Page 673 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

LI AD

is blurred by legends. He is said to have painted the picture "The Immortals'
Beauty on Penglai" (Penglai xianyi tu ;13l( {ill ~ !Ill) for *Zhang Sanfeng in
1340. The colophon on this scroll, which is ascribed to Zhang himself. says
that Leng first studied Buddhism but later devoted himself to Confucianism
and Taoism. A stranger reportedly taught him *neidan and the *Wuzhen pian
(Folios on Awakening to Perfection). Leng spent part of his life as a hermit on
Mount Wu (Wushan IX UJ • near Hangzhou). In 1367. Ming Taizu appointed
him as a court musician. There are several explanations of why he lost the
emperor's favor and under what circumstances he disappeared.
Three books are ascribed to Leng: the Qinsheng shiliu fa !\~ if. j. le:; i~ (Sik
teen Methods of Lute Playing; trans. van Gulik 1940). the Taigu zhengyin 7.c
t! lE if (Correct Tunes of Great Antiquity). and the Xiulingyaozhi fl~Mt~ \§'
(Essential Purport of the Cultivation of Longevity). The Xuehai leibian ~#iI:
~il~ (Classified Anthology from the Ocean of Learning). compiled by Cao
Rong rA'" ~ (1613-85; ECCP 740), contains the first and third works (in j. 22I
and 243, respectively), while the second is lost.
Martina DARGA

m van Gulik I940; Little 2000b, 372-73; Qing Xitai 1994, I: 376-77; Seidel 1970,
491-2; Weng T. H. 1976; Wong Shiu Hon 1979. 15-16

LiAo

ca. 772·ca. 836; zi: Xizhi Nz

Li Ao was a younger associate of the Confucian polemicist Han Yu ~:f!:
(768-824; IC 397-40). and is chiefly known as a thinker for his Fuxing shu m
'tit iI (Book of Returning to One's True Nature). a work on selfcultivation
completed in about 800. Despite an apparently consistent record of opposition
to Buddhism in his other writings, in later ages this work was suspected of
betraying Buddhist influence, a notion encouraged by Chan Buddhist stories
suggesting that several encounters with Chan masters had converted him
to their views. These stories may be shown to have no historical basis, and
the fact that they were preceded by tales in which a Taoist plays a like role
confirms the impression made by his writings that he had some significance
as an opponent of Taoism also.
That Li was not unaware of polemics between Taoism and Buddhism is
made probable by his selfconfessed studies of the works of Liang Su * 11