The Eight Immortals

The Lady Among the Immortals

The Eight Immortals are eight mythological images that have a special place in the minds of the Chinese people. However, they were not clearly defined in any historical texts until the novel “Journey to the East” was written in the Ming Dynasty. “Legend of the Eight Immortals,” also known as “Journey to the East,” was created by Wu Yuantai, a writer of the Ming Dynasty. However scrupulous readers will easily find that different from Tang Monk and his three disciples in “Journey to the West,” one of the Eight Immortals in the “Journey to the West” is a lady, He Xian’gu.

To understand why the writer introduced a woman into the group, we should begin with the nature of the novel “Journey to the East.” “Journey to the East” is based on the teachings of Taoism. Therefore, inevitably, many Taoist ideas are reflected in it. For example, Taoism has a fundamental idea: yang alone can’t facilitate the development of things in the world; all things are the combination of yin and yang. For example, among the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, who enjoyed very high status in Taoism, there is a lady named Sun Bu’er. After reading “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” by Mr. Jin Yong only, many people think that Jin Yong fabricated her, which is wrong. If one refers to Taoist books, he will find that Sun Bu’er exists objectively in Taoism and is one of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen. Therefore, it is normal that He Xiangu, a feminine gender, appears in this novel advocating Taoism. With this lady included, there are precisely eight immortals.

The Significance of the Number "Eight"

The number “eight” has a profound cultural significance in Taoism. In “Tao Te Chang,” Laozi says that one is the child of the divine law; after one comes two after two comes three, and after three come to all things. It doesn’t mean that the number “three” creates all things. Instead, it means that Taiji produces two forms, these two forms produce four phenomena and the four phenomena act on the eight trigrams. In fact, the saying that “after three come all things” suggests eight trigrams. Eight trigrams can represent all kinds of things in the world.

There is also such a saying among people, which is that each of the Eight Immortals matches a trigram of the eight trigrams. For example, Lv Dongbin matches Qian. He is called the Master Pure-Yang, and he wields the Pure-Yang Sword. Therefore without a doubt, he is the purest man full of yang qi. Thus, he matches the Yang trigram of three lines. He Xian’gu, the only lady among the Eight Immortals, matches yin trigram of six-line records. Others match similarly, but they may not match so perfectly like He Xian’gu and Lv Dongbin.

Profound Meanings Behind the Eight Images

Also, these eight images have profound meanings. People generally refer to men and women, the old and the young, the honored rich and the lowly poor as all the people. The Eight Immortals also include men and women, the old and the young, the honored rich and the humble poor.

For example, Zhang Guolao is old. According to “Journey to the East,” he was a white spiritual bat when heaven was separated from the earth. At the mention of women, He Xian’gu is a lady without a doubt. At the mention of men, Lv Dongbin is a representative. At the mention of the young, Han Xiangzi is considered the youngest among the Eight Immortals. At the mention of the rich, Cao Guojiu is rather rich because he is the maternal uncle of Emperor Renzong. At the mention of the poor, Lan Caihe was thought to be rather poor. He lives in the Tang Dynasty according to “Journey to the East.” A very talented beggar is his historical prototype. However, according to some records, he is not a beggar. He is not down and out at all. In fact, Lan Caihe is very talented. It is said that it is his most outstanding feature that he likes only to wear one shoe. In short, the Eight Immortals are a unique combination of eight widely different people from different classes of society. This combination makes people feel that these Immortals are closely related to their daily life, which is why the Eight Immortals are very popular among the masses.

The Real Han Xiangzi

The Eight Immortals in the “Journey to the East” are based on real figures in history to some extent. It should be said that Han Xiangzi of the Eight Immortals is grounded in history to the largest extent. Han Xiangzi is said to be Han Yu’s grandnephew. Moreover, the name of Han Xiangzi once appeared in Han Yu’s poem, which is named “To Grandnephew Xiang in Lantian Pass on the Way to Demotion.” It has two famous verses, “The Qinling Mountains is shrouded in dark clouds. Where is my hometown? Lantian Pass is covered with snow. Even my horse refuses to go forward.”

According to the “Journey to the East,” it was not Han Yu, but Han Xiangzi, that composed this poem. At first, Han Yu didn’t favor Han Xiang at all. He asked Han Xiang to study earnestly, but Han Xiang didn’t want to study at all. He always led a casual life. He got along with the servants and many people from the lower class. Han Yu scolded him many times, but he didn’t listen to him. Once Han Yu asked him: “why do you say you are reliable?” Han Xiang said: “I know two things that you don’t know. First, I can make wine at one moment. Second, I can make out-of-season flowers bloom.” Han Yu said, “Don’t talk big. Show me.”

