Page 687 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

LI XIYUE

Transformations of Laozi) and the Celestial Master. Xiong enacted a series of
policies, including a simplified legal code, leniency in the administration of
justice, reduced taxes, and the establishment of schools, that resemble descrip-
tions of a Taoist utopia. When Fan Changsheng died, he was succeeded in his
post of Chancellor by his son. The hereditary connections of the Li family
with Celestial Master Taoism, the use of prophecies foretelling a Taoist savior
surnamed Li, the exalted position of the Fan family, and the domestic policies
pursued by the state all suggest that a vision of a utopian Taoist state played
a role in the creation and administration of Great Perfection.

Terry KLEEMAN
W Kleeman 1998, passim; Seidel 1969-70, 233-36; Stein R. A. 1963,33-35

* Fan Changsheng; Dacheng

Li Xiyue

1806-56; original ming: Pingquan f· tJ.; zi: Tuanyang III ~J4; haD:
Hanxu zi MII!HL T (Master Who Encompasses Emptiness), Changyi
shan ren -& z., ill A (Man of Mount Changyi), Yuanqiao waishi [i
M y~ 1: (The External Secretary of the Rounded Ridge)

Li Xiyue, the alleged founder of the Western Branch (Xipai W VlO of late
*neidan, was a native of Leshan ~ ill in Sichuan. He claimed to have received
instructions on neidan from *Zhang Sanfeng, whose attributed writings he
edited in 1844 as the Zhang Sanfeng quanji iJ& = $3:'*= (Complete Collection
of Zhang Sanfeng). Li states that later he met the immortal *Lii Dongbin
in a temple on Mount Emei (*Emei shan, Sichuan) and decided to found a
new neidan movement that included Laozi, *Yin Xi, *Chen Tuan, and Zhang
Sanfeng among its patriarchs. First called Yinxian pai ~~ {w 1)& (Branch of the
Concealed Immortal) or Youlong pai 5Jl1i ~~ l1& (Branch of the One Resembling a
Dragon) in honor of Laozi, the movement later became known as the Western
Branch. Although this designation is opposed to *Lu Xixing's Eastern Branch
(Dongpai *tJ&), the terms "eastern" and "western" here simply designate
the regions where the two movements had spread,]iangxi andJiangsu on the
east and Sichuan on the west.
Li's writings are mainly inspired by the works of Lu Xixing and Sun Ru-
zhong J%>.{!x !~, (fl. 161 5). Besides the Zhang Sanfeng quanji, they include the
Daoqiong tan :l1!ji5~ik (Exhaustive Discussion of the Way), the Sanche bizhi

tt. tit