated, the purpose of the following is not to examine the processes by which cultic associations may expand into local cults, general cultic centers and finally into universal cults. Rather, the examples will show that various levels of cultic practice were associated with fangshi existed contemporaneously. Language describing practices was shared across the various types and it is often impossible to tell how formulaic certain phrases are and what the precise referent of these phrases may be. The same terminology is found in contemporary hagiographies and, later, in Daoist practice. This continuity should alert us to the fact that despite its opaqueness this discourse referred to actual practices and was not merely literary formulae. 1) Small cultic associations The stele inscription Feizhi bei found in a small tomb near Luoyang in 1991 reveals the cultic activity centering upon Master Feizhi. The stele bearing the inscription was located in the southern ante-chamber of the tomb complex. At the base of the stele there is small ledge with three small niches, apparently for placing offerings. Due to obvious parallels between the language and practices of the inscription and contemporary hagiographies of fangshi and transcendents on the one hand and of Daoist scriptures on the other, this inscription has already drawn some attention. The inscription provides a first hand look at a small group of seekers of transcendence, centered on a single family. Unattested in other sources, Master Fei, a practitioner of esoteric arts, had attracted the attention of Xu You 1|^, a local official, also unreported elsewhere, who became his patron and disciple. Having practiced together, they may have died together (ritually?), although no specifics are given. In the final lines of the inscription, five followers state that they will ingest  stone lard w and thereby  depart as transcendents. Death was obviously interpreted by this group as a passage to immortality and it appears that the members of this group actively sought it. The members of this group do not seem to have had links to any other group, yet the period of its activity (the stele is dated to 169 CE) is highly significant, being contemporaneous with the activities of the Celestial Masters in Hanzhong, and of the Taiping movement in the eastern provinces. It was also at this time that imperially sponsored rituals to Laozi and other transcendents were performed. It was at this time that the two steles to be discussed later were erected. As an example of late Han religious mentality, of a rarely seen type, it sheds light on the milieu in which Daoism developed. The terminology of the Feizhi inscription is very similar to both Han dynasty hagiographies and Daoist usage and demonstrates continuity of common understanding and practices between Han era fangshi and early Daoist practices. After examining the practices and lineage ascribed to Fei Zhi I will also discuss the range and scope of this group and others like it; and the role such cults played in the formation of early Daoism. Fei Zhi Inscription Filial Emperor Zhang, [when] Jupiter was in bingzi (76 CE): recorded. Filial Emperor Zhang Filial Emperor He Filial Emperor He, [when] Jupiter was in yichou (89 CE): recorded. [1] Stele of Master Fei of East Anle in Liang county of Henan. An Officer in Waiting of the Lateral Quarters for the Han. His taboo name was Zhi, his name was Changhua. He was from Liang county. As a youth he [2] embodied the pliability of spontaneous nature 6q, as an adult he had the conduct of one with rare customs. Always dwelling in seclusion he nourished his intentions. The Master always resided atop a jujube tree, and did not descend for three years. With the Dao he roamed [3] free, by his harmonious conduct his name was established, his fame spread within the seas. Crowds of gentlemen respectfully came to look at him, gathering like clouds. Once a red vapor accumulated and filled the sky. From the ministers and directors down through the hundred [4] officials there were none who could disperse it. [5] Hearing that atop a jujube tree in Liang there was a man of the Dao the king dispatched an envoy to summon the Master with full etiquette. In his loyalty, the Master came to protect the king as though on wings. In accordance with the time he produced a calculation [6] and dispelled the calamitous anomaly. He was honored with the post of Officer in Waiting of the Lateral Quarters, and bestowed a million cash. The Master declined and did not take the offer. In the middle ten day period of the 11th month, the Emperor desired fresh mallow. [7] The Master then entered his chamber, and in no time exited holding two sprigs of mallow. The emperor asked the Master: where did you get them? He replied: I received them from the governor of Shu commandery. [8] The emperor sent a dispatch rider to inquire at the commandery. The report from the commandery stated: At dawn on the fifteenth day of the eleventh month an envoy in a red chariot came and took two sprigs of fresh mallow. [9] This was proof of the Masters divine luminaries ^yf. He delves deeply into the mysterious and subtle, exits the abyss and enters the darkness. His transformations are difficult to know. In traveling a myriad miles, he does not shift in time. He fleetingly travels to the eight extremities and stops for a breather [10] at the transcendent court. The Master s teachers were: Zhang Wu of Wei Commandery O5_3T,Yanzi of Qi. He was a companion to Huang Yuan of Haishang wm NÞm and Master Red Pine. In life he was named Perfected Person, in his generation none [11] could rival him. The meritorious officer grand master of five, transcendent teacher Xu You from East Village in Luoyang served Master Fei. With warmest reverence, he invited Fei to stay at his home. You followed the Master, [12] achieved crossing the generations and departed. [I] Yous son Jian, named Xiaochang, whose heart is kind and whose nature is filial, constantly think of spirits and numina. In the second year of the Establishing Peace era [jianning, 169 CE] when Jupiter was in yiyou, [13] on bingwu day, the fifteenth of the fifth month, a day of Direct Establishment, [I] Xiaochang arranged an altar at the side-room. At dawn and evening the whole household, solemnly and without daring to relax our awe, reverently approached [14] Master Fei. Our libations and prayers accorded with the four seasons. The transcendent spirit has retired in glory, resplendent as hidden dragons. Though we wished to call on him the passage way could not be followed. I solemnly placed this stone, [15] in order to, with utmost reverence describe what is laid out above, to clarify and exhort our infants. The words are: [16] Brilliant and that is all. Anciently, the divine Master and luminous father attained great fame, and ascended afar to view the guidelines. Sons and grandsons standing motionless, reverently look up to [you who are] without hindrances. I, therefore, [17] inscribed this stone so as to reach your compassion and intelligence, wishing that you will reappear regularly and bestow your blessings and auspiciousness. [18] The Terrestrial Transcendent WN, Great Lord of Five 'Y OlQ had seen the void of Kunlun of the Queen Mother of the West and received the Way of Transcendence. The followers of the Great Lord of Five were five: Tian Yu 0uP, Quan ?? [19] Zhong hQ (-N, Songzhi Ji Gong [v_lQ, Bi Xianfeng buHQ and Master Xu 1HQu. All will ingest stone marrow, and depart as transcendents. As described in the archaeological report, the stele was found in the southern ante-chamber of the tomb. This is probably the side-altar mentioned in the inscription. Despite the fact that the principal of the tomb is Xu You, Fei Zhis patron, this shrine is the central feature of this familial cult. It is unclear from the text when Fei Zhi and Xu You had died, nor whether their deaths involved some ritual practice. However, line [12] implies that Xu Yous death, interpreted as crossing the generations was perceived as the culmination of his practice with Fei Zhi. The inscription serves both a commemorative as well as ritual function. While celebrating Fei Zhis skills and prowess, the inscription also calls upon him to respond to the offerings with blessings. More intriguingly, the final lines hint at another form of ritual practice ingestion of mineral compounds in quest of transcendence. Whether this was regularly practiced at the site or was to be a ritual climax of the cults activities is impossible to ascertain. We may conjecture, however, that this was part of the teachings imparted by Fei Zhi to his followers. While the inscription was installed in 169 CE, Fei Zhis main period of activity was almost a century earlier. The only two clear dates on the stele, 76 CE and 89 CE seem to refer to Fei Zhis appearance at court. This was after he had already made a name for himself. If he was only in his 20s at the time, he would have been a hundred years old by the 150s. Unless we accept that Fei Zhi had lived for a very ripe age we need to realize that the stele was placed in the tomb a few years after his death. The inscription in fact states that Fei Zhi had died at an unspecified time prior to the establishment of the stele. We therefore need to consider what may have prompted this installation and what is the significance of placing this stele in the tomb? Political Involvement [lines 3-8]: Despite the debate concerning the precise reading and meaning of the graph ceQ /beng)] / meng in the opening lines of the inscription, these lines indicate that Fei Zhi appeared at court in some official capacity during the reigns of emperors Zhang (r.76-89) and He (r.89-105) of the Eastern Han. The inscription mentions that he received a provisional appointment in the imperial harem. This apparently was a reward for having responded to an imperial summons and resolving ominous celestial phenomena. When this first encounter took place is unclear. At some later date, while serving in the palace, Fei Zhi satisfied the emperors desire for mallow by magical means. None of these events is dated precisely, nor mentioned elsewhere. It would be easy to dismiss the whole matter as hyperbolae and pretension on behalf of Fei Zhi or his disciples. However, the significance of the two episodes goes beyond mere self glorification on the part of a practitioner. In the first instance Fei Zhi is perceived as resolving a threatening omen, thereby saving the emperor. In the second case, Fei Zhi claims close intimacy with the emperor. The episodes thus affiliate him with the famous fangshi in the Western Han courts, Zhang Liang at the court of Han Gaozu, and Li Shaojun and Dongfang Shuo at emperor Wus court. Lineage [lines 10-11]: The inscription associates Fei Zhi with a lineage which is not attested elsewhere and which remains problematic. Parsing the phrases is also problematic. First, it is unclear whether there are two or four individuals named. Secondly, while the first half of the phrase explicitly states the masters teachers were..., the second half states were his companions, implying that he was the equal of Chi Songzi and Huang Yuan, and not their disciple. These were not necessarily living companions but rather partners