Tales of the Taoist Immortals (10 page)

Magicians

18

The Celestial Teacher

Chang Tao-ling

Chang Tao-ling stood over seven feet tall and had bushy eyebrows, a large round forehead, and a hawk-beak nose. On the sole of his right foot were seven black dots arranged in the pattern of the seven stars of the Big Dipper. He had long, powerful arms that came down to his knees, and he walked with the strength of a tiger and the speed of a dragon.

Just before Chang Tao-ling was conceived, his mother dreamed that she saw a giant descending from the North Star. The lord of the North Star came toward her and gave
her a flower. When she awoke the next morning, she smelled wisps of fragrance in her room and discovered that she had conceived a child. The fragrance lasted throughout the ten months she carried the baby in her womb.

On the day Chang Tao-ling was born, a yellow cloud covered the house and purple mist hovered about his mother’s bedchamber. When he came out of his mother’s womb, music and fragrance filled the air, and the room was flooded with light that matched the brilliance of the sun and moon.

Chang Tao-ling was exceptionally intelligent. At seven, he understood the teachings of Lao Tzu’s
Tao-te-ching
. By twelve, he had mastered the
I-ching
and the classics of divination. As a young man, Tao-ling served his community as a provincial administrator, but he continued to study the arts of the Tao.

One day, while he was meditating in his retreat, a white tiger came to his side. In its mouth was a scroll of sacred scripture. Chang Tao-ling knew that it was time for him to leave the world of politics to pursue the Tao.

He resigned his position as civil administrator and became a hermit in the mountains. When the emperor heard about Chang Tao-ling’s retirement, he offered him the title of “imperial teacher” and begged him to return to government service. Three times the emperor invited him, and each time Chang Tao-ling refused.

When Chang Tao-ling realized that he would not be left in peace, he moved to the remote and mountainous region of Szechwan. There, where the streams ran deep and the waterfalls cascaded down precipitous cliffs, he selected a cave where he could meditate, learn the arts of immortality, and attain the Tao.

Tao-ling stayed in his cave for many years until one day he heard the cry of a white crane. He knew it was a sign that
he would attain enlightenment soon. A year later, when he was stoking the fires of his furnace to incubate the Dragon-Tiger Elixir, a red shaft of light appeared and illuminated the cavern. Another year went by, and a white tiger and a green dragon came into the cave and sat by the side of the cauldron to protect the elixir. Finally, three years after Chang Tao-ling had heard the call of the white crane, the elixir was completed and he became an immortal.

Tao-ling left his cave and traveled throughout the river valleys and mountains of Szechwan. On one of his journeys he met Lao Tzu, who taught him how to fly to the stars and tunnel under the earth. When Lao Tzu departed, he gave his pupil a scroll of talismans that had the power to heal the sick and a magic sword that could drive away malevolent spirits.

As time went on, Chang Tao-ling’s skill in the arts of sorcery matured. Soon he could make himself invisible or change himself into any shape he wished. He could hear and see over great distances and could call down rain and snow. He could heal the sick and drive away evil spirits. His fame spread far and wide, and people called him the Celestial Teacher, for they believed that he was an immortal from the celestial realm.

When six evil spirits were wreaking havoc in Szechwan, Lao Tzu appeared to Chang Tao-ling and told him to return there to capture the spirits and bring them to judgment. Tao-ling secluded himself for one thousand days to prepare for this encounter.

When the six lords of evil heard that Chang Tao-ling was preparing to fight them, they gathered a large army of ghosts, ghouls, zombies, and other evil creatures. Meanwhile, the immortal also made preparations. He selected a green mound outside the city of Cheng-tu and built a tower
with an altar in the middle. On the altar he placed objects of power, such as magical mirrors, bells, and talismans.

At the hour of
tzu
(11:00 pm), Chang Tao-ling ascended the tower and invoked the wind, rain, and thunder to beat upon the army of the evil spirits. He also drew talismans of power and called on the celestial deities to fight the evil forces. The lords of evil sent flaming spears and arrows to hit Chang Tao-ling, but none of them could harm him. As the deadly missiles flew toward him, he waved his sword of power, and they were transformed into lotus flowers.

The lords of evil then sent an army of hungry ghosts to attack Chang Tao-ling, but when they reached the altar, the immortal drew a talisman, and all the ghosts fell on their knees and begged for compassion. Next the six evil lords sent an army of ghouls, vampires, and zombies to attack Chang Tao-ling. When these creatures came near the altar, he rang his magical bells, and the undead clutched their ears and fell to the ground, never to rise again.