Han Xiang experimented on the spot. In front of others, the seed took root, sprouted and bloomed. They smelled it. It was indeed a fresh flower. Moreover, the marvelous thing was that the blooming flower was inscribed with two verses. The two verses were, “The Qinling Mountains is shrouded in dark clouds. Where is my hometown? Lantian Pass is covered with snow. Even my horse refuses to go forward.” Han Yu didn’t know the meaning of these two verses. He asked for their meaning. First, Han Xiang smiled without saying anything. Then he said: “I won’t tell you now. I can’t reveal the cause. You will know when you know.”

Later, several Buddhist relics were transported to China. In that year, the emperor wanted to build an underground palace for the Buddhist relics, so that he could worship them there. Back then, Buddhists in the whole country believed in Sakyamuni. However, Han Yu thought it was too large a project, so he wrote the famous “Memorial on Bone-relics of the Buddha” to belittle Buddhist relics. The emperor was furious at Han Yu’s defiance. He wanted to behead Han Yu, but someone proposed to demote him. Therefore, he was demoted to a remote town in the south of China. On his way there, he arrived at someplace where snow fell thick and fast. Even his horse found it hard to go forward. He thought he was going to die.

When the decision to demote him was made, the emperor hated him very much, so no one dared to see him off and keep him company. As he was about to lose hope, he saw someone in front suddenly. The man got close slowly, and he found that the man was Han Xiangzi whom he hadn’t seen for a long time. Han Xiangzi said to him: “Do you still remember the two verses I wrote to you at that time? The Qinling Mountains is shrouded in dark clouds. Where is my hometown? Lantian Pass is covered with snow. Do you know the name of this place? It is the Lantian Pass.” At that time, Han Yu felt everything was destined, and his grandnephew was amazing. Later, it was said that Han Xiangzi made Han Yu an immortal.

He Xian’gu’s Power Tool—a Lotus Flower

In the original stories of the Eight Immortals, He Xian’gu didn’t choose Lotus Flower, but the simple strainer, as her power tool. She replaced it with Lotus Flower later. All the things happening in the world have two basic aspects, namely, cause and effect. During the lifespan of most plants, the flower is its cause, and fruit is its effect. Generally speaking, all plants in the world have flowers and fruits successively, except one plant, lotus flower. The flower and seedpod of lotus flower grow at the same time. It has cause and effect at the same time.

Moreover, lotus flower rises unsullied from the mud. You can dirty a large lotus leaf to the utmost. However, if you pour a drop of water on it, it will be washed clean. Now, scientists explained that the structure on the surface of the lotus flower makes it possible. Some people suggested that if the surfaces of cars, clothes and other daily products have the surface structure of lotus flower, much water will be saved. Even during dust weather, lotus flowers are very clean. And no matter how dirty it is, it will be spotless after being rinsed. Even though He Xian’gu is surrounded by men, she still managed to maintain her charm and habits as a woman. This ability of He Xian’gu is a lot like the quality of the Lotus flower, which is why she uses Lotus Flower as her power tool.

Tieguai Li—a Life-changing Transformation

Tieguai Li, also named Li Xuan, was very handsome and was quite proud of his look before he became an Immortal. He paid much attention to his appearance. There is an idiom in the Chinese culture—“reviving in a new guise,” which could describe the process in which handsome Li Xuan became Tieguai Li the Immortal.

According to Taoism, when one practices Taoism for a long time, his spirit can leave the body to travel around the world. On one occasion, when Tieguai Li was going to travel, he told his disciples to watch his body carefully and said he would come back in seven days. However, on the sixth day of his travel, an emergency occurred at his disciple’s home. In addition, Tieguai Li’s body began to decompose. Therefore, the disciple thought that it was impossible for his master to go back again, and he burnt his body. After that, his disciple went back home. The next day, Li Xuan returned, but he couldn’t find his own body. He might become a traveling ghost if he couldn’t find a body. Time was almost up when he found a beggar’s corpse on the river bank. In such a critical moment, he didn’t have any choice, so his spirit entered the corpse. He stood up and staggered after entering into the body because the body only had one foot. In addition, this body was very dirty and smelly, and he couldn’t accept it at all. But gradually, his mind adapted to the new body and Tieguai Li didn’t care about his appearance anymore.

The writer conveys a profound idea through the story of Tieguai Li, which is that the inner world is much more important than appearance.

About the Novel

Various stories about the Eight Immortals had started to spread among the people before the novel appeared. The compilation course of “Journey to the East” is rather similar to that of “Water Margin,” one of the Four Great Classical Novels. Before “Water Margin” was compiled in the Ming Dynasty, stories of Wu Song, Lu Zhisheng, Li Kui, and others had existed independently. When compiling “Water Margin,” the writer Shi Nai’an puts the stories of these independent characters together in an ingenious way with “Song Jiang Uprising” as the core to compile.” This writing technique is called “coincided clue.” Similarly, “coincided clue” is applied to the writing of the “Journey to the East.”