in ethereal frolics. Of the four names, one is unattested elsewhere. The other three are quite well known personages, if we accept the identifications made for two of them. Zhang Wu, the first person mentioned, remains unknown. Wei Commandery, some 300 km. northeast of Luoyang and its neighboring Anle, straddled the southern part of present Hebei and Ci x county in Henan, was established during the reign of Han Gaozu. Renamed Wei City OW during Wang Mang s interregnum, it reverted to its earlier name during the Eastern Han. So far no further information concerning Zhang Wu has been found, but his very anonymity of may indicate the authenticity of his existence. It has been suggested that the second person mentioned, Yanzi of Qi JOfP[, may refer toYan Ying (c. 580-500 BCE), a loyal aide to a succession of rulers of Qi (lord Ling HlQ (r.581-554, lord Zhuang lQ (r.553-548) and particularly lord Jing oflQ (r.547-490)). Numerous speeches, remonstrations and anecdotes by and concerning Yanzi are preserved in the Zuozhuan commentary and collected in the Yanzi Chunqiu OfP[%fy. A paragon of Confucian political morality there are no records associating him with esoteric practices or fangshi lineages. While this may hint at an unknown tradition concerning Yanzi, his inclusion in this lineage may be an example of cooptation of famous ancient scholars by lineages of fangshi. Other examples of cooptation of pre-Qin and even early Han scholiasts into the ranks of fangshi and transcendents, include Mozi XP[ who is referred to in Baopuzi and who receives a hagiography in SXZ and was absorbed into the early Shangqing pantheon, and Kong Anguo T[[ W, who is described as a practitioner of qi circulation and alchemy in his SXZ hagiography. It is, however, unlikely that Yanzi refers to Yan Ying of the Warring States era, who would thereby be granted incredible longevity. He was probably an otherwise unknown fangshi surnamed Yan, who would have been active in the early Han and originated from Qi. Thus both of Fei Zhis teachers remain obscure. The third person mentioned in the lineage Haishang huangyuan wm NÞm is also unattested. It has been suggested that he may be the same as Master Huang of Donghai Donghai Huanggong qgwmÞlQ mentioned in Zhang Heng s  Western Metropolis Rhapsody :  Master Huang of Donghai, with red blade and Yue incantations / hoped to subdue the tiger, but could not save himself at the end.  In his comment Li Shan cites the Xijing zaji N: Master Huang of Donghai, even as a child practiced [esoteric] arts S. He could control snakes and manage tigers. He bore a crimson metal blade, and bound his hair with red silk. Standing he could raise clouds and mist, sitting he could make mountain and rivers appear. When he was decrepit and old, his strength was depleted, having over indulged in alcohol he could no longer practice his arts. At the final years of the Qin dynasty a white tiger appeared at Donghai. Holding his crimson blade, Master Huang went forth to challenge it. As he could no longer practice his arts, he was killed by the tiger. The people of the capital N used this [story] as a basis for games, the Han emperor used it as a base for a game of juedi ҉b. The passage concludes by stating that Master Huang and his unfortunate end were known in the capital, and even inspired some form of combative sport. It may therefore not be surprising that Fei Zhi claimed him as an equal. If we accept the identification of Haishang huangyuan with Master Huang of Donghai then we should consider that his skills and practices, at the core of which were Yue incantations, were in turn claimed by Fei Zhi. Thus we see Fei Zhi tapping into both the fangshi tradition of the northern coastal region as well as in to the more shamanic culture of the southern coast. Master Redpine, the fourth person mentioned, is arguably the most famous master of esoterica. His hagiography is the first one in the LXZ, and he is mentioned in numerous ancient sources. The final lines [18-19] of the inscription are especially problematic. It is unclear to whom the terms Terrestrial Transcendent WN and Dawugong 'Y OlQ refer, how they are related to Fei Zhi and Xu You, whether they refer to a different lineage, and if so how this lineage is related to that of Fei Zhi? Dawugong had obtained his teachings from the Queen Mother of the West and has attracted five disciples, whose names are listed. The last name given, Master Xu, probably refers to Xu You as it is unlikely that Xu Jian, who authored the main text of the inscription, would refer to himself as Master. The term Dawugong itself is problematic. It is unclear whether it is a name, a title or an epithet. Is it to be construed as Master Dawu or as Great Lord of Five. Moreover, the identity of the person referred to by this is unclear. Yu Wanli suggests Dawugong may be the astrologer mentioned in Dongfang Shuo s hagiography in Xiaoyao xu jing mYX}: When he was about to die, Shuo told a fellow official: no one in the world was able to recognize me, except for Dawugong. After he had died, emperor Wu summoned Dawugong and questioned him. He claimed he had no knowledge [of the matter]. The emperor asked: what are your abilities, he replied I am good at tracking the stars. The emperor asked: are all the stars in their paths? he replied: All the stars are present. Only Jupiter has been absent for forty years, and has recently reappeared. The emperor gazed up at heaven and sighed: Dongfang Shuo has been by my side for forty years and I didnt realize he was the [spirit of the] planet Jupiter. He then became depressed and unhappy. Yu however does not pursue this further and does not try to trace the source for this reference nor explain the relationship between this astrologer and Fei Zhi. In the following I examine A variant of this line is provided in the Song compilation Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian wkSwNԚSR which cites the Xijing zaji:  Dongfang Shuo said: no one in the world recognizes me, except for the Grand Astrologer of the Calendar bureau f[*YS. When Emperor Wu summoned and queried him, he replied:  all the asterisms are present, only Jupiter is not seen. As other hagiographies of Dongfang Shuo do not refer to the astrologer by name Hong Zichengs source was for naming him Dawu gong remains unclear. These older sources do refer to Dongfang Shuos stellar identity, beginning with Liexian zhuan: Those with knowledge suspected he was the essence of Jupiter. His hagiography in Fengsu tongyi, however, identifies Dongfang Shuo as a manifestation of the planet Venus, as well with a number of ancient sages: The common people say that Dongfang Shuo was the essence of the planet Venus. During the Yellow emperor s era he was Wind Elder /O, during Yao s era he was Wu Chengzi RbP[, during the Zhou he was Laodan C. In Yue he was Fan Li 5{!, and in Qi he was Chiyi zipi 7YP[v. This hagiography, which Ying Shao claims originated among the children and herd-boys may be a late Han popular version of the legend of Dong Fangshuo. Like the deified Laozi, who will be discussed later, the historical Dongfang Shuo had been deified and transformed into a sage who repeatedly manifests himself in different epochs in different human form as a teacher to the ruler. According to this passage, Laozi himself is a manifestation of Dongfang Shuo. The final phrase identifies Dongfang Shuo with another famous fangshi, Fan Li, who after helping king Goujian of Yue defeat the kingdom of Wu departed for the sea. He reappeared in Qi, having changed his name to Chiyi zipi. Still later he was known as Lord Zhu of Tao v1gT. In his SXZ hagiography, Kong Anguo claims his teacher was none other than Fan Li, among whose disciples was one named Dawu 'Y O. While it is impossible to make the anachronisms of these various accounts cohere, their coincidence is very suggestive. The historical Dongfang Shuo and Kong Anguo (d.c.100 BCE) were both active during the second century BCE. Although Fan Lis activity is said to have spanned centuries, the only certain date mentioned is his departure from Yue some time after 479 BCE. Kong Anguo in referring to Fan Lis disciples, including Dawu, mentions their amazing longevity thus placing them deep in the Spring and Autumn era. While it is possible that the astrologer referred to in Dongfang Shuos hagiography may be Fan Lis disciple, a textual tradition linking Kong Anguos SXZ hagiography and Xiaoyao xu jing needs to be established before this hypothesis can be pursued further. This link in turn needs to be traced to Han period sources. Until such links can be demonstrated it remains difficult to determine whether the Fei Zhi inscription partakes of this textual tradition. The main problem with Yu Wanlis suggestion, however, is that it implies that two distinct lineages are mentioned in the inscription. As the stele appears to have served as a votive and ritual site for a family-centered cult and dedicated to the teacher who formed the center of the cult, it seems unlikely that the final lines refer to a different lineage than that of the main part of the inscription. The Fei Zhi inscription implies that Dawu gong was active as a master of the group during the late Eastern Han, and makes no reference to either Fan Li or Dongfang Shuo. It seems more likely that Dawu gong was a title adopted by Fei Zhi as the master of the cult. The final lines then cohere with the main part of the inscription. Although the most likely explanation is that Dawu gong refers to Fei Zhi, his choice of this title may allude to the early Han astrologer or to Fan Lis disciple, who may in fact be the one and the same. However, as present the earliest mention of a master named Dawu is the Fei Zhi inscription itself this suggestion remains tentative at best. Despite the difficulties of determining the precise identities of the persons mentioned in the lineages mentioned in the Fei Zhi inscription, a number of lessons may be gained by our examination. First, the importance of possessing a prestigious lineage is clear. Ones claim to power and knowledge must be backed-up by recognized names. In the first case, Fei Zhis claims ultimately depend on Chi Songzi. In the guise of Dawu gong, the source is the Queen Mother of the West. These two claims are however inherently different. The first lineage, which I will term this worldly, although obscure in details, is a construction which descends through a fully human sequence of masters and does not diverge in its claims from the ancient fangshi conceptions. As I stated above, the very anonymity of Zhang Wu, and the problematic identities of Huangyuan and Yanzi, should be seen as signs of authenticity. Dawu gongs claim, on the other hand, entails a new cosmological structure, with a different form of relation between the human realm and the numinous realm. The teachings are here transmitted directly from a goddess and in the mythical realm of Kunlun, rather than in the human plane as the first lineage. The teachings are perceived as having been introduced into the human realm by qualitatively different source. I will term this type of lineage other worldly. In the past this type of transmission had been restricted to numinous revelations by mythical animals, such as