Pa-hsien Chin., lit. “eight immortals”; a group of eight immortals (hsien), who are among the best known figures of Taoist mythology. The earliest descriptions of them date from the T’ang Dynasty, but their present grouping was not established until the Ming Dynasty. The eight immortals are Li T’ieh-kuai (also called Li Hsüan), Chang Kuo-lao, Ts’ao Kuo-chiu, Han Hsiang-tzu, Lü Tung-pin, Ho Hsien-ku, Lan Ts’ai-ho and Chung Li-ch’üan (also called Han Chung-Ii). Chang Kuo-lao, Lü Tung-pin, Ts’ao Kuo-chiu and Chung Li-ch’üan are historical figures.
Throughout China the eight immortals are a symbol for good fortune. In addition, they represent eight different conditions of life: youth, old age, poverty, wealth, nobility, the populace, the feminine, and the masculine.
The pa-hsien are a favorite theme in artistic representations. They can be found on fans, porcelain, picture scrolls, etc. and also figure prominently in many literary works.
1. Li T’ieh-kuai (lit. “Li with the Iron Crutch”) is usually portrayed with an iron crutch and a pumpkin containing magic potions. According to tradition, the Royal Mother of the West (Hsi Wang-mu) healed an abcess on Li’s leg and taught him how to become immortal. She also gave him the iron crutch.
Another legend explains how Li came to have a crippled leg: Lao-tzu had descended from Heaven to initiate Li in the Taoist teachings. Soon after that Li attained immortality and left his body to travel to sacred Mount Hua-hsan. He told one of his pupils to guard his body during his absence but to burn it if he did not return within seven days. After Li had gone six days, this pupil received a message to say that his mother was dying. To enable him to fulfill his duty as a son, he burned the body of his master and went to his dying mother. When Li returned all he found was a heap of ashes and thus was forced to enter the body of a dead beggar, who had a black face, a pointed head, matted hair, a crippled leg, and big protruding eyes. Li did not want to live in such a body but Lao-tzu begged him to accept his fate and presented him with a band of gold to keep his tousled hair in place and with an iron crutch to help him walk.
2. Chang Kuo-lao was a Taoist who lived during the T’ang Dynasty. Legend tells us that he owned a white donkey capable of traveling a thousand miles a day. This magic donkey could be folded like a handkerchief and carried in one’s pocket. To revive it, Chang had only to sprinkle a handful of water over the handker chief. Chang’s symbol is the so-called fish drum, an instrument for raising a loud noise.
Chang held a high official post and attracted the curiosity of the emperor who had questioned a famous Taoist master about him. This Taoist master told the emperor that he knew the true identity of Chang but was afraid to reveal it, because he had been told that he would fall dead to the ground if he were to do so. However, if the emperor in person were to go barefoot and bareheaded to ask Chang to forgive such a betray al, Chang could bring him back to life. The emperor promised to do so whereupon the master told him that Chang was an incarnation of the primordial chaos. The master immediately fell dead to the ground. After the emperor had begged forgiveness of Chang he brought the Taoist master back to life by sprinkling water over his body. Soon after, Chang became ill and withdrew to the mountains where he died between 742 and 746 C.E. When his pupils opened his grave they found it to be empty (shih-chieh).
3. Ts’ao Kuo-chiu ( d. 1097 C.E.) was the brother-in-law of a Sung Dynasty emperor. His younger brother became a murderer. In shame, Ts’ao withdrew to the mountains and decided to spend his life as a hermit. He is usually portrayed holding a pair of castanets.
According to legend Ts’ao one day encountered Chung Li-ch’üan and Lü Tung-pin, who asked him what he was doing in the mountains. Ts’ao answered that he was following the Way (Tao) whereupon they wanted to know where the Way was. Ts’ao pointed at Heaven. Lü and Chung then wanted to know where Heaven was. Ts’ao pointed at his heart. At this Chung Li-ch’üan smiled and said, “The heart is Heaven and Heaven is the Way. I see that you know the original face of things.” They then taught Ts’ao how to attain perfection and within a few days he became an immortal.
Another legend says that the emperor gave Ts’ao a golden medal which would allow him to overcome all obstacles. One day, when Ts’ao had to cross the Yellow River, he showed that medal to the ferryman. There upon a poorly dressed Taoist priest asked Ts’ao why he -a follower of the Way- stooped to employ such methods. At this Ts’ao begged the priest to cast the medal into the river. The priest took him aside and said, “Have you heard of Lil Tung-pin? I am he and have come to help you attain immortality.”
4. Han Hsiang-tzu is generally believed to be the nephew of Han Yü, a famous literary figure and statesman of the T’ang Dynasty, who had been entrusted with Hsiang-tzu’s education. Han Hsiang-tzu had a stormy temper and possessed various supernatural abilities. He is usually portrayed holding a flute, a bouquet of flowers, or a peach.