Before the “Journey to the East” was compiled, stories of Tieguai Li, Lv Dongbin, existed independently and were well-known to people in different places and times. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the scholar Wu Yuantai gathered these stories and created the novel “Journey to the East” with the story of “the Eight Immortals crossing the sea” as the central clue of the novel.

Why were the stories of the Eight Immortals collected during the Ming Dynasty? There are two most important reasons. First, different genres of literary works flourish in different dynasties, such as fu poetry of the Han Dynasty, Tang poetry, Song ci, Yuan operas and novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, the novel as a literary form flourished. Three of the “Four Marvelous Masterpieces” are published in the Ming Dynasty which is “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” “Water Margin” and “Journey to the West.” In the Ming Dynasty, the novel became a popular literary genre.

The name of the novel “Journey to the East” also had a lot to do with the social environment of the Ming Dynasty. In essence, the story of the novel reflects the teachings of Taoism. In the novel, the primary goal of the Eight Immortals is to reach Penglai Island, which is considered as a sacred island which is occasionally visited by the gods according to Taoism. Because people in the Ming Dynasty believed in Taoism to an extreme extent, the novel was titled “Journey to the East.” A famous emperor, namely the Jiajing Emperor, in the Ming Dynasty had a favorite official Yan Song at his side, who was not a decent person. The reason why Yan Song was particularly favored by the Jiajing Emperor was that they both believe in Taoism. The Jiajing Emperor was so obsessed with Taoism that he would take elixirs on a regular basis. But before he tasted the elixirs himself, he would ask Yan Song to taste them first.

Sometimes, the Jiajing Emperor would refined elixirs himself. After he refined elixirs, nobody knew whether they were edible. However, he felt very satisfied after that. Once, after he refined elixirs, the Emperor ordered Yan Song to take them first and write a professional report at home afterward. He was required to write down his feelings to the letter. Later, because of this, the emperor was greatly touched. In short, the Jiajing Emperor was greatly interested in Taoism, as well as many other emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Under such a social background, literary works advocating Taoism like the “Journey to the East” written by Wu Yuantai could be created at this time.

The Purpose of the Book

The writer Wu Yuantai write the “Journey to the East” to advocate Taoism and compete with the “Journey to the West” which advocates Buddhism on equal terms. Even today, people can still learn a lot from the novel. In “Journey to the East,” “the Eight Immortals crossing the sea” is a major event in the novel. After attending the Peach Banquet of the Queen Mother of the West, the Eight Immortals traveled to the east. Originally, they could cross the sea safe and sound. However, they want to show off their power tools while crossing the sea. Therefore, during the process, Lan Caihe’s jade plate gave off a dazzling light that attracted the attention of the son of the Dragon King. Then the son snuck away from the jade plate in the Dragon Palace, resulting in a battle between the Eight Immortals and the Dragon King.

The Dragon King of the Four Seas once used the water of the four seas to submerge the Eight Immortals, while the Eight Immortals seized the opportunity to move Mount Tai horizontally to fill the seas. Their constant battle bought huge disasters for the world. For a period of time, the whole world was turned upside down, and people were suffering. At last, the Buddha and the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord headed off this battle. The Eight Immortals and the Dragon King were punished for their own acts. The Dragon King forfeited the salary of one year, while the Eight Immortals were demoted.

The story tells us that although you’ve become an immortal with supernatural power, you still can’t act on your own will. Take Han Zhongli as another example. Han Zhongli once wanted to defeat Xiongnu with foolhardiness, but Tieguai Li and other fellows back then actually used some means to let Han Zhongli fail to execute the military action. Tieguai believed that the universe and society had their own destinies. If someone disturbed them artificially, it would cause unpredictable results. In Chapter 37, Tieguai Li said angrily: “We can’t act recklessly as the world has its own destiny. People have their own fate, which can’t be changed.” This is a very important Taoist thought.

This Taoist thought can also be applied to the relations between man and nature. Humans should regard nature with reverence. For instance, when a famous cameraman or a team reaches the grasslands in Africa, and they see that little lions are killed by the male lion who just become the new head of the pride, the cameraman and the team should not save the lion cubs by shooting at the male lion even though it is very easy to do so. If they did, it would be against the law of nature.

Here is another example. It is said that Zhang Guolao had reached the unfettered state, the highest state recorded in “Zhuangzi” which is a state pursued by many Taoists. It implies a state of real freedom. In Zhuangzi’s eyes, nothing is more important than the freedom of life. Throughout the novel “Journey to the East,” Zhang Guolao reflects this thought of Zhuangzi vividly and perfectly.