fish, birds and dragons as in the cases of Lingyang ziming and the mythical emperors. By the late Han, as this inscription shows, other worldly revelations were increasingly associated with deities. This trope became the typical form of revelation for Daoist teachings. The claim by Dawu gong was not an original one. The Queen Mother of the West and her abode on Mt. Kunlun had already become a mythical destination for practitioners. The importance of this motif may be demonstrated by its inclusion in Chi Songzis hagiography in LXZ, the first of the collection. Having claimed himself a companion of Chi Songzi, Fei Zhi in the guise of Dawu gong could then claim to have visited the mythical land of Kunlun. Tales of visits to Kunlun and encounters with the Queen Mother seem to have become common fare by the Later Han. While criticizing such claims as extravagant and without basis, Ge Hong provides descriptions of Mt. Kunluns subterranean paradise. While such a critical view may be representative of conservative and purist practitioners, like Ge Hong, it demonstrates the popularity such claims had on the general public. This motif finally became the basis for the narrative cycle of the Hanwudi neizhuan. Significantly, both types of lineage, this worldly and other worldly, appear in the Fei Zhi inscription, signifying that both notions developed within the same fangshi lineages and continued to coexist within the same groups. Even more significantly, despite the claims for a far higher plane of revelation, there is little difference in the practices advocated by these different types of revelations. Practices and abilities A number of distinct practices are ascribed to Fei Zhi. I will discuss these in tandem with the abilities they confer on the successful practitioner. Previous studies have already noted many parallels between these practices and those found in hagiographies, such as Liexian zhuan and Shenxian zhuan. I will focus upon such practices as described in Daoist texts. 1) Solitary Asceticism and ingestion of Dates. Fei Zhis earliest accomplishment which made his name was his solitary sojourn atop a date tree for some three years presumably feeding solely on jujube dates. Jujubes are numbered among the most efficacious of herbal sources. An Qisheng was said to have lived on jujubes alone, giant as melons, the ingestion of which led to his transcendence and translation to Penglai. Another fangshi who resorted to jujubes was Hao Mengjie ݐ_[{ who by ingesting date stones could hold off from regular food for five and even ten years. The importance of jujubes for Han practitioners may be demonstrated by the formulas inscribed on a number of TLV mirrors: ...on it are transcendents, oblivious of age. When thirsty they imbibe from the jade font, when hungry, they ingest jujubes... The possessor of the mirror is to emulate the inscribed transcendents and their practice. The Fei Zhi inscription does not describe the method of ingesting jujubes, nor specify the expected affects of this practice. This lack is typical of most hagiographies which are formulaic in form and content. For actual methods we need to turn to Daoist texts, such as the Wufuxu which provides clear instructions for a practice based on the ingestion of jujube dates entitled Yue Zichangs Method of Ingesting Date Stones jP[w+Th8he  : A method of longevity: Regularly hold a date stone in your mouth, [sucking it] just as a baby suckles a nipple. Hold it for a long time until the juice fills your mouth, in three measures. Swallow two parts and keep one in your mouth. Ingest each mouthful together with air. This is called  returning the essence |. When you complete [each turn] you should start again, as a continuous cycle. When you first cut off grains, after five days there is a small climax. As your head becomes befuddled immediately stop. After fourteen days, again your head will become befuddled, and you should again stop. After twenty-one days your pneuma will be fixed. If you wish to eat, you may eat. If you do not wish to eat, you [craving] will naturally cease. Once you cut off grains you must refrain from sexual intercourse. You may eat a few jujubes and drink liquor, no more than a sheng. This method is equally for both men and women. Intriguingly, this method which allowed one to cut off regular food is related to sexual practice, or rather abstinence. Sex is explicitly forbidden for practitioners of this method. On the other hand, the practice itself is named returning the essence, a term usually associated with sexual practices involving semen retention. The details of Fei Zhis practice are unknown. But, if his practice too called for sexual abstinence then his appointment to the imperial harem may not have been coincidental. Fei Zhis practice of ascetic solitude eventually brought him fame and multitudes came to seek him, though it is unclear what these people expected of him. His fame finally reached the imperial palace which summoned him at a moment of crisis. Summoning of hermits and practitioners of esoterica was a common theme, not only in ancient China. By their remoteness, detachment and autonomy from the central power the practitioners gained enormous prestige, especially if they continued to elude calls to serve at the court. Conversely, their prestige, charismatic power and other-worldly authority would be conferred on the ruler whom they would be willing to serve. 2) Descrying and resolving weather phenomena Fei Zhis summons to the palace was to resolve a threatening omen, red vapor had covered the sky and none of the aides and ministers could disperse it. Yu Wanli has collected evidence showing that red vapor was an omen of war. Fei Zhi performed a calculation fasuan |v{ by which the anomaly was extinguished. It should be noted that calculations functioned not only as prognosis, i.e. to determine the cause of the anomalies but also a means of dispelling the anomalies. The category of  Observation of clouds and examination of vapors wangyun xingqi gw#l was among the important and politically engaged practices of the fangshi. Dong Fu cvb of Guanghan (in present Sichuan), observed  an imperial pneuma at the celestial allotment of Yizhou v]RΑ g)YP[#l which he reported to Liu Yan in 188. A year later, after both had obtained posts in Sichuan, the empire collapsed into chaos. The enthronement of Liu Bei as Emperor of Shu-Han in 221 was perceived as a verification of Dong Fus observation. Similar practices are noted for Wu Fan 3T{, a third century practitioner at the Wu court, who  whenever there were omens of calamity would immediately perform a calculation and describe the situation, his calculations were very effective and he thereby made his name.  We will recall these examples in a later chapter when we examine the omenology of the Wufuxu in relation to the weft texts and the Han imperium. 3) Instantaneous travel, i.e. the ability to move great distances in a blink of an eye, or sometimes instantaneously, was a common ability among fangshi. Along with the ability to simultaneously be in several places and shape shifting, this ability was proof of an adepts worth and quality. Rarely, however, were the methods which provided these abilities specified. A common theme in these narratives is that the ability is proven by providing rare products from remote locales. Fei Zhi proved his ability by obtaining fresh mallow from Shu for the emperor. The same narrative structure is found in two better known hagiographic accounts: Zuo Ci ]Ha is said to have obtained ginger from Shu for Cao Cao, and Jie Xiang Na who obtains ginger from Shu for Sun Quan of Wu. Another common theme in the narrative is the verification of the miracle. In the cases of Jie Xiang and Zuo Ci, this verification is provided by a messenger who had earlier been sent by the ruler for a different purpose and who encounters the master or his envoy. In Fei Zhis case the emperor dispatches a special envoy to inquire at the local prefecture. Significantly, the three accounts differ on the actual practice by which the master obtains the rare delicacy. Jie Xiang provides a messenger with a talisman and staff by which he is instantly transported to the market at Chengdu. Zuo Ci, like Fei Zhi, travels himself to Shu, but the method is unspecified. Fei Zhi is said to have entered his chamber before reappearing with the mallow flowers. Possibly this was an early version of the meditation chamber jingshi \[ which later became the central locus of Daoist practice. Noting these similarities Wang Yucheng suggests the Fei Zhi inscription, being the earliest attested text, is the original narrative which Ge Hong and Fan Ye imitated. This suggestion is not warranted. Certainly, the accounts of Zuo Ci and Jie Xiang are more developed, in both cases their procurement of ginger follows a magical feat of obtaining fish from the ocean, and is thus a second proof of their prowess. While both accounts seem to be based on a common source, this source is not necessarily the Fei Zhi inscription. Rather, all three accounts should be seen as tapping into a common narrative motif, which probably circulated as oral legends attached to various masters before being recorded in writing. 3) Consumption of Shizhi w  stone lard. Consumption of  Stone lard was a common practice. Numerous early practitioners are said to have ingested these minerals, among them the aforementioned Lingyang ziming, Chixu zi dP[, and Chisong zi. The term refers to one of coal-like minerals found in caves. The Shennong bencao jing ^y,gI} lists it among the superior medicinal substances, specifying that there are five types of  stone lard distinguished by color (green, yellow, black, white and red):  if ingested for long they replenish the bone marrow and increase pneuma, fortify the flesh and lead one to be without hunger. They lighten the body and extend ones years. The five colors of stone lard accord with the five colors [of the five phases] and replenish the five viscera. Some sources refer to these five minerals are collectively as Azure, red, yellow, white and black talismans RdÞ}vў&{  further emphasizing their association with the five phases. The  Treatise on Curiosities Bowuzhi ZSir_ by Zhang Hua 5_ (232-300) mentions that:  [below Mount Kunlun] ... Crannies and caves intersect and harmonious pneuma is exuded; then stone lard and jade paste are produced. Ingesting them one will be without death. Dawu Gongs visit to Kunlun, therefore, aside from proving his personal efficacy, may also have served an etiological function for the practice of ingesting stone lard by his followers. We should note that the ingestion of stone-lard is specifically associated with the five followers of Dawu gong and not with Fei Zhi himself. We are not told what precise practices led to Fei Zhis transcendence nor does the inscription specify the precise method by which these mineral was ingested by the cult members. However, Fei Zhis own practice was probably the model for the disciples practice. While the details are unclear, this practice may well have resembled the practice described in the following example. These instructions for consuming the five colored stones as well as an explanation for the efficacy of this practice are found