Page 696 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A- L

that have survived. A preface exists in some versions of the text but not the
one in the Taoist Canon; this preface also cannot be regarded as reliable.
The biographies of the Liexian zhuan are all introduced in the standard
manner stating name, sometimes style (zi ~), usually native place (or the
formula "No one knows where he came from"), and often the period in which
the subject of the biography lived. However, although they are full of useful
information, not many of them provide anything resembling a rounded nar-
rative of a life. The collection starts with the biography of *Chisong zi, of
"the time of Shennong :f!jl JI!!k ,"and continues in roughly chronological order.
Many famous figures in Taoism have biographies in this collection, including
*Huangdi, *Pengzu, *Wangzi Qiao as well as Laozi himself and the Guard-
ian of the Pass, *Yin Xi. There are other people who are also known from
the Hanshu to have been at the Qin and Han courts such as * Anqi Sheng and
*Dongfang Shuo.
A brief but typical biography concerns Chang Rong ~ ~ :
Chang Rong was a follower of the Dao from Mount Chang (Changshan 'ffi'
L1J, i.e., the *Hengshan ,t?i L1J, Shanxi). She called herself the daughter of the
King of Yin (Yinwang nu ~j[I ::9J and ate roots of rubus (penglei iI*). She
would come and go, ascending and descending. People saw her for some two
hundred years yet she always looked about twenty. When she was able to get
purple grass she sold it to dyers and gave the proceeds to widows and orphans.
It was like this for generations. Thousands came to make offerings at her shrine.
(CT 294, 2.5a- b)
Although the Liexian zhuan is found in the Taoist Canon, Max Kaltenmark's
translation (1953) also includes an edited text with learned annotations and is
more convenient to use.
Benjamin PENNY

m Kaltenmark 1953, Sawada Mizuho 1988; Smith Th. E. 1998
* HAGIOGRAPHY

Liezi

Book of Master Lie

The Liezi, also known as Chongxu zhide zhenjing (rp m.3~:t~;Q)~ (Authentic
Scripture on the Ultimate Virtue of Unfathomable Emptiness), is a philosophical
Taoist text in eight chapters that goes back to the ancient philosopher Liezi,