In past ages, there was no lacking of great scholars and philosophers who engaged in the study of the mystery of the universe and of the relation between man and nature. They had developed different schools of doctrines, interpreting the operation of the universe in such abstract terms as Tai Chi (Supreme Ultimate), Yin and Yang, and Five Elements, etc., but strangely enough they seldom ascribed the cause for natural phenomena to the master-strokes of a Creator or some such divinities. From this fact it follows that the educated class, especially Confucian in training, seemed to have gone beyond the stage of primitive belief in the unknown. If this is not the case, they were at least primarily interested in moral laws underlying the operation of the universe and neglected the theological side of their doctrines. Even Taoism as expounded by Lao Tze and Chuang Tze placed special emphasis on "emancipation from self-interest,'' ''identification with nature" or "back to nature," and had nothing to do with spirit worship. Buddhism in its purest Chinese form, mainly dealing with enlightenment of the mind (where Buddhahood is inherent), is also devoid of mysticism.
As a consequence, popular literature in the form of fiction and folklore intended for the common people took up where the philosophers had left off, to develop a pantheon of Gods for the uneducated masses. The Chinese pantheon as depicted in popular literature and folklore is composed of divinities mainly drawn from the degenerated versions of Buddhism and Taoism, with the latter, in its later development, taking the form of witchcraft. What seems more strange is that Taoist priests admit all divinities including famous heroes and Buddhist deities to their pantheon to gain more followings, while Buddhism in the form of Amidism acknowledges Indu & Taoist deities to swell the rank of its god-heads. To abide by the Confucian teaching, the educated class, while retaining a cold respect for religions, remained aloof from them all, and therefore never made it an occasion to question the validity of the myriad deities worshipped by the illiterate masses. The common people believe in everything divine or supposed to be divine no matter whether it is associated with Buddhism, Taoism or the cult of the dead, to court blessings and avert calamities.
Free from theological restrictions, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism have flourished throughout the ages as the three ruling religions without much conflict among themselves. "Three ways to one goal" is a common phrase often used to indicate the co-existence of the three ruling religions, which, in the opinion of Chinese people, have the same moralizing effect upon the life of mankind, though mutually contradictory in some of their tenets. This is something which can be least understood and hardly condoned by westerners conditioned by Christian civilization.
Of the myriad deities worshipped by the Chinese people, some were largely the works of imagination to enrich popular literature for the great masses. Among them, the Eight Fairies were most popular. For ages, they have been favorite subjects of fiction, theatricals and folklore. For Chinese ceramic art, embroideries, brush paintings and wood-cuttings, they provide interesting theme and motif.
According to Chinese tradition, the Eight Fairies were human-beings who had achieved immortality through constant practice of Taoist esoteric discipline. They were represented in Chinese arts and fiction with such life-like characters that they had the same artistic appeal for the Chinese people as Santa Claus and "the Seven Dwarfs" in "Snow White" for westerners.
To many lovers of Chinese arts, they are a familiar sight. Following are the profiles of these mystic figures:
Lu Tung-ping
Lu Tung-ping, alias Lu Yen, was born in King Chiao in the Reign of Hsien Tung of the Tang Dynasty. Having passed the Imperial Civil Examination, he was twice appointed magistrate. It was not until the uprising of Huang Chiao that he retired from public life and moved to the Chung Nan Mountain, a famous scenic spot in China. Thenceforth, he led a hermit's life and devoted himself to spiritual cultivation as a Taoist. A legend has it that once he met a fairy who taught him the esoteric Taoist's scriptures. Later on he achieved divinity himself, capable of all magic tricks. Ancient annals show that Yuan I-shan, a celebrated poet of the Tang Dynasty, dedicated a poem in praise of his spiritual achievement.
He is represented in Chinese mythology as a handsome-looking man, of elegant deportment, always carrying on his back a two-edged sword which conferred the magic of invisibility and, when let go, would dart off like an arrow to kill any genie or flying dragon at one stroke.
