One day during Su Shi (苏轼, 1037-1101)’s exile in Huangzhou, Hubei province, his friend, Fo Yin (佛印, 1032-98) invited him and Huang Tingjian (黄庭坚, 1045-1105) to taste the ‘Peach-Blossom-Flavoured Vinegar’, made with a famous recipe inherited from the Tang dynasty …
In Zhuangzi (庄子), an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period (476–221 BCE) and one of the two foundational texts of Daoism, the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu 西王母) was mentioned as a deity who ‘obtained the Dao (the Way)’. …
Continue reading “Birthday Celebration for the Queen Mother of the West”
Laozi (Lao Tzu 老子), literally ‘old teacher or master’, is the well-known name for a great ancient Chinese thinker, to whom a five-thousand-character book ‘Dao de jing 道德经’, or The Scripture of the Way and Virtue, has been attributed. He …
Laozi (Lao Tzu 老子) is a great ancient Chinese thinker, to whom a five-thousand-character book ‘Dao de jing 道德经’, or The Scripture of the Way and Virtue, has been attributed. He is regarded as the founder of philosophical Daoism (Taoism), …
In this scene, there are several Chinese longevity symbols such as the crane, the generic immortal, the pine tree, and the deer, etc. However, the proper meaning of this particular scene is not a simple assemblage of individual symbols. It …
Continue reading “May the length of your life be eternally prolonged!”
Zhongli Quan (钟离权, or 汉钟离 Han Zhongli) is regarded as the most eminent among the Daoist Eight Immortals. Respected as ‘Zhengyang Zushi (正阳祖师)’ or the ‘Grand Master with Pure Yang Energy’, he is one of the founders of the northern …
As a young man, Lv Dongbin (吕洞宾, or Lü Dongbin) passed several rounds of civil-service examinations and was twice appointed as a county magistrate. After being bored with officialdom, he went to become a recluse in the mountains. Not until …