佛祖統紀 42.126

42.126

Zhongli Quan, courtesy name Yunfang, claimed that during the Han dynasty he encountered Wang Xuanfu and attained the Way of longevity. To escape turmoil, he entered Mount Zhongnan, where within a stone cliff he obtained the *Scripture of the Numinous Treasure*. He realized that yin contains yang and yang contains yin, which corresponds to the proper ascent and descent of heaven and earth; that water is generated within qi, and qi is generated within water, which is the principle of the conjunction of heart and kidneys. Thereupon, he sat in stillness and practiced internal contemplation, whereupon he was able to have a body outside his body. Under the Tang, Lü Yan, courtesy name Dongbin, sat thrice for the jinshi examinations without passing. At a wine tavern in Chang'an, he met Yunfang. Yunfang took Dongbin into Mount Zhongnan, and after conferring [the methods of] the Numinous Treasure, he taught him the twelve divisions of Dharma called the Golden Mandate, Jade Book, True Origin, Parables, True Formulas, and Essentials of the Way. Their meanings were sixfold, encompassing the purports of the five kinds of immortals, and these he bestowed upon Dongbin, saying to him, "My time to pay homage to the Origin has come; you should abide in this cavern." Thereupon, immortals descended to proclaim the heavenly mandate, and with golden banners and jade insignia they welcomed him as he ascended to heaven. Dongbin then wandered as a traveler through the Jiang-Huai region, converting Immortal Maiden He, Guo Shangzao, and Shi Jianwu. (The footprints of Immortal Lü wandering the human realm, from the Tang down to the Song, are manifold.)