Esoteric Biography of Emperor Wu of the Han汉武帝内传

Also known as

Esoteric Biography of Emperor Wu of the Han, Esoteric Biography of Emperor Wu

Author / transmission

Traditionally attributed to Ban Gu, One account attributes it to Ge Hong; in fact a pseudonymous work by a Wei–Jin Shangqing Daoist

Period

Eastern Jin · Formerly attributed to Ban Gu of the Eastern Han, a claim already doubted in the Bibliographical Treatise of the Sui shu; it is now generally held to have been produced by the Shangqing scriptural school of the Eastern Jin (around the 4th century), belonging with the Hanwu gushi and the Dongming ji to the same corpus of Emperor Wu immortal-quest tales.

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Records and Biographies Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen Section, Biographies and Records category.

Category

Immortal Biographies

Fascicles

One Fascicle (Juan)

Synopsis

The Hanwudi neizhuan (Esoteric Biography of Emperor Wu of the Han) is presented as an account of Emperor Wu of the Han's quest for immortality: on the seventh day of the seventh month of the first year of the Yuanfeng era, the Queen Mother of the West descended to the Chenghua Hall and, together with the Lady of the Upper Prime, conferred on Emperor Wu the True Forms of the Five Peaks, the Scripture of the Living Numinous Radiance, the Twelve Matters of Numinous Flight of the Six Jia and other scriptures and instructions, admonishing him to practise embryonic breathing and inner vision and to cast off desire and extravagance; because Emperor Wu was unable to keep the precepts and preserve secrecy, the scriptures were ultimately consumed by celestial fire and his quest for immortality came to nothing. Written throughout in ornate parallel prose describing the Queen Mother's retinue, adornments, peaches of immortality and celestial music, the work is a celebrated example of Six Dynasties tales of the strange and roaming-immortal literature; at its religious core it promotes the Shangqing school's system of scriptural and precept transmission and its stance of valuing scripture over method — true scriptures must be received by one of virtue, and even an emperor is no exception. The scripture titles recorded in the text are important clues for reconstructing the early state of the Shangqing scriptural corpus, and images such as the peaches of immortality, the bluebird, and jade maidens profoundly influenced later literature and iconography.

Key Ideas

• The Queen Mother of the West descends to confer true scriptures on Emperor Wu of the Han
• The Shangqing school's system of scriptural and precept transmission, and the precept of secrecy
• A cautionary tale of an emperor's failed quest for immortality
• A celebrated work of Six Dynasties roaming-immortal literature
• Source of images such as the peaches of immortality and the bluebird

Structure

One juan, a chronological narrative interspersed with scripture lists and admonitory pronouncements.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Han Wei congshu edition
• Sibu congkan facsimile edition

Translations

• Kristofer Schipper, L'empereur Wou des Han dans la légende taoïste (1965), French translation and study

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikisource: Hanwudi neizhuan
• CTEXT: Hanwudi neizhuan

Related scriptures

Related figures