Liu Haichan刘海蟾

Style & Daoist names

Liu Cao, Zongcheng, Zhaoyuan, Haichanzi, Liu Hai, Perfected Lord Mingwu Hongdao, Who Illuminated Awakening and Propagated the Dao

Period

Five Dynasties

Dates

? — ?

School

Zhong–Lü Internal Alchemy Tradition

Role

Internal Alchemy MastersFive Northern Patriarchs

Birthplace

Yanshan (present-day Beijing area)

Life

Liu Haichan, given name Cao, courtesy name Zongcheng (also given as Zhaoyuan), styled Haichanzi, was an internal alchemist of the Five Dynasties and one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism. According to Daoist works he was a native of the Yan region and served as chancellor to Liu Shouguang, Prince of Yan (one account says he took the jinshi degree under the Liao). When a Daoist he met (one account says Zhengyangzi, that is, Zhongli Quan; another, Lü Dongbin) used the image of "a stack of eggs" to show him the precariousness of his position, he abandoned office for the Dao, wandered to Mount Hua and the Zhongnan Mountains, and obtained the alchemical methods of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin. Tradition holds that he transmitted alchemical instructions to Zhang Boduan (the Southern Lineage genealogy runs Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, Liu Haichan, Zhang Boduan in order), and so both the Southern and the Northern Lineages regard him as the intermediate link in the transmission of alchemical method. Kublai Khan conferred on him the title "Perfected Lord of Luminous Awakening Who Broadens the Dao," and Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan added the title "Sovereign Lord of Luminous Awakening Who Broadens the Dao and Purely Protects." The popular image of "Liu Hai sporting with the golden toad" became conflated with the boy figure "Liu Hai," a later accretion. Works bearing his name survive, such as the Huanjin pian (Treatise on Reverting to Gold) and the Huandan pomi ge (Song of the Reverted Elixir Dispelling Delusion), though they may have been attributed to him by later hands.

Contributions & Influence

• Inherited the alchemical methods of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, forming the shared link in the internal alchemical transmission of both the Southern and the Northern Lineages
• One of the Five Northern Patriarchs of Quanzhen

Works

• Chapter on Returning to Gold (attributed title)
• Song of the Reverted Elixir Breaking Delusion (attributed title)

Legends

According to legend, coins stacked upon eggs were used to show him his peril; and there is the popular image of "Liu Hai sporting with the golden toad." These belong to legend.