Supplementary Biographies of Immortals续仙传

Author / transmission

Shen Fen (Southern Tang)

Period

Five Dynasties · Compiled by Shen Fen (also written Shen Bin), magistrate of Lishui under the Southern Tang, completed around the mid-tenth century; three juan, recording thirty-six perfected immortals of the Tang.

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Records and Biographies Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen Section, Biographies and Records category.

Category

Immortal Biographies

Fascicles

3 juan

Synopsis

The Xu xian zhuan (Supplementary Biographies of Immortals) is a collection of immortal biographies compiled around the Tang–Five Dynasties transition; the author, Shen Fen, states in his own preface that it continues Ge Hong's Shenxian zhuan and is devoted specifically to perfected immortals of the Tang, divided into three sections — 'Ascension,' 'Concealed Transformation,' and 'Reclusion' — recording thirty-six people in all. Those recorded, such as Sun Simiao, Sima Chengzhen, Zhang Guo, Zhang Zhihe (Xuanzhenzi), Lan Caihe, Xu Xuanping, Ma Ziran, Yin Qiqi and Nie Shidao, were for the most part Daoist priests and recluses who genuinely lived in the Tang; their deeds are mixed with the marvellous, but their dates and places are on the whole verifiable, so the historical value of the work is higher than that of purely legendary immortal biographies. The threefold division into Ascension, Concealed Transformation, and Reclusion reflects the Tang conception of levels of attaining immortality; the account of Lan Caihe is among the earliest source material for the legend of the Eight Immortals. This work is important source material for the study of Tang Daoist figures and local Daoist activity, and much of it was drawn upon by the Taiping guangji and the Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian.

Key Ideas

• Continues Ge Hong's Shenxian zhuan, recording perfected immortals of the Tang
• Threefold division: Ascension, Concealed Transformation, Reclusion
• Most of the thirty-six figures are historically verifiable
• Early source material for the legend of the Eight Immortals
• Reflects the actual state of local Daoism in the Tang

Structure

Three juan: the upper juan records sixteen who ascended, the middle juan twelve who underwent concealed transformation, and the lower juan eight who withdrew into reclusion (editions vary slightly).

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Partially collected in the Yunji qiqian

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikisource: Xu xian zhuan
• CTEXT search

Related scriptures

Related figures