Page 685 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

LI SHAOJUN

comm.); Fujiwara Takao 1985; Fujiwara Takao 1986-88 (crit. ed. of the Daode
jing comm.); Kohn 1991a, 189- 2II; Kohn 1992a, 141 and 145- 46; Meng Wentong
1948a; Ofuchi Ninji 1978-79, I: 239-41 (crit. notes on the Dunhuang mss.) and
2: 476- 87 (reprod. of the Dunhuang mss.); Qing Xitai 1988- 95, 2: 190- 2°5;
Robinet 1977, 105-6; Sunayama Minoru 1990, 326-31 and passim
* Chongxuan

Li Shaojun

fl. ca. 133 BeE

Li Shaojun, a *fangshi who lived during the Former Han dynasty, is the earli-
est known Chinese alchemist. He was active in the years when Han Wudi (r.
141- 87 BeE) was deliberating on the correct way to perform the feng 1t and
shan ;f1'i! rituals in honor of Heaven and Earth. The fangs hi were one of the par-
ties involved in the debate. According to the Shiji (Records of the Historian),
Li suggested around 133 BeE that Wudi should perform a ceremony before a
furnace asking divine beings (wu ~) to favor the compounding of an elixir.
In the presence of those beings, cinnabar would transmute itself into a gold
fit to cast vessels for eating and drinking. Taking food and drink from them
would extend the emperor's life and enable him to meet the immortals. After
seeing them, the emperor could perform the feng and shan rituals and obtain
immortality himself; this is what the Yellow Emperor (*Huangdi) did at the
beginning of human time. After he heard Li Shaojun's speech, adds the Shiji,
Wudi devoted himself to alchemical experiments (Shiji, 28.1385; trans. Watson
I961, 2: 39).
This episode represents the first instance of imperial patronage of *waidan
practices, which continued during the Six Dynasties and intensified in the Tang
period (Li Guorong 1994). Li Shaojun's method, moreover, shows that rituals
were associated with waidan since its earliest recorded beginnings. Also of
interest is the mention of dishes and cups cast with alchemical gold, which
is not isolated in the extant waidan literature: the extant version of the *Jinye
jing is one of the texts that describes a similar method. Despite all this, Li
Shaojun's image in the later tradition is not always positive. The commentary
to the *Jiudan jing, in particular, criticizes him because his method gave more
importance to the deity of the furnace than to the gods associated with the
*Taiqing methods, such as the Great One (*Taiyi) and the Yellow Emperor
(see Huangdijiudingshendanjingjue 1IHB:1L~;f$f}~ltIc; CT 885, 13.1a- 2b).