in HY 420 Shenxian fuer danshi xingyao fa ^yN g 9NwLl a text of uncertain date, but preserving early materials: Red stone lard is sour, non-toxic; white stone lard is sweet, non-toxic, balanced; black stone lard is salty, non-toxic, balanced; yellow stone lard is bitter, non-toxic, balanced; azure stone lard is sour, non-toxic, balanced. All are medicinals that nourish the body and extend years. Method for refining Five-stone lard: Pound, place in water. Grind until very fine. Let the solution clarify. When it is like mud, with stones on the bottom, collect the upper portion. Repeat this fifteen times. Dry. Daily ingest three times. You may then cut off grains and be without hunger. Your body will lighten, your pneumas replenished and you will withstand wind and cold. When ingesting this you must focus your intentions and hold a purification ritual |aKb. If you are unable to hold a purification ritual you must not lightly consume this medicine as it will not transform but harm you....The five stones are difficult to obtain, you must be very careful in this. The consumption of such mineral compounds was the basis for the early alchemical practices advocated by Ge Hong. Some practitioners continued to develop more advanced alchemical practices. Other Daoists, however, eventually sublimated alchemical practice as they adopted the alchemical terminology for contemplative practices, forming the basis for internal alchemy neidan. Actual consumption of alchemical products seems to have been relegated to lower forms of transcendence. Cultic Practice The importance of the Fei Zhi stele goes beyond the many parallels and motifs which we find between the content of the inscription and various hagiographic accounts. The inscription states that it had the stele was set up to commemorate Master Fei Zhi and functioned as a site for offerings. As pointed out by Schipper, Wang and Zhang there are three cup-shaped hollows at foot of the stele in which offerings were to be placed. Zhang has located a parallel arrangement described by Hong Gua (1117-84) in his discussion of the  Offering-bowls Inscription for the Five Lords NTogve. The inscription itself consists of just five names: Great Lord Lao 'YT, Lord of the Western Sea wmT, Lord of the Eastern Sea qgwmT, Lord of the Perfected wNT and Lord of the Transcendents NNT. In his discussion Hong Gua mentions this stele was unlike he had seen before, as that by each name there were three round hollows. Moreover, Hong Gua stresses that the script was stylistically the same as that on datable steles from the Han dynasty. Whether the hollows on this stele do indeed refer to the same practice as the Fei Zhi stele awaits further investigation. In any case, the physical form of the Fai Zhi stele and the content of the inscription clearly indicate that this stele formed a focus of cultic practice. As discussed above, Wang Yucheng has suggested that the Fei Zhi may be the source for some narratives and motifs of later hagiographies. Such a conclusion may be hasty. A safer interpretation of the Fei Zhi inscription is that it tapped into preexisting lore concerning fangshi. Liu Yi points out that while the Fei Zhi inscription may currently be our earliest witness for particular motifs, it is unlikely that these originated with this hitherto unknown fangshi. He aptly describes Fei Zhi as a stereotypical example of Han period immortality cults rather than a model for such cults. I agree with this characterization, and suggest, that the significance of this inscription lies is in seeing the terms in the inscription as neither original nor special, but as derivative of contemporary discourse and thus representative and exemplary. The Fei Zhi insciption thus vivifies for us what had hitherto been formulaic literary allusions. 2) Local cultic center - Tang Gongfang The inscription for Transcendent Tang Gongfang was inscribed when his shrine in the town of Chenggu WV in Hanzhong "o-N county was refurbished, probably during the late Eastern Han. According to the inscription, Tang Gongfang had achieved transcendence with the aid of his master during the second year of Wang Mang s reign (7 CE). Falling afoul of the local administrator after refusing to instruct him Tang turned to his master for help. The latter provided Tang and his wife with an elixir which would allow them to depart (qu S). Though not explicitly stated, this term clearly implied departing from the human realm. Tangs wife insisted on departing with the entire household. After daubing the house with elixir and letting the animals drink it they all rose up to the heaven in broad day light. Unlike Fei Zhi, Tang Gongfang is mentioned in a number of sources, including Daoist scriptures of the Six Dynasties. As told in the inscription, the legend of Tanggong Fang taps into a mythical complex which had developed in the Hanzhong for at least a century and half. It includes the etiology of a toponym, the Xu Z stream and township, an etiology for the strange behavior of a local type of rat, and associated with a cycle of myths related to Li Babai, who is related to the very important mythical complex of Li Hong. Untangling this network of myths and clarifying their relationships may not be possible at our present state of knowledge. However, despite these reservations, by examining this set of mythical complexes we may learn more about the interaction of Daoism and local cults and the shifting boundaries between them. The leading donor of the shrine was the governor of Hanzhong Guo Zhi 퐝, accompanied by fifteen other local notables, including two ex-governors of Jiangyang _l} (Present Lu p county in Sichuan). The cult and other shrines were mentioned by Zhang Hua in Bowuzhi and by Chang Qu 8^t(fl.347) in his Huayang Guozhi, attesting to its continued presence and geographical spread. Schipper traces the cult through mentions in local gazetteers to the late imperial period, and to contemporary practice in the town of Chenggu, where a shrine to Tang Gongfang still stands. The following translation of the inscription to Transcendent Tang Gongfang is based on the text in Lishi, which I compared with recent transcriptions, such as Gao Wen, 1997 and Yuan Weichun, 1990. Chen Xianyuan, 1996, provides a full transcription, but without specifying his sources for filling in the lacunae. The translation includes his emendations, marked off with brackets which include the number of missing graphs according to the Lishi transcription. The lords name was Gongfang, of Chenggu. He was Thearch Yaos {descendent. Thearch Yao was sincere, reverent, able yet humble, the lord truly succeeded (10 lacuna)} him. Hence, he could raise his household {achieve crossing over, lift his home and as a transcendent (5 lacuna)} depart. He soared up to the luminous brilliance v, driving and riding yin and yang, soaring into the limpid [heavens] he treaded the floating [clouds]. His allotted longevity was boundless. Although revered by kings and lords, treasured within the four seas, he was {not be moved even by a single (5.lacuna)}hair. The nature of heaven and earth is what he most cherished. The ancient tradition says that in the second year of Wang Mang s regency (jushe E\e , 7 -8 CE) when the lord was serving as commandery officer, {once, during their leisure time, as, together with his colleagues (4 lacuna)}he was eating melons in the garden, there was a Perfected person nearby, [but] none of his companions recognized him. Only the lord presented him with an excellent melon, and then followed and respectfully saluted him. The Perfected Person, consequently arranged a meeting with the lord at the top of the mountain at the Xi valley entrance. There he presented the lord with divine medicine, and said: After ingesting the medicine you will be transported by your intentions myriad li and you will know the speech of birds and animals. At that time the prefectural capital was at Xicheng b over 700 li from [Tang s] home. Traveling back and forth between official audiences, within a blink of an eye he would arrive. All the people of the commandery were surprised by this, and reported it to the prefect, who then appointed him a yuli _T. [Once] a rat gnawed through the [prefect s] chariot roof. The lord then drew a gaol on the ground, summoned the rat and killed it. [Having dissected it, they] examined its stomach, and as expected found [the remains] of the chariots roof. The prefect {set out} a banquet, and [said] he wished to follow Tang and study the Dao. Gongfang did not immediately submit. The prefect angrily ordered his officers and guards to arrest Gongfangs wife. Gongfang quickly returned to Valley Entrance and called on his Master to tell him of the urgent danger. His Master returned with him in order to give Gongfang and his wife the elixir to drink, and said: you may depart. The wife loved her household and could not bear to depart. Then the Master said: is it that you wish the entire household to depart together? The wife said: That is my wish. Therefore, they took the elixir and swabbed it on the house posts, and made the oxen and horses and domestic animals drink it. In a thrice a great wind and dark clouds appeared which gathered Gongfang and his wife, the house and the domestic animals, who all flew upwards and departed together. In the past, Qiao, Song, Cui, Bo U~g]}v all attained the Dao alone, but Gongfang raised and crossed over his entire household. Great indeed! The tradition says:  Where a worthy dwells, munificence flows for a hundred generations! Hence, he has caused Xi village to be without mosquitoes in spring and summer, free of frost during the winter. Pestilence Xv and poisonous vermin do not linger, and flying insects are expelled, and the hundred grains can be harvested. Nowhere under heaven is there such efficacious virtue and succor. The multitudes of transcendents are on par with the Dao, our native soil is irrigated by their virtue. Those who recognize his virtue are few, and through the generations none have recorded it. I, Guo Zhi of Nanyang, named Gongzai lQ , Grand Administrator of Hanzhong, having cultivated my government like the north star, and ridden the winds of the Zhou and ShaohTKN. Joyous at the excellence of Lord Tang s spiritual efficacy, I realized that those eminent in the Dao, are renowned, and those whose virtue is distinguished are revered in temples. In order to express these auspicious thoughts, I personally offered the monies, as a leader of the group of donors , to renovate and enlarge this temple. [In order to] {gather} harmony and seek blessings and to spread them among the people. We inscribed this stone with glowing verses to glorify the lord s numinous fame. The words are: {To magnificent lord Tang / whose glory reaches Xuanhuang ҎÞ roaming free in the Lacquer garden qiyuan oW / your Way matches that of Zhuang of Meng ^} consequently enjoying the divine medicine, you ascended floating to the clouds, fleeting about on wings. On the back of the stele are inscribed fifteen names, the principal donors to the refurbishment of the shrine and erection of the stele, which constitute the donor group mentioned in the inscription. All fifteen donors were local grandees of the region where Tang Gongfang had been