Page 298 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

C H EN TUAN 259

person. The sources on the legend are exceedingly numerous, mostly found
in biji literature, with the best and most extensive collection available in the
*Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian (47.1a-14b), and a literary expansion in the Taihua
Xiyi zhi j( ¥;ffi-3if it (Monograph of [the Elder of) the Inaudible and Invisible
of Mount Hua; 1314; CT 306).

Posthumous associations and activities. In the centuries following his death,
Chen Tuan is linked with several different traditions and appears in various
roles. First, he is a hero in Yuan drama, where he stars in Sanxing zhao = Jlf. ,~~
(Three Stars Are Shining), Bieyou tian )JU :ff 7C (Yet Another World), Pantao hui
!II *3~ W! (The Peach Festival), and most importantly Chen Tuan gaowo ~ 1$ r'EIJ
g;,A (The Lofty Sleep of Chen Tuan). ext, he appears as a master of *neidan
meditation and especially the "sleep" technique, which adepts used to circulate
the energies in their bodies while lying on their backs. Twelve so-called "sleep
practices" of Chen Tuan are recorded in the Ming handbook *Chifeng sui (trans.
Despeux 1988, 225-69; Teri Takehiro 1990; Kohn 1993b, 272-76). This strand of
Chen Than's lore depicting him as a master of energy practices is still active
today, and he appears as a *qigong master in contemporary works.
In a completely different posthumous strand of Chen Tuan's history, he
takes the form of a prognosticating planchette spirit (see *foji) who appears
in the Chan community on Mount Huangbo (Huangbo shan ~~ ill, Fujian)
and is transferred to Japan along with Yinyuan ~:5t; (Jp.: Ingen, 1592-1673,
the founder of the Obaku jf~ lineage of Zen Buddhism) in the seventeenth
century. Definitely identified as Chen Tuan of the Song, he is venerated as a
particularly powerful spirit and adopted successfully into a Buddhist environ-
ment, even changing his name to Chen Bo ~iW (Chen, the Incense-Burner)
and his appellation to Wuyan ~~ (No-Smoke), signifying the complete
extinction of all desires rather than the quest for immortality indicated by his
Taoist, *Zhuangzi-inspired names.

LiviaKOHN

III Knaul 1981; Kohn 1990a; Li Yuanguo 1985b; Li Yuanguo 1985C; Qing Xitai
1988- 95, 2: 670-708; Russell 1990a; Russell 1990b

* Taiji tu; TAOISM AND NEO-CONFUCIANISM