Once Han caused peonies of many colors to blossom forth in the middle of winter. On the petals of these peonies appeared the following poem: “Clouds veil the peaks of Ch’in-ling mountain. Where is your home? Deep lies the snow on Lan Pass and the horses will go no further. ” Han Hsiang-tzu saw a hidden meaning in these lines, but his uncle dismissed them as nonsense. Soon after, Han Yü fell in disgrace with the emperor and was banished. When he reached Lan Pass the snow was so deep that he could make no further progress. Then Han Hsiang-tzu appeared and cleared away the snow. He told his uncle that he would regain his official post and return to the bosom of his family, which prophecy soon came true.
5. Lü Tung-pin was born in 798 C.E. in Northern China. His family were civil servants. As a young man he traveled to Mount Lü in the south of the country where he met a fire dragon who presented him with a magic sword that enabled him to conceal himself in Heaven.
On a journey to the capital he came upon the immortal Chung Li-ch’üan, who was warming up some wine. Lü fell asleep and dreamt that he had been promoted to a high official post and possessed enormous wealth. In his dream he lived the life of a rich man for the next fifty years until a crime caused his family to be banished and exterminated. When he awoke from his dream he found that only a few moments had passed. The dream, which has become proverbial in China, brought him to his senses and he decided to forgo an official career and follow Chung Li-ch’üan into the mountains. Chung initiated him into the secrets of alchemy and taught him the art of swordsmanship. At the age of 100 Lü still retained his youthful appearance and was capable of traveling 100 miles in a matter of seconds.
Lü Tung-pin considered compassion to be the essential means of attaining perfection. He transformed the methods of the Outer Alchemy (wai-tan) into those of the Inner (nei-tan). To him his sword his symbol was not a tool for killing enemies but for conquering passion, aggression, and ignorance. Through his example Lü had a decisive influence on the development of Taoism, and the school of ch’üan-chen tao venerated him as the teacher of its founder.
6. Ho Hsien-ku is the only female among the pa-hsien. She lived during the T’ang Dynasty and spent her life as a hermit in the mountains. When she was fourteen, a spirit appeared to her in a dream and told her to grind a stone known as “mother of clouds” into powder and eat that powder. She would then become as light as a feather and attain immortality. She followed these instructions and furthermore vowed never to get married. Thereafter she was able to fly from one mountain peak to the next; as she did so she gathered fruit and berries for her mother. She herself no longer had any need of nourishment. One day the emperor summoned her to the court but on her way there she disappeared and became an immortal. Legend further reports that she was sighted several times after her earthly demise.
According to another legend young Ho Hsien-ku lost her way in the mountains while gathering tea and met a tao shih, who gave her a peach to eat. After that she never again felt hungry. This tao-shih is said to have been none other than Lü Tung-pin, the fifth of the eight immortals.
7. Lan Ts’ai-ho is sometimes portrayed with female features. He is dressed in rags, wears a belt made of black wood, and wears a boot on one of his feet, the other being bare. In his hand he carries a basket of flowers.
In summer he would wear a thick overcoat but dress lightly in winter. His breath was like hot steam. According to legend he roamed the streets as a beggar, accompanying his songs with castanets. Most of the time he was drunk. When people gave him money he used to string the coins on a cord, which he dragged behind him. One day he stopped at an inn, took off his boot, belt, and cloak, and disappeared into the clouds, riding on a crane.
8 . Chung Li-ch’üan allegedly lived during the Han Dynasty. His symbol was a fan made of feathers or palm leaves. He is usually portrayed as a corpulent man, bald, but with a beard that reaches down to his navel. In representations of the eight immortals he can also be recognized by the wisps of hair that grace his temples. Reports about his life vary greatly: according to some he was a field marshal, who withdrew to the mountains in his old age; others claim that he was a vice-marshal who, after losing a battle against the Tibetans, fled into the mountains, where five Taoist saints initiated him into the teachings of immortality. Several hundred years later he is said to have taught Lii Tung-pin.
Various legends give conflicting versions as to how he became an immortal: according to one he met an old Taoist master in a forest, who at his request gave him prescriptions on how to attain immortality. As Chung was leaving this venerable master, he turned to cast a last glance at his hut but found that it had vanished.
Another version claims that during a famine Chung produced silver coins by miraculous means and distributed them among the poor, thereby saving numerous lives. One day, a wall of his hermitage collapsed as he was meditating and behind it appeared a jade vessel which contained prescriptions for attaining immortality. He followed these and-to the accompaniment of heavenly sounds-was borne away to the abode of the immortals on a shimmering cloud.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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