revered for over a century and a half. Two were natives of Chenggu, the other thirteen hailed from the neighboring town of Nanzheng. Of the latter, nine are surnamed Zhu and are probably of a single clan. Both towns, along with Baozhong, where another shrine to Tanggong Fang is reported in HYGZ, belonged to Hanzhong prefecture. Jiangyang, where the two men surnamed Yang are said to have served, was part of the neighboring Tewei yrp prefecture. Both prefectures were part of Yi v province, the northern part of present Sichuan. The stele may be dated by the fact that Zhu Gui, the fourth on the list of donors, is mentioned in HYGZ as having been appointed as town head of Jiameng m , a township in Hanzong, by Liu Yan R q governor of Yi Province. While the shrine is mentioned in the Shujingzhu, Li Daoyuan does not cite the inscription but presents a different tradition related to Tang Gongfang, focusing on the unfortunate fate of the rat which did not join the rest of the animals as the entire household rose into the air. [Tang Gongfang] studied the Dao and attained transcendence and entered Yuntai Mountain. He produced cinnabar [compound] and ingested it. In broad daylight he ascended to the heavens. The cock crowed up above, and the dog barked in the clouds. He despised the rat, and only it was left behind. The rat was very perturbed and each month at the new moon would vomit its entrails; but return to life. Therefore contemporaries called it the Tang rat. Other sources also refer to this narrative of the rat. Schipper speculates that Tang Gongfang was originally a rat-catcher, who was deified due to his success. He also provides evidence linking rat-catching with alchemical methods, probably relating the ingestion of lead and cinnabar compounds to poisoning. Campany accepts that Tang was regional god in Hanzhong and northern Sichuan but disagrees with Schippers hypothesis without specifying his reasons. I agree with Campanys hesitation concerning Tang Gongfangs original status. We should remember that the narrative concerning the Entrail-changing rat was as intriguing and attractive to Six Dynasties compilers of collectanea as it is to us. The lore concerning the etiology of an odd local type of rat intersected with the narrative of Tang Gongfang, but does not necessarily reflect the most salient feature of the cult. A similar example of the intersection of local lore with the Tang Gongfang cycle, also recorded by in the Shuijing zhu, provides an etiology for the toponym of the stream and township where the shrine was located: The Xu Z stream is a river valley emerging north of the Han river. To the north it abuts Mt. Ting }q\ ... Located by the river is Xu townsip X , the stream is called Xu stream... On the day Gongfang ascended to the heavens, his son-in-law (xu Z) was away and did not return and could [therefore] not pace the clouds together [with the household]. He remained and lived by the river. It is said that since then there were no calamities of heavy frost, snakes and tigers. The local people considered him a spirit, hence they called the place and the stream Son-in-law village Xu. [In honor] the common people erected a temple here, and inscribed a stone in order to describe the miraculous events. Although the etymology for the place names given in the passage is clearly anachronistic it demonstrates that by the Six Dynasties the local landscape was subsumed into the Tang Gongfang lore. This narrative also reminds us that the shrine was associated with management of natural disasters. The inscription, too, explicitly refers to the expulsion of other vermin, besides rats. Whatever may have been Tang Gongfangs original vocation, he had come to be a protector of the local crops and population. Practices and Abilities: Like Fei Zhi and other successful adepts, Tang Gongfang, too, gained the ability of Instantaneous travel. It was his travel between the capital and his home which had alerted the local administrator to his abilities. However, more impressive are the references to his ALCHEMICAL practice. All the sources mention that Tang Gongfang had entered Mt. Yuntai in order to produce elixirs in his search for transcendence. While the various texts do not indicate which elixir and which procedures were employed by Tang, the efficacy of this elixir was such that daubing it on the house and feeding the animals sufficed to transport the entire household to heaven. Schipper has pointed out that alchemical practice and rat capturing were related  probably due to the use of lead and mercury as rat poisons: Wang Changyu s s fG hagiography in HY 296 tells of his encounter with an aged seller of rat poison. Pitying the old man, Wang would buy some each time he passed by. After Wang admitted he bought the poison from pity rather than to poison rats, the old man confided to him that the drug would not necessarily kill the rats. And indeed administering the drug resulted in the transformation of the rats into doves, which then flew away. An even more intriguing practice referred to is Tangs power of INSCRIPTION by which he captured the rat. Having drawn a gaol on the earth he then summoned the rat into it. Recalling the ancient myth of Yus tripods, whose power subdued the demonic anomalies of the realm, this practice is reminiscent of references in hagiographies to adepts who could draw mountains and rivers as well recalling some of the talismanic practices which were to become a hallmark of Daoist practice. Y Ying-shih, among the first to draw attention to this inscription, had interpreted its significance as exemplifying the worldly transformation of the idea of xian, which changed the concept of the xian from ascetic reclusion to a notion which allowed the successful practitioner to retain his worldly possessions, transplanting his earthly pleasures to the celestial realm. The earliest example for such a transformation was the image of the Yellow Thearch as portrayed by Gongsun Qing lQk[S while persuading Han emperor Wu to perform the fengshan rites. The Yellow Thearch was said to have ascended to heaven with his entire retinue and harem, totaling over seventy people. Liu An, King of Huainan, was also said to have ascended to the heavens along with his entire household, including his dogs and roosters. Tangs ascent with family and household seems to follow these earlier models. In addition, Y also points out that this inscription demonstrates that by this time the cult of xian immortality had already acquired a wider social basis and was no longer an exclusive affair between fangshi and the ruling class. Secondly, he points out that the inscription reflects the popular belief in drugs as the best, or rather the easiest, way to achieve immortality. Ys points need to be tempered by the fact that the motif of ascent with ones household remains unattested in any other context beyond the three instances mentioned above. Even if other examples were to be found they would be heavily outweighed by the number of narratives which emphasize that transcendence is individual and necessitates total abandonment of all social links, including familial ties. As Campany has pointed out, narratives concerning shijie especially emphasize that the adept is to depart from his native land, change his name and never return. One such example is the Huang Chuping narrative in the Wufuxu which drives this point home by stressing that Huang Chuqi needs to abandon his wife and children and remain with Huang Chuping in order to emulate his brothers attainment. Appropriation by Daoism While referring to Tang Gongfangs master the inscription does not however mention his name nor indicate any other particulars concerning the lineage and tradition associated with him. This apparent this gap in the hagiography was filled in by a number of references in Six Dynasties Daoist texts. It is however impossible to determine how early this lineage was conceived and whether it reflects an authentic local tradition. The Shenxian zhuan hagiography of Li Babai NgkQ~v refers to Li s examination of Tang Gongfang s sincerity and resolve with a series of disgusting tests. It does not however refer to the provision of melons mentioned in the inscription. Ge Hong mentions Li Babai in his Baopuzi as part of his discussion of a  Li-family Dao Ng[S. A number of scholars consider this to be a distant echo of Celestial Masters Daoism. On the other hand, Ge Hong does not mention Tang Gongfang in Baopuzi. Tang Gongfang s fame and prestige may be indicated by the position he was given in Shangqing pantheon. He is listed in the Zhen gao among the four aides to Baoming (Mao Ai, youngest Mao brother):  Tang Gongfang of Xishanq\ [is] in charge of births and deaths.  Tao Hongjing s systematized pantheon incorporated him in the right hand ranks of 6th level. In the sacred geography produced within the Shangqing lineage, Xishan, the domain of Perfected Tang Gongcheng [sic], was listed as the 12th of 36 Minor Cavern Heavens and renamed Celestial Pillar Treasure Culmen of Mystic Heaven Tianzhu baoji xuantian )Yg[uis)Y. Li Babai was incorporated into this system as the resident of Changli mountain parish f)Rq\l. The text specifies he was Tang Gongfang s teacher. The repeated reminders that Li Babai was Tang s teacher in Daoist texts may reflect the fact that the latter continued to occupy a more important place in popular conceptualizations. The assertion of Li Babais superiority is therefore a means of subsuming the local cult into a Daoist system. This may be interpreted as an appropriation of local cultic figures by Yang Xi, in the early Shangqing revelations, and subsequently in later systemizations. Such a claim implies that Yang Xi was aware of the Hanzhong centered cult, and deemed it important enough to incorporate its saint into the Shangqing pantheon. Strangely enough, Li Babai himself is not mentioned in the Zhengao, nor in the Lingbao Weiye tu. Did Yang Xi prefer the disciple to the master? Did he include Tang Gongfang in his system following a narrative that did not include Li Babai? While it is entirely possible that Yang Xi had included Tang Gongfang in the Shangqing pantheon based on his knowledge of the cult, it seems more likely that the inclusion of Tang Gongfang in a Daoist context would have occurred earlier in a Sichuan based lineage. The links we had noted above between Tang Gongfang and his master Li Babai and early Celestial Masters, should alert us to the possibility that Tang Gongfang could have been incorporated into texts emanating from the Celestial Masters. Such a text is HY 335 Taishang dongyuan shenzhou jing *Y Nmm^yT}  Scripture of Divine Incantations from the Abysmal Cavern of the Most High.  