Another version has it that Han Chung-li, one of the eight immortals, took up abode in a way-side inn during his visit to the world. There he met Lu Tung-ping while heating a cauldron of yellow rice for his dinner. Failing to induce Lu Tung-ping to embrace Taoism by argument, Han Chung-li bid him to have a short nap in an opposite room. Having fallen asleep, Lu Tung-ping dreamed that by a lucky chance, he came into royal favor and subsequently became a high official of great influence and wealth. From then on, everything went well with him until a serious offense against the Emperor caused him to be condemned to exile. As a consequence, his properties were confiscated and his beloved wife and concubine taken away to be sold as slaves. At the sight of his tearful wife and concubine, he was so overwhelmed with sorrow and remorse that he awoke from his dream with a start. This dream-experience had happened to him in so short a time that the yellow rice in the cauldron was still uncooked. Realizing the futility of life, he followed Han Chung-li to the Stork Ridge of the Chung Nan Mountain, and there he was taught the art of immortality and became a divine person, ranking among the eight immortals. In Chinese mythology he was known as Master Lu, occupying a prominent position in the cult of Taoism.
Ho Hsien-ku
Ho Hsien-ku was the youngest daughter of a Ho family of the Tang Dynasty. One day, while romping on the street, a stranger gave her a peach. She ate it up with relish and then found herself endowed with supernatural power. From then on, she never felt hungry and thirsty and could make divinations and prophesies without the slightest mistakes. Wondered at her unusual achievement, her fellow countrymen held her in high estimation and built a house for her.
Another account relates that as a magician, her fame spread far and wide until it reached the ear of Empress Wu who invited her to the Court for investiture. But while journeying thither to receive the unusual royal favor, she suddenly disappeared from mortal view and became an immortal. She is said to have been seen in later times riding on a floating cloud of many colors. She is known in Chinese mythology as Sister Ho, a distinguished member of the eight fairies.
Han Chuna-li
Han Chung-li, alias Chung Li Yun Fang was a contemporary of Lu Tung-ping. It is sometimes said that Chung Li was chiefly responsible for the formation of the group. A study of Chinese annals shows that his name was Chung and surname, Chung Li. In later generations, he was mistaken for Chung Li-mei, a famous general of the Han Dynasty. In fact, Han Chung-li is the name of a place rather than a person. In proof of this point, we may cite the poem of Tu Fu, one of the leading poets of the Tang Dynasty, which reads:
"I hear it said,
The daughter of Wei
Married into a family
In Han Chung-li"
In Chinese folklore he is often pictured as scantily clad, fat and bearded, holding a feather-fan in his hands which could be employed as a magic weapon against his adversaries.
Another story goes that while a hermit, he lived in a stone house atop a mountain peak to cut himself off from the disturbances of the secular world. One day, while meditating on the mystery of the universe, the invariable truth suddenly dawned upon him as though it were a beam of light streaming through his body and soul. In an instant, the stone wall of his dwelling rent asunder, exposing to his view a jade casket which contained a booket on the art of immortality. Thenceforth, he applied himself to the study of the booket with such unequaled diligence that he finally had complete mastery of the miraculous art of achieving divinity. .
One day when he continued practising the art of immortality, he suddenly heard a weird music of an unearthly order and the stone house was illuminated with bright clouds of rain-bow hue. Erelong, a heavenly stork came landing at his dwelling place and carried him away to the celestial palace.
Lan Tsai-ho
Lan Tsai-ho was pictured in Chinese mythology as a handsome-looking lad, of cheerful disposition. With a flower busket in hands, he was often seen strutting and singing improvised songs about the Chang An City, then metropolis of the Tang Regime. A legend has it that one day he bought a drink in the Ho Liang Wine Shop and then rode on a stork to the celestial palace.
Another version represents him as a juvenile vagrant clad in a tattered blue gown fastened with a belt. He often appeared with one foot bare. In summer he was over-dressed in heavy wadded clothes despite the stifling heat of the summer sun. In winter he often slept in the snow with almost nothing on to protect him against the biting coldness. But, while half-buried in snow asleep, he breathed out such warm steam of air that the snow about him would melt away in an instant.
