Complete Biographies of Immortals列仙全传

Also known as

Illustrated Complete Biographies of Immortals, Complete Book of Immortals' Biographies

Author / transmission

Wang Shizhen (compiler), Wang Yunpeng (editor and printer)

Period

Ming · Attributed to the compilation of Wang Shizhen (1526–1590) of the Ming, collated and printed by Wang Yunpeng, published in Huizhou around the twenty-eighth year of the Wanli era (1600); nine scrolls, collecting more than 580 immortals with accompanying woodblock illustrations.

Canon division

Outside the Canon (Ming printed edition)

Collected in

Outside the Canon (Wanli-era printing, later included in the Daoist Texts outside the Canon)

Category

Immortal Biographies

Fascicles

9 juan

Synopsis

The Youxiang Liexian Quanzhuan (Complete Illustrated Biographies of Immortals) in nine scrolls is the largest illustrated collection of immortal biographies from the Ming, attributed to the compilation of Wang Shizhen (generally believed to be a bookseller's imprint borrowing a famous name), carved by Huizhou block-cutters. It collects the lives of more than 580 immortals and perfected beings, arranged chronologically from Laozi, the Queen Mother of the West, and Chisongzi down to Lü Dongbin, Zhang Sanfeng, Zhou Dian, and other Ming-dynasty figures, each accompanied by a woodblock illustration. Most of its figures and episodes derive from the Biographies of Exemplary Immortals, the Biographies of Divine Immortals, the Xianjian, and the In Search of the Supernatural, but it also absorbs a great deal of folk legend and theatrical narrative, making it an important stage in the fixing of popular immortal images such as the Eight Immortals, the God of Longevity, and Hehe. The Huizhou-school woodblock prints are finely lined and carefully composed, and the illustrations in this book are considered representative of Ming-dynasty book illustration, often used as source material by scholars of Daoist iconography in Japan and Europe. In terms of religious history, it bears witness to the full penetration of Daoism into popular belief during the Ming and to the merging of the genealogy of immortals with the worship of deities.

Key Ideas

• The largest illustrated collection of immortal biographies from the Ming
• Collects the lives of more than 580 immortals
• A representative work of Huizhou-school woodblock printing
• Absorbs folk legend and theatrical narrative
• Bears witness to the popularization of Daoism and the merging of deity cults

Structure

Nine scrolls, arranged chronologically, one illustration and one biography per figure.

Editions

• Wanli-era Huizhou printed edition
• Facsimile in the Daoist Texts outside the Canon
• Various modern facsimile editions

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT search
• Wikipedia: Wang Shizhen

Related scriptures

Related figures