With a fully developed Daoist apocalyptic vision, this text is one of the primary sources for studying the developments of Daoist eschatological thought, and particularly the messianic vision associated with Li Hong Ng_. The popularity of this text during the Six Dynasties may be demonstrated, on the one hand, by the number of Dunhuang manuscripts preserving various chapters of the text, and on the other hand, by the number of rebellions associated with the name Li Hong, and possibly inspired, in part, by notions advocated in the Shenzhou jing. Most scholars agree that the earliest strata of the text consisted of the current first and second chapters, which were later expanded to four chapters and finally to ten, by the end of the Six Dynasties period. The remaining ten chapters of the current twenty were compiled by Du Guangting, who also wrote a preface. There is, however, debate concerning the date of compilation of the various textual strata, particularly the earliest chapters as well where this took place. Related to these issues is the affiliation of the text and which Daoist lineage it actually represents. Most scholars have dated the earliest strata to the late eastern Jin and early Liu-Song period, associating the compilation with the rise of Liu Yu RՈ (363-442) who established the Song dynasty in 420, and known posthumously as emperor Wu. An intriguing hypothesis concerning the origins of the Shenzhou jing has been presented by Ma Chengyu who suggests the earliest textual layers were compiled in the Hanzhong region during the early Eastern Jin. The Shenzhou jing refers to a number of different texts and titles which presumably are the earlier strata from which it was compiled. One such passage states: The Dao said: I have [in the past], in Duyang gong \g}[ recited the Scripture of Great Exorcism Daqu jing 'YE} on behalf of the assembled jade maidens in order to guide and transform the various beings. At that moment Perfected Tang Ping Us^, of the Central States -N W arrived and said:  recently the registers of the dead have become unclear [due to the many deaths], from now on when will there be plagues %v?   While not explicitly stated here, the passage seems to imply that Tang Ping was privy to an early textual revelation. This was certainly how Du Guangting understood the redaction process, which he described in his preface. Du attributed the revelation and compilation of the text to Wang Zuan s~, a Daoist of Maji Mountain q\, who witnessed the calamities, famine and epidemics during the final years of the Western Jin. Taishang daojun descends to him, explains the causes of the recent calamities, and transmits the Shenzhou jing. During this account, the deity mentions that he had in the past transmitted the Shenzhou jing to Perfected Tang Ping at Duyang gong (3a1). Elsewhere in the Shenzhou jing we are told that Duyang gong atop Mt. Duyang is the most sacred of the myriad temples in China. While most scholars have located Duyang Gong at Mt. Duyang in present Fengxiang  county, Shaanxi, Ma points out that the account in Shuijing zhu concerning Mt. Duyang makes no reference to Daoist activities. On the other hand, he notes that the section of Mianshui l4l in describing the juncture of Han and Wen rivers mentions:  ...[Wen] is the Men river, which emanates from a cavern below a mountain north of Hucheng W. The elders say that in Duyang there is a temple to a transcendent. The cavern is in front of the temple door, hence this stream is known as Men (Gateway) stream, and the river is called Men river. This Duyang was therefore located west of Chenggu in Hanzhong. Ma concludes that Tang Ping must be a Daoist of Hanzhong and thus associated with the local cultic center of Tang Gongfang. Tang Ping will reappear as a future savior, who will arrive in aid of those who had converted to Daoism during the coming cataclysmic floods: When the great flood comes, the transcendents Tang Ping, Yu Guang and Ma Qi of the central states will lead 80,000 celestial beings and transcendents, will arrive riding metal boats to collect the Daoists.  Further on in the same chapter Tang Gongfang himself is mentioned as one of great former Daoists: From now until renwu XHS and xinsi ] years (nos. 18-19) there will be many female Daoists who will receive the Three Caverns [scriptures]. Among those entering mountains, women will be many, while men will be few. The Mystic Maiden will descend, transforming herself into a young maiden and enter the human realm. Following the jiashen 2u3u year (no. 21), all males and females above thirteen years of age will receive  Ten Generals Youth AS\͎zP[ [talismans] and  Celestial Yellow Book Contracts and Commands )Y NÞfQYN . Why is that? Those who for generations have transmitted the faith in the Dao, Hemp Maiden (Ma Gu Y), Du Lanxiang \g-, An Qisheng and Tang Gongfang when converting the people have all received them. All Daoist groups SX possess these scriptures, making offering and recitations day and night. In the south of the river _l], Wu-Chu, Han-Qin and Shu there are many people practicing the Dao. Lord Tang is also mentioned in a passage describing the eschatological vision of the appearance of the savior Perfected Lord Li Hong in a renchen X year. Lord Tang will be among a group of Perfected who will arrive in to prepare the deliverance of humanity by converting the people to the correct path: The Perfected lord is not far-away, his name is Li Hong. Faithful Daoists will exert themselves to the utmost to convert people and transmit the teaching to them. Transcendents will arrive to greet him. Since the renwu XHS year plague demons have killed people and humanity is [almost] exhausted. The Most High will pity them and dispatch the great perfected to announce [the imminent arrival], Yan Ping Vs^, Jin Fangshi 2e>y, Zhou Zhengxuan hTcks and Lord Tang UT to descend into the world and convert the people. Whether this lord Tang is Tang Gongfang or Tang Ping is unclear. There seems to be some conflation of the two figures, but due to the difficulties in determining the redaction process of the text it is impossible to recover the process by which this may have occurred. Nevertheless, this passage demonstrates the importance of Shu based mythology to the author(s) of the text, and to the development of the messianic figure of Li Hong. Yan Ping, originally named Zhuang Zun \, was a reclusive practitioner of Daoism from Chengdu during the final years of the Western Han. Making his living from divination, he shut his stall as soon as he earne enough for the day and devoted himself to the study of Laozi and Zhuangzi. He composed a commentary on the Daodejing entitled Daode zhigui lun S_cxk֊. He was the teacher of Yang Xiong JiĖ (53 BCE  18 CE), the author of the Taixuan jing *Ys}. Li Hong was a contemporary Confucian scholar of Chengdu who also gained high praise from Yang Xiong: He did not see, hear, speak or practice anything that was not upright. His reputation rests on two incidents. When about to be appointed to office he arranged a feast but remained drunk for a month so as not to be able to accept the post. More important was his behavior when his son had committed murder. The local magistrate was willing to absolve the son of such a worthy. Li Hong, however, chased his son away, explaining that he had chosen a middle path between Shi Jie w?? who had killed his son, and Confucius who advocated that fathers and sons should protect each other. During the late Han, the prefect of Chengdu, Wang Shang sFU, erected shrines and steles in the honor of both Yan Ping and Li Hong. In her study of eschatological messianism of Six Dynasties Daoism, Anna Seidel suggested that the selection of the name Li Hong for the future savior, and linking him to the mild-mannered Confucian scholar, was due to his surname rather than his actions. A local Celestial Masters family, surnamed Li, as was Laozi himself, established a Daoist kingdom in Shu which lasted some forty years in the early fourth century. Whether the Shenzhou jing is related to this family and produced by them or their followers is a complex question which deserves special examination and is beyond the scope of this study. It is clear, however, that the eschatological lore of the Shenzhou jing is firmly rooted in local Shu and Ba traditions. The legend of Tang Gongfang as told in the inscription taps into a mythical complex which had developed in the Hanzhong for at least a century and half. It includes the etiology of a toponym, the Xu stream and township, an etiology for the strange behavior of a local type of rat, and associated with a cycle of myths related to Li Babai, which in turn is related to the very important mythical complex of Li Hong and to the early Celestial Master Daoism. Untangling this network of myths and clarifying their relationships may not be possible at our present state of knowledge. However, despite these reservations, the examination this particular set of mythical complexes we may learn more about the interaction of Daoism and local cults and the shifting boundaries between them. 3) General cultic center - Wangzi qiao bei In August of 165, Han emperor Huan (r.147-167) dispatched an envoy, Wang Zhang, to perform a sacrifice for the transcendent Wangzi Qiao and erect a stele at the family shrine of the Wang family of Meng (in Henan, near the Shandong border), which was established following his appearance during the La (Great Exorcism) festival of 137 CE. Of obscure ancient origins, Wangzi Qiao had by the early Han become one of the most important exemplars of fangshi and numerous early sources refer to him, often in tandem with Chi Songzi. As will become clear in the following discussion, the shrine and stele were attempts to tap into the charisma of prestigious persona. Rather than presenting the historical aspects of Wangzi Qiao they should be regarded as attempted appropriations of a well known figure, to enhance the prestige of a local family on the one hand and as a means of garnering support for a weak emperor on the other. They thus demonstrate developments of cultic associations of the late second century in general as well as features of the specific cult. According to his LXZ hagiography, Wangzi Qiao was prince Jin, son of king Ling of the Zhou (571-545). Before any formal study he was already skillful at playing the mouth-organ { and could produce the call of the phoenix. He roamed between the Yin and the Luo rivers. At some point he was accepted as disciple by Master of the Dao Fu Qiu SXnmN on Mt. Song gao. Over thirty years later, he revealed himself to Huan Liang and through him announced to his family to his family to gather on Mt. Goushi }lq\ on the 7th day of the 7th month. He indeed arrived at the appointed time on the mountain top riding a white crane only to bid them all farewell and depart again. The hagiography ends by mentioning shrines at both the foot of Mt. Goushi (Henan, Yanshi county) and on Mt. Songgao. These locales are all within the vicinity of the ancient capital of Luoyang and about 600 miles away from the site of the shrine and stele. The first line of the hagiography locates Wangzi Qiao in a known and respectable narrative context identifying him with a known historical figure. However, the references to Wangzi Jin in historical sources do not mention any esoteric practices. Rather we are told he remonstrated with his father on behalf of a community which was threatened by plans for construction of a dam. Some sources do link him with Shi Guang +^^ chief musician at the court of Jin, known for his divination skills using musical tones. His fame was such that his name was affixed to a book of divinations cited as one of the prime examples of esoteric texts. There is no hint of this in the hagiography which