In the guise of a vagrant, he wandered about the world, begging and singing for a livelihood. When given money, he either strung it on a cord or waved it to keep time of his song. When children or poor people gathered around him for fun, he often scattered the money on the ground for them to pick up.
This singular creature is often shown with a basket full of chrysanthemums, plum-blossom, sprigs of pine and bamboo, etc., all of them associated with longevity and endurance.
Han Hsiang-tze
Han Hsiang-tze was nephew of Han Yu, a prominent scholar-statesman of the Tang Dynasty. He was said to be carefree and cynical by nature. In his earlier years, he embraced Taoism and studied under Lu Tung-ping and Han Chung-li while accompanying them on their wandering. A legend has it that he often filled a pot with earth, and then with a magic touch, he made a fresh shoot of plant pushing out of the earth. It kept on growing luxuriant with new leaves and buds until the whole plant burst into full blossom. On one of his journeys, Han Hsiang-tze, upon seeing a peach-tree, climbed up to pluck the fruit of immortality, but fell dead when the branch snapped under his weight. However, he was at the same moment, transfigured into an immortal.
One day, he paid a visit to Han Yu and left him a verse as souvenir, reading:
I am seized by a sudden attack of homesickness
When frozen clouds are hanging low over
The ridge of Mountain Chin.
My horse stands stockstill
When heavy snow blocks the passage to
The Gate of Lan City.
The lines were intended as a forecast of Han's fortune. In the height of his fame and influence as a courtier, Han failed to realize the significance of the now famous lines. It was not until he arrived at the Gate of Lan City, midway to Chiao Chow where he was exiled because of an offense against the emperor that he grasped the hidden meaning of the verse.
In his diary, Yuan Mei, a famous poet of the Ching Dynasty, said that Han Hsiang-tze, nephew of Han Yu, is known in the Dynastic History of Sung as a celebrated scholar who passed the Imperial Civil Examination in the Reign of Huei Tsung. However, there is no mention of his having embraced Taoism as the legend has it. In one of his poems, Han Yu had this to say:
Who knocks my door?
A man of same ancestry as mine,
He claims to possess supernatural power,
Capable of revealing the mystery of the universe.
According to this poem Han Hsiang-tze as a Taoist refers to a man who shared the same ancestry with Han Yu, but he was not his scholar-nephew, Han Hsiang-tze.
Li Tieh-kuai
Li Tieh-kuai, "Li with the iron staff," alias Han Hung Shui was born in Shansi in the Sui Dynasty. He was nicknamed Kwai Erh, because lame of one leg, and he always walked with the support of a crutch. He was often seen hobbling and begging on the street. One day, as a legend has it, he transformed the crutch into a flying dragon and rode on it to the heaven.
Another story goes that he was a man of stout figure and of bulky build. He often associated himself with Lao Tze, founder of the Taoist school, who taught him the esoteric scriptures, essential to achieving divinity as a fairy. One day, he made a spiritual excursion to the heaven for an interview with Lao Tze. When his spirit departed from his body, his disciples took him for dead and had his body cremated with a simple ceremony as befitting a Taoist's burial. Back from his spiritual excursion, he failed to locate his body. Anxious for shelter, he had his spirit incarnated in the body of an old begger dead of cold and hunger. This is the reason why he was pictured in Chinese mythology as a begger ugly and dirty and lame.
Elsewhere it is related that during his visit to the world, he always carried on his back a gourd containing wonder drugs for free distribution to the sick. One day when told of the marvelous virtue of the wonder drugs, somebody satirized him thus:
"What kind of medicine is in your gourd?
If it is a panacea effective against
All maladies and disease,
Why don't you apply it to yourself
To cure your lameness?
Chang Kuo-lao
Chang Kuo-lao, a Taoist of the Tang Dynasty, lived in obscurity in the Chung Tao Mountain. He was often seen travelling between Shansi and Shensi provinces. He claimed to be the contemporary of Emperor Yao, a legendary king of remote antiquity. Appreciative of his spiritual achievement, Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty once summoned him for an audience. Having no taste for court life, he feigned death. However, he accepted royal favors in the Reign of Kao Yuan, and lived in the metropolis as a courtier. Afterwards, tired of court lise, he returned to the Chung Tiao Mountain and lived in seclusion as befitting a Taoist. From then on, he styled himself as Master of Tung Hsuan (knowing the mysteries of the universe).
