Peng Si彭耜

Style & Daoist names

styled Jiyi, self-styled Helin, Perfected Man Helin

Period

Southern Song

Dates

? — ?

School

Southern Lineage of the Golden Elixir (Nanzong)

Role

Internal Alchemy MastersSuccessor of the Southern LineageLay Practitioner

Birthplace

Fuzhou

Places of activity

Lesser Grotto 16: Mount Wuyi

Life

Peng Si, styled Jiyi, a native of Fuzhou, Fujian, was an inner-chamber disciple of Bai Yuchan. According to the Lishi Zhenxian Tidao Tongjian Xubian, he was widely learned in his early years but never held office; he met Bai Yuchan in Fuzhou and received the instructions of the golden elixir and Thunder Rites, whereupon he abandoned his household to cultivate the Dao, residing at Helin Jing in Fuzhou, for which Bai Yuchan wrote the 'Helin Jing Ming.' Peng Si compiled his master's teachings into the Haiqiong Bai Zhenren Yulu and the Daode Zhenjing Jizhu, among other works, and was the key figure who ensured Bai Yuchan's writings were transmitted to later generations. His Daode Zhenjing Jizhu drew broadly on more than twenty Tang and Song commentaries, making it an important compendium in the history of commentary on the Laozi during the Song dynasty. Peng Si, together with Liu Yuanchang, Zhao Ruqu, Lin Boqian, and Xiao Tingzhi, was one of the sixth-generation transmitters of the Southern Lineage, and is counted among the Four Great Disciples under Bai Yuchan. His dates of birth and death are unknown; he was active roughly during the reigns of Emperor Ningzong and Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song.

Contributions & Influence

• Compiled Bai Yuchan's recorded sayings, preserving the core texts of the Southern Lineage
• Compiled the Daode Zhenjing Jizhu, gathering together Tang and Song commentaries on the Laozi
• Established Helin Jing, spreading the Southern Lineage's internal alchemy and Thunder Rites in Fujian

Works

• Recorded Sayings of the Perfected Bai Haiqiong (compiled)
• Collected Commentaries on the Daodejing
• Collected Commentaries on the Daodejing, with Explanatory Text
• Collected Commentaries on the Daodejing, Miscellaneous Discussions