Biographies of Encounters with Divine Immortals神仙感遇传
- Also known as
- Biographies of Encounters with Immortals
- Author / transmission
- Du Guangting
- Period
- Late Tang and Five Dynasties · Compiled by Du Guangting, probably completed in the late Tang or Five Dynasties; five fascicles survive today (the original had ten), and an abridged version is also preserved in fascicle 112 of the Yunji qiqian.
- Canon division
- Dongxuan Section, Jizhuan Category
- Collected in
- Zhengtong Daozang, Dongxuan Section, Jizhuan category.
- Category
- Immortal Biographies
- Fascicles
- 5 juan
Synopsis
Biographies of Encounters with Divine Immortals is devoted specifically to accounts of chance encounters between ordinary mortals and immortals leading to attainment of the Dao through karmic affinity, forming, together with the Records of Daoist Miraculous Efficacy, part of Du Guangting's series of works 'demonstrating the teaching through concrete cases.' The stories it collects — a woodcutter encountering an immortal, a scholar meeting a Perfected being in the mountains, a Daoist priest receiving instruction from an extraordinary stranger, and the like — mostly carry specific dates, places and names, and involve people of every rank of Tang society: officials, scholars, merchants, military officers, monks and priests all appear. Its central idea lies in the term 'encounter' (ganyu) itself: attaining immortality does not depend solely on austere cultivation but also on the resonance of karmic affinity and virtuous conduct — an ordinary person who accumulates virtue and sincere faith may well encounter a Perfected being and receive instruction in the course of daily life. This conception eased the high threshold of wealth and secret transmission demanded by the alchemical schools, opening up the possibility of immortality to ordinary believers, in keeping with the trend toward popularization in late Tang Daoism. The work's wealth of detail on Tang-dynasty geography, official posts, and customs is also valued by historians of the Tang; the Taiping guangji draws extensively on it.
Key Ideas
- Ordinary mortals encountering immortals and attaining the Dao
- 'Encounter' (ganyu): the resonance of karmic affinity and virtuous conduct
- Opening the possibility of immortality to ordinary believers
- Belongs, with the Records of Daoist Miraculous Efficacy, to Du Guangting's teaching-demonstrating works
- Preserves details of Tang-dynasty social life
Structure
Five fascicles, short narrative entries, most annotated with time, place and names.
Editions
- Zhengtong Daozang edition
- Abridged version in Yunji qiqian, fascicle 112
- Excerpted in the Taiping guangji
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Records of Daoist Miraculous Efficacy, Records of the Assembled Immortals of the Fortified Walled City, Supplementary Biographies of ImmortalsRelated figures
Du Guangting- Franciscus Verellen 关于杜光庭的系列研究
- 任继愈主编《道藏提要》
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon, 2004
- 孙昌武《道教与唐代文学》