He is often represented in Chinese lore and arts riding on a white donkey which, when put to the road, would carry him thousands of miles in the space of a few hours. He was often seen riding on the donkey facing its tail. This is the reason why unorthodox behavious of some people are referred to as riding on a donkey facing its tail as is in the case of Chang Kuo-lao. The white donkey, as Chinese tradition has it, needed no feeding and watering.
When stopping at an inn for a drink or reaching his destination, he had no need of a stable to accommodate his white donkey. By a magic touch, he transformed the white donkey into a sheet of paper and then folded it up for safe-keeping in his wallet. When he again required its services, he had only to apply the same magic trick to cause the paper donkey to reassume its proper shape.
Tsao Kuo-chiu
Tsao Kuo-chiu was brother-in-law of Emperor Sung. The Dynastic Annals of the Sung Dynasty indicates that Tsao Hsu, brother of Empress Tsao, died of a natural death at the advanced age of 72. But no mention was made of his achieving divinity as a fairy. Perhaps the legendary fairy was mistaken for a relative of the royal family in the person of Tsao Hsu. A study of the Diary of Tao Shan shows that Yen Shu, a prominent poet-statesman of the Sung Dynasty, was the incarnation of Tsao Pa-pei, a legendary fairy. However, historical record is in the lacking as to whether the latter was related to the royal family by blood.
One story has it that while a hermit engaged in the study of Taoism, Tsao Kuo-chiu fell in with Han Chung-li and Lu Tung-ping who put such pertinent questions to him as:
"What are you doing here, old man?"
"I am meditating on the invariable truth," replied he.
"What do you mean by invariable truth, and where is it?" they went on.
He pointed to the heaven without uttering a word.
"Where is heaven?" they again queried.
He pointed to his heart. This gesture is taken to mean that the invariable truth lies in the identification of oneself with the universe, i.e., all distinction between the experienced and the experienced is extinguished. In such a state of mind, one can transcend all man-made difference to enjoy perfect happiness and freedom from all worldly cares and worries. Thereupon the two immortals nodded at him with approval and began to teach him the art of immortality as their disciple. Later on he became one of the eight immortals, generally represented as a bearded, dignified person in court office.
Stripped of the mystic elements surrounding them, the eight legendary figures were no more than historical personages and fictitious figures of attractive characters, although the authenticity of the historical records as cited above in establishing their identities are quite open for dispute.
As interesting characters of Chinese popular literature, the eight immortals should be classed apart from objects of worship of religious significance. But without theological guidance, the ignorant masses failed to make a distinction of what is of faith and of what is of myth. And worst of all, cheap superstitution and witchcraft have taken root into all forms of organized religions.
In Chinese pantheon, the eight immortals ranked among the Taoist God-heads only next in precedence to Lao Tze and other patriarchs of Taoist cult. In many parts of China, Master Lu, one of the immortals, was worshipped side by side with Buddhist divinities. For instance, in the famous monastery known as Chih Nan Kung, southwest of Taipei, the Goddess of Mercy was associated with Master Lu as divinities of equal standing. This is a fact which gives rise to the misconception of westerners that the Chinese people are lacking in the essential quality of faith, a condition that excludes the possibility of believing in the different religions at the same time.
In short, lack of systematic theology coupled with the indifferent acceptance of the educated class account for the fast decline of all popular religions in China. Like an uncultivated garden where weeds and thistles run riot, hampering the growth of good fruits, the various popular faiths hitherto commanding great followings in China, have been devitalized (or eaten away) by cheap superstitution and witchcraft as their out-growth. Confucianism, laying more emphasis on moral teaching (in the form of Ancester Worship) than religious belief, has limited emotional appeal to the great masses, and therefore is not in a position to replace the decaying religions.