Page 683 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

LI RONG

Li Quan

£1. 713-60; haG: Daguan zi .ii ill. f- (Master of Penetrating Observa-
tion), Shaoshi shanren j,'~ ill A (Man of Mount Shaoshi)

Li Quan served in several official positions during the Kaiyuan reign period
(713-41), first as deputy commander of a regional defense force in the south,
then as a Vice Censor-in-Chief (yushi zhongcheng ffflJ Y.: "+, j1$) at the capital,
and finally as a Prefect (cishi 'l'iiJ r£) of a prefecture in Hebei. His career in
government came to an end when he offended the dictatorial chief minister
Li Linfu ~ f*ijJ (?-752) who demoted him. Thereafter, he forsook govern-
ment service, took up the life of a Taoist recluse and roamed among the holy
mountains of China.
On a visit to Mount Song (*Songshan, Henan) southeast of Luoyang, Li
Quan discovered a copy of the *Yinfo jing (Scripture of the Hidden Accor-
dance) written in vermilion ink on white silk. It was said to be one of several
copies of the text that *Kou Qianzhi (365?-448) had deposited on various
sacred mountains in 44I. He copied and recited it, but could not understand its
metaphysical subject matter and recondite terminology. Later he encountered
an old woman at Mount Li (Lishan .~ LlI , Shaanxi) just east of Chang' an. The
crone was able to explain the text to Li, and presumably it was on the basis of
her insight that he composed his commentary to it (CT lIO), one of twenty
annotations and commentaries that survive in the Taoist Canon.
Charles D. BENN

m Qing Xitai 1988-95, 2: 254-63; Qing Xitai 1994, I: 282-83; Rand 1979
* Yinfojing; TAOISM AND THE MILITARY ARTS

Li Rong

£1. 658-63; haG: Renzhen zi 1X ~ T
(Master of Following Perfection)

Li Rong was a *Chongxuan (Twofold Mystery) thinker of the seventh century.
He came from Mianxian ~!M\ (northern Sichuan) and became a Taoist monk
b