Chen Nan陈楠

Style & Daoist names

Nanmu, Cuixu, Chen Niwan, Master Niwan

Period

Southern Song

Dates

? — 1213

School

Southern Lineage of the Golden Elixir (Nanzong)

Role

Fourth Patriarch of the Southern Lineage (Nanzong)Master of Thunder Rites

Birthplace

Boluo, Huizhou (present-day Boluo, Guangdong)

Places of activity

Mount Luofu

Life

Chen Nan, styled Nanmu, with the sobriquet Cuixu, popularly known as "Chen Niwan" (Chen of the Mud Pellets), was the fourth patriarch of the Southern Lineage of internal alchemy. A native of Boluo in Huizhou, he worked as a cooper, and gained his popular name from his frequent use of clay pellets to treat illness. He received from Xue Daoguang the instructions on the golden elixir of Taiyi measured by the dosage spoon (daogui), and also obtained from a divine being on Mount Limu the "Jade Text of the Great Thunder of Jingxiao," additionally cultivating Thunder Rites, marking the beginning of the Southern Lineage's combination of internal alchemy with Thunder Rites. During the Zhenghe era of Emperor Huizong (according to one account), he served in the capital in the Daoist Registry, later returning to Mount Luofu. In the sixth year of the Jiading era (1213) he entered the water and died at Zhangzhou (some say by corpse-liberation), and his disciple Bai Yuchan succeeded him. He wrote the Anthology of Cuixu (Cuixu pian), discussing elixir methods in verse and advocating "essence, qi and spirit as the medicinal substances, the body as the cauldron and furnace," and also has works such as the Zhiting jing (Scripture of the Purple Court) and the Chant of Cuixu at Mount Luofu (Luofu cuixu yin).

Contributions & Influence

• Fourth patriarch of the Southern Lineage, transmitting the way of Xue Daoguang to Bai Yuchan
• Pioneered the Southern Lineage's combination of internal alchemy with Thunder Rites
• Wrote the Anthology of Cuixu

Works

• Anthology of Cuixu (Chen Nan)
• Zitingjing (Scripture of the Purple Hall)
• Chant of Cuixu at Mount Luofu

Legends

Legend holds that his clay pellets cured every illness he treated, that he could command thunder and lightning, and that he departed by entering the water and transforming away. These are legendary material.