focuses on esoteric practices. His skill at playing the reed-pipe and emulating the call of the crane, which may allude to his link with Shi Guang, presages his later identification with the bird itself. Although the content of his teachings is not specified Wangzi Qiao is said to have studied with Master Fu Qiu, who is not known from other early sources. Later sources elaborate on this lineage and even provide citations of the basic text transmitted by Fu Qiu, which appears to be a teaching focusing on emulating the qualities of the crane. It is not quite clear what the significance of the date of Wangzi Qiaos reappearance is. In ancient sources, the 7th day of the 7th month signified the celestial encounter between the Weaver Maid and the Oxherd asterisms. It thus came to signify an occasion of mythic encounters and hierogamies such as the meeting between the Queen Mother of the West and Han emperor Wu in the Hanwu di neizhuan cycle. A distinct, and probably older, tradition is preserved in the Chuci poem Celestial Questions Tianwen and Wang Yis commentary in which Wangzi Qiao is said to have manifested himself as a rainbow before transforming into a great bird. By the early Han, Wangzi Qiao, often partnered with Chisong zi became a model for emulation for the seekers of transcendence. The description given in the Huainanzi reveals that successful adepts were now perceived as transcending not only the mundane world, but as unified their physical form with the Dao through their transformative practices. Through this physical self-transformation the model adepts come to embody the Dao and its endless transformations: The methods of the sages may be seen, but the source of their practice cannot be found. The words of discerning masters may be heard, but the cause of their words cannot be manifested. ...Now Wang Qiao and Chi Song blew, puffed, exhaled and inhaled. Exhaling the old and inhaling the new they abandoned their form and rejected their consciousness, embraced the unhewn and reverted to perfection. They thereby roamed through the profound and minute and ascended to penetrate the cloudy heavens. Now, those wishing to learn their methods cannot attain their [ability at] nourishing the pneumas and fixing the spirits. They randomly exhale and inhale, sometimes constricting and sometimes dilating but they are unable to ride the clouds and ascend. Few of these themes appear in the text on the Wangzi Qiao stele. After describing the appearance of the transcendent on his grave mound and the subsequent establishment of a shrine, the inscription claims the place became a locus of wide ranging cultic practices: Then, those who delighted in the Dao came from distant places to gather there. Some strummed zithers and sang of Taiyi *YN, others practiced meditation to visit their Cinnabar Fields dantian 9N0u. Those who were sick or crippled and who silently bowed and prayed for good fortune were granted it straight away, but those who were lacking in respect were struck down immediately... thus it was that it was a tomb of great virtue, the tomb of a Perfected wN. The importance of this inscription is in providing us with a range of public practices performed at the site. The Fei Zhi inscription with its family centered cult and individual quest for transcendence naturally does not provide any hint as to how the public may have viewed such a shrine. The Tang Gongfang inscription, while attesting to practices of the adept, does not give any description of public performances nor allude to the expectation of the general public of attending and practicing at the shrine. While it was clearly viewed as efficacious and perceived as having some control on the weather and pests in the immediate vicinity, we have no idea what type of practice may have been performed at the site. These gaps may be filled by examining the Wangzi Qiao inscription. The inscription does not associate any particular practice with Wanzi Qiao himself. However, the people congregating at the site performed a variety of distinct practices, which may be divided into three types. The first, appears to have been communal performance of music and associated with Taiyi, the Great One, the high deity revered by the Han emperors since the ritual innovation initiated by Han emperor Wu (141-87 BCE). The inscription does provide us with a clear description of the purpose of this practice in the context of the cultic performance of the shrine. Whether it was part of a personal practice by individuals seeking transcendence or whether it tapped into the imperial cult and had more public motivation cannot be determined from this short reference. It is of course quite possible that different practitioners may have had different motivations in their performance, and that these motivations may have overlapped, as they do in modern Daoist ritual. The development of the cult of Taiyi, and its place in the imperial ritual system, had a crucial role on the formation of the ritual system of the Wufuxu, and Daoism in general. I examine these developments in detail in chapter 5 of my dissertation: Ritual System of the Wufuxu. The second type of practice mentioned is one of the earliest references to what was to become a core practice in Daoist ritual meditations a contemplative inner journey by the adept to the Cinnabar Field, the source of energy located below the navel. In the meditative ritual advocated by the Scripture of the Perfected One and Three Ones Zhenyi Sanyi jing in the Wufuxu this concept is extended to three Cinnabar Fields in the head, in the heart and in the lower abdomen. This multiplication is due to the importance of the Three Ones which is a core notion of this section of the Wufuxu. These concepts and their developments shaped the conceptualization of the human body and the links between the human microcosm and the macrocosm which remain at the heart of Daoist ritual. As these fascinating topic cannot be explored further here, I will simply note that the Wangzi Qiao inscription provides us with early evidence for these practices and, importantly, to their general popularity. The third type of practice is the unspecified supplications performed by the ill and afflicted with the expectation that the numinosity of the shrine will provide them with healing and good fortune. Unlike the two types of practice mentioned above, these are not psychophysical practices and probably did not require any special training. Rather than the practices of a religious specialists and adepts these practices were truly at the public and popular level. Whether the emperors attention to the shrine was due to these public performances or whether it was due to the emperors interest in personal transcendence, or, as is probably the case, a combination of both, cannot be determined with any certainty. Despite these difficulties in ascertaining the specific practices and motivations associated with the shrine, the inscription demonstrates a merger of imperial and popular practice around a figure initially associated with the fangshi quest for transcendence. The performance of different practices, with distinct expectations, at the same site is further demonstration of the development of the fangshi cult of immortality into popular cults of immortals. Appropriation into Daoism As befitting one of the most famous fangshi, Wangzi Qiao was incorporated into Daoism as a recipient and transmitter of numerous teachings, methods and texts. He received a high post in the systematized Shangqing pantheon. Among Yang Xis celestial visitors he was recognized as the official in charge of the Golden Court below Mt. Tong Bo Phg in the Tiantai range, with the full and awesome title Perfected of Tongbo, Assistant Prince on the Right, Commander of the Five Marchmounts and Director Aide to Thearchical Dawn PhgwNS<_sN]SO^hfsP[U. As recounted in Zhen gao, he first appeared to Yang Xi on the night of the 26th of the 6th month (third year of xingning [, July 27, 365) in the company of seven other Perfected of the highest rank. He is described as  very young and formally dressed, bearing a lotus-flower cap ɄQ, wearing ruby red clothes embroidered with white pearls and carrying a sword. None had seen him before. Discussing much about matters of the Golden Court within the mountain, he talked with the other Perfected. I could not understand many of his words. He was reverent to the three Perfected Ladies of Purple Tenuity, Purple Clarity, and the Southern Marchmount, but spoke on equal terms with the others. This was Wangzi Qiao, the Perfected of Mt. Tongbo. Elsewhere in the Zhengao, Yang Xi mentions Wangzi Qiaos tomb in Jingling Nu:  When it was exposed during the Warring States period only a sword was found in the chamber. When someone tried to reach and look at it, the sword suddenly flew up into the heavens.  The Zhen gao thus provides us with two distinct images of Wangzi Qiao. While on the hand he is portrayed as Perfected of the highest ranks, his tomb is described as one of those lower grade adepts who attained transcendence by means of a replacement body in this case a sword. The Wufuxu includes instructions for a similar procedure, by which the adept could generate a simulated corpse by using a talisman, which the compilers consider a method of lower attainment (see in the section Discourse of Transcendence below for a translation). How should we reconcile the two images of Wangzi Qiao in the Zhengao? We need to recall that the mythology of Wangzi Qiao was continuously developing and that differing images were held at different times and at different locales. Yang Xi was clearly drawing on a number of different narratives about Wangzi Qiao. The appropriation was not a systematic process, but rather a cumulative construction of various narratives. 