For example, it was said that the Taizong Emperor once wanted to ask Zhang Guolao to serve in the court. However, when messengers came to his home, Zhang Guolao played dead on the ground. Moreover, his body had begun to stink and people could find live maggots on the body. Seeing this, messengers had to report to the emperor that Zhang Guolao had been dead. However, before long, Zhang Guolao reappeared in the streets. Later, he was asked again by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. This time he had no choice but to serve in Xuanzong’s palace. However, he still didn’t take Xuanzong’s demand seriously. In the end, he avoided the emperor’s persuasion by playing dead again. As far as his opinions are concerned, Zhang Guolao would rather travel around the world by riding a donkey than work for an emperor. Zhang Guolao believes in the Taoist thoughts of non-action and freedom.

Differences Between the Two “Journeys”

There are many differences between “The Journey to the East” and “The Journey to the West.” The first difference is the characters. A monkey, a pig, and a horse. It’s different from our daily life. Many characters in it have special backgrounds. Tang Monk, for example, was the Golden Cicada, a disciple of the Buddha before he was demoted to the human world. The reason for his demotion is that he doesn’t listen to Buddhist scriptures carefully. After he became an ordinary monk, he was diligent in the study of Buddhist scriptures. Sun Wukong is an unusual monkey in nature, who was born with the essence of heaven and the earth. In general, these characters are not from a simple background.

Characters of “Journey to the East,” however, are closer to us. They are all figures living around us and close to us to a certain extent. They’re different from those immortals in “Journey to the West.” It, to a certain extent, narrows the gap between immortals and us. It seems to tell people that as long as you try your best, you can make a difference.

The story of the “Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea” had its origin in folklore. It is said that in the Song Dynasty, there was a well-known place where criminals under severe punishment were exiled. The place is called Shamen Island. However, Shamen Island could accommodate a limited number of people. The imperial court didn’t allocate funds to it, and the food and the taxation from locals were used. The food could only support about 300 people, but more and more criminals were being sent to Shamen Island. Local officers came up with an idea. That is, the extra people would be pushed to the sea.

In a year, 50 criminals faced such a fate. They were pushed to the sea together. Most of them were drowned in the sea. Only eight particularly strong people manage to (seven men and one woman) use various tools like wooden boards, a calabash, a dipper, and other similar things to reach the territory of Penglai County over 300 li away. When the locals of Penglai County saw these eight people, they all felt very strange and thought the eight people were immortals, so they gave them the nickname “Eight Immortals.” The dipper and other tools used by the eight prisoners might be the source of the power tools of the Eight Immortals.

In general, “Journey to the West” and “Journey to the East” were both written in the Ming Dynasty, but their focus is different. “Journey to the West” by Wu Cheng’en insinuated the darkness and corruption of the Ming society at that time. He likened the corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty to demons who would eventually be sent to the West. Different from the sarcasm of the dark society in the “Journey to the West”, “Journey to the East” by Wu Yuantai used the Taoist ideas of Laozi and Zhuangzi to encourage people to do what they wanted to do and to be what they want to be.

Social Implications of the Novel

Besides the thoughts of Taoism, the work “Journey to the East” also contains some views of the writer on the present life. During the Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy had already been well developed. Greed, corruption and voluptuary lifestyle had become serious social problems of that time. Therefore, the writer wrote such a work “Journey to the East” to tell people to lead a decent life.

For example, in the book, Lv Dongbin once wanted to urge people to do good. When he sold oil in the market, he was determined that if someone bought his oil and didn’t ask him to give more, he would immortalize him. However, several days passed by, and only one old woman didn’t ask him to give her more oil. And Lv Dongbin wanted to test her further, so he put some rice into the well at her home. A few days later, the old woman’s well became a wine well.

More than a year later, Lv Dongbin once again went to the old woman’s home to check their status. The old woman wasn’t home at that time. Then he asked her son about what he thought of the well. Unexpectedly, her son replied: “This well has wine every day, and it’s quite good for sure, but there is still a pity. When other people make wine, there would be distiller’s grains leftover to feed pigs. If this well can have wine and distiller’s grains, it will be perfect.” After listening to this, Lv Dongbin felt very sorry. Greed is in the nature of man. After sighing, he took the rice from the wine well away, and the well became a common well again. This story tells us that people should not be too greedy and selfish in their life.

In the final analysis, each one of the Eight Immortals in the work “Journey to the East” is more like a person than a god. They care about people and strive to help those in need. Maybe it is why the Eight Immortals are still popular among the people today.