4) Universal cultic center The deification of Laozi, the purported author of the Daode jing, who came to be identified with the Dao itself, and one of the three high deities of later Daoism is a complex process. This process, which is the heart of the development of Daoism, is beyond the scope of this chapter. As there are a number of important studies regarding the changing and varied conceptions of Laozi, I will here only examine one facet of it the inscription celebrating the imperially sponsored rites to Laozi, dated to the jiazi day (no.1) of the 8th month in the 8th year of the yanxi ^q reign (Sept. 24, 165 CE). The stele was erected at Hu county of Chen s W#~, a site traditionally said to be Laozi s birthplace, by a local official named Bian Shao at the behest of Han emperor Huan Sh^ (r.147-167). Having ascended the throne at the age of eighteen, emperor Huan was devoted to the matters of transcendence. He had established at the site within two years of his ascendance. In 153, a stele bearing an inscription to Laozi s mother, the Shengmu bei Vkx, was erected at the site. In February 165, he dispatched an official to Hu county to pay reverence `y to Laozi. This rite was followed by another in January 166. In September 166, the emperor personally paid reverence at the Sleek Dragon Hall (HHS 3188). The motivation for the emperor s reverence of Laozi has been the subject of many studies. I will here only examine the image of Laozi that is evident from the stele in Hu which was inscribed during this intensive ritual activity. The inscription begins with outlining Laozis human biography as it had come to be accepted by the Han dynasty. Although his birth is associated with the changing fates of the Zhou dynasty and related to the transformations of yin and yang, he is portrayed as a man and loyal official of the Zhou, and over two-hundred years in age. A short verse section provides a more numinous image: Those in the world who cherish the Dao, encounter his likeness and revere it. They consider Laozi disperses and merges together with the pneumas of original chaos, and his beginning and end equals that of the three radiances. Observing the heavens he makes prognostications, he ascends and descends to and from the dipper and stars. Following the sun he transforms nine times, he diminishes and rests in accord with the seasons. He regulates the three radiances with the four numinous beasts at his side. Contemplating his Cinnabar Field, and Taiyi in the Purple Chamber, his Dao is complete and his spirits transformed, he sloughed off his shell as a cicada and crossed the generations. However mythical, remote and extra-human this portrayal is, it remains a portrayal of a successful adept, and not a god distinct from humanity. In fact, despite the lyricism, the description of Laozi does not provide a more divine image than the portrayal of Wangzi Qiao in the Huainanzi passage cited above. Moreover, the practices by which Laozi attained his unity with the Dao are the same practices mentioned in the Wangzi Qiao inscription. The final lines of the inscription refer once more to Laozis practices: Unifying his radiance with sun and moon, merging with the five planets, Entering and exiting the Cinnabar Furnace, ascending and descending from the Yellow Court, Turning away and abandoning poplar vulgar customs, He conceals his effulgent spirits and hides his form, Embracing the primordial, his spirits are transformed, He inhales and exhales the ultimate pneumas. Once again, the emphasis is on the accomplishment of perfection through practice and as will be discussed in later chapters some of these practices, or very similar practices are found in the Wufuxu. We need to note that phrases referring to unifying and merging with the sun and moon ad the stars are not metaphoric, nor are they references to divine qualities. Rather, these are references to meditative practices by which the adept absorbed the solar, lunar and astral essences. Another contemporary text, the Scripture on the Transformations of Laozi, which is also analyzed by Seidel, focuses on Laozi as the physical manifestation of the Dao in human form. The Laozi Inscription while referring to this aspect of Laozi stresses the practices by which he attained perfection. This is not surprising. The Inscription presents the imperial view of Laozi, a vision of an adept of superior quality and attainment, which was probably a model for the personal practice of the emperor himself, whose motivation is described in the inscription: The Imperial Highness, revering Virtue and exalting the Way, Ingesting the vast radiance, contemplating his spirits and nourishing his form, He set his intention on ascending to the clouds. He therefore fixed his mind on the Yellow Thearch and matched tallies with the High Ancestor. Seeing Laozi in his dreamt he revered and offered him worship. Emperor Huan, therefore, did not revere Laozi as a cosmic god, but rather as a successful adept who had attained extra-human status through practice. The inscription clearly implies that the emperor was determined to attain such status and had begun practicing psycho-physical meditations based on qi circulation even before his encounter with Laozi in a dream. The dream was interpreted as a response to having already made some progress along the path -- and a request for further aid from the accomplished adept and master, Laozi, to the determined neophyte, the emperor. To sum up, Laozi, even while his divine status as an embodiment of the Dao was becoming increasingly accepted, was portrayed in the imperially sponsored stele as an accomplished practitioner. Rather than emphasizing his descent into the human realm as did the Scripture on the Transformations of Laozi and later hagiographies, the Inscription emphasized his ascent into the heavens following a specific regimen of practice. Laozi was thus depicted as the ultimate model for practitioner and especially for the ultimate practitioner, the emperor. Concluding Remarks The four inscriptions I analyzed in this paper demonstrate developments within the lineages of fangshi during the four centuries of the Han. During this period successful practitioners of the early individual quest transformed into foci for wide ranging cultic and communal practices. This transformation may be partly explained by popular perceptions of the successful adepts, who came to be revered for their efficacious aid in healing, weather and crop management and miraculous interventions. Thus, despite the individual focus of the practice and the esoteric means by which these practices were transmitted, the successful adepts became known to the public which sought their grace outside the narrowly defined lineages and without entering into the master-disciple relationships required within the lineages. These developments eventually led to the establishment of the Daoist lineages which based much of their ritual programs on the earlier practices of the fangshi, synthesized them into complex integrated systems. The best example for the early personal quest may be the Inaugural Emperor of Qin whose administrative and ritual system was based upon the cosmological speculations of Zou Yan and who, under the influence of Masters of Esoterica from the coast, was personally devoted to the quest of transcendence. The same type of quest is evident in the Fei Zhi inscription which suggests how the small localized family based lineages may have been organized. By the late second century, as the three other inscriptions demonstrate, shrines to individual adepts had become foci of communal cultic practice. While the particular developments of each cult may be impossible to examine with any detail at our present state of knowledge, the references within the Tang Gongfang and Wangzi Qiao inscriptions to earlier forms of cultic practice attest to the historical developments of these cults. The deification process of the adepts evident in the three inscriptions also demonstrates that the Laozi inscription does not mark a unique development. While Laozi may have been perceived as the greatest of the Masters, his deification and eventual identification with the Dao itself, must be seen within the context of the deification of other Masters of Esoterica and as part of the same spectrum. If communal practice was an intrinsic development within the fangshi lineages, what, then, marks Daoism as different from these earlier lineages? I suggest that the major distinction is in the systemization of the earlier practices into large coherent systems, subsuming the practitioners into organized pantheons and reformulating the narratives of transmission into integrated mythical narratives. I examined these issues by following two lines of development. I have shown that many of the individual adepts mentioned in early sources, including the LXZ, official histories and the inscriptions were subsumed into far larger narratives written by various Daoist lineages. While this co-optation is easy to demonstrate, the actual process and its implications are complicated by our lack of understanding of the actual relationships between specific lineages and these lineages and texts preserved in the Daozang. We can at best only speculate about this process and the reasons for the selection and emplacement of particular figures in the larger narratives and pantheons. Nevertheless, the main lineaments of the process are clear and may serve to help us distinguish Daoism from the earlier lineages. The fangshi lineages tended to be focused on a single adept, and his or, more rarely her, particular skills and abilities. Even when a lineage of transmission was provided it served to focus on the individual adept rather than to pull him into a larger framework. The opposite process is at work in the Daoist narratives. The individual adepts are mentioned more as proof for the efficacy of practices and are always placed within the context of a large set of interacting lineages a totalistic framework is evident. Paralleling the narratological process was a process which placed the diverse practices within a hierarchy of attainment. This process can be further elaborated by examining the discourse of transcendence in the four inscriptions and comparing it to later Daoist texts (which I do in this chapter in my dissertation, but not here). It is unclear whether the term terrestrial transcendent in the Fei Zhi inscription already has the meaning it acquired in Daoist texts and whether this usage implies that a hierarchical conception of transcendence was at play in the discourse shared by the inscription. However, I argue that as Dawu gong, who is labeled as terrestrial transcendent and Fei Zhi, who is labeled Perfected, are in fact the same person, than these labels do not imply hierarchy. We find the same use in some of the early passages of the Wufuxu. In later Daoist texts explicitly placed the earlier practices within a hierarchy of attainment we find the terms Release by means of a corpse and terrestrial transcendence signifying lower levels of attainment. It was therefore in organic developments within the lineages of the Masters of Esoterica that the Daoist religion emerged. As the prestige of individual practitioners transformed them from masters of local lineages of practice into regional foci of reverence, the individual particulars were subsumed within increasingly formulaic depictions. As an individual adept was credited with greater numinous power more complex narratives were constructed to depict his abilities. Paradoxically, this process led to a diminishing of the individuals personality. The original local tradition was often lost within the grand narratives - finally to reappear in sometimes minor posts in the Daoist pantheons.  Campany 2000 criticism of DeWoskin.  The initial archaeological report: Yanshi xian nancaizhuang xiang han feizhi mu fajue jianbao CP+^#~WS!^ "oX|vc!|1X Wenwu 1992.9:37-42. For a clear reproduction of the stele and short discussion, see Stephen Little, ed. 2000, Taoism and the Arts of China (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago): 151.  Fan Yousheng j gGS  Donghan feizhi bei qg"ox Shufa congkan fl_ w 1992.2; collected in Huaxiang zhuan shike muzhi yanjiu kuPxw;RXxvz (Zhongzhou guji, 1994): 168-171. Fan Yousheng, Donghan daoshi  feizhi bei chuxi qg"oSX<x>Rg Heluo chunqiu lm%fy 1997.1: 21-27. Dong Xiansi qgS Yizhu feizhi bei ol<x> Dafen daxue jiaoyu xuebu yanjiu jiyao 'YR'Yx[Yex[xvz} 17.1 (1995). Wang Yucheng sb, 1996a, Han tiandi shenshizhi lei daoren yu daojiao qiyuan "o)Y^gO^SNSYewn, paper presented at the International Conference on Daoist Studies, published in Daojia wenhua yanjiu S[eSxvz 16 (1999)