Seeing their minions had failed, the lords of evil came forward themselves to attack Chang Tao-ling, who grasped his sword and drew the Great Seal of Power. The sword emitted a stream of bright light that was transformed into a net. The net descended over the six evil spirits and formed a cage around them. When the evil ones saw their captor striding toward them with his sword of power, they begged for mercy and forgiveness. Tao-ling said to them, “You have brought illness and suffering to many people, and for these evil deeds, you must be punished. But, as the Celestial Way is compassionate, I will not kill you. I will, however, punish you by keeping you locked inside the depths of a mountain. In this way you will not harm people again.”

When the people saw that the six lords of evil had been captured, they went to thank Chang Tao-ling and asked him
to teach them his magic. He did not want to turn them away, so he told them to organize themselves into groups to help people who were in need. He also told them that the most effective way to fight evil was to do good deeds. If everyone did only what was good, evil could not take hold.

To his close followers, Chang Tao-ling taught the magic of talismans and told them to always use the power of sorcery for good, never for evil. On the day he ascended to the celestial realm, he left the sword of power and the Great Seal to his son and entrusted him to teach and lead the followers of the Celestial Teachers’ Way.

C
HANG
T
AO-LING
lived during the latter part of the Han dynasty (206
BCE
–219
CE
). He founded the School of Taoism known as T’ien-shih Tao (the Celestial Teachers’ Way) and is regarded as the father of organized religious Taoism.

19

The Wandering Healer

Fei Chang-fang

Fei Chang-fang had been interested in the Taoist arts ever since he was a child. He served as a police officer in the marketplace of a small town, but when he realized that he did not want to pursue a career in the government, he resigned.

One day not long after this, Chang-fang saw an old man arrive in the marketplace. The man went to a quiet corner, took some medicinal herbs out of a large gourd, and sat
down on the ground to wait for customers. Fascinated by the old man’s demeanor, Chang-fang watched him all day from the terrace of a restaurant. At the end of the day, after the other merchants had left, the old man gathered up his herbs and, to Chang-fang’s surprise, jumped inside the gourd.

After watching the stranger’s behavior for several days, Fei Chang-fang’s curiosity got the better of him. He walked over to the old man’s herb stand, but before he could speak a word of greeting, the old man dived into the gourd.

Chang-fang peered inside and saw a large hall decorated with silks and tapestries. A table was set in the middle of the chamber, and on the table was food and wine. Presently, the old man came toward Chang-fang and said, “Ordinary people cannot see me enter the gourd. Since you can, you must have the potential to learn magic.” The old man then invited Chang-fang into his home for dinner. The younger man found that he too could fit inside the gourd.

Fei Chang-fang and the old man in the gourd soon became good friends. Daily, the younger man would visit the herb seller in the gourd and discuss the mysteries of the Tao.

One evening, the old man confided to Chang-fang, “I am an immortal who has broken the laws of heaven. I’m here because the celestial lords have ordered me to make amends by selling herbs and healing people in the mortal realm.” Laughing, he continued, “My ‘prison term’ will be over tomorrow and I will be returning to the lands of immortality.”

His young friend was sad when he heard this and said, “Since this is our last night together, let’s get drunk and forget about the sadness of parting.”

That evening, Fei Chang-fang invited the old man to his favorite restaurant and ordered a large keg of wine. When
the old man saw that the waiters could not lift the barrel, he walked over, hefted the keg effortlessly over his shoulder, and set it on their table.

The two men drank all night long. When dawn broke, the old man said to Chang-fang, “I know that you want to learn the Taoist arts, so I’m going to invite you to come with me to the immortal lands to be my apprentice.”

Chang-fang was tempted to accept the old man’s offer. He thought for a moment and said, “I’ve always wanted to learn the Taoist arts and now I’ve been given the opportunity. I’d like to go with you, but I don’t want my parents to worry about me while I’m gone.”

The immortal said, “I have a solution for that.”

Early the next morning, the old man accompanied Fei Chang-fang to his home. The immortal tied a rope to a bamboo stick and hung it on a tree. “Stay and watch,” he told Chang-fang.

Not long after sunrise, the young man’s parents came out of the house and saw their son hanging from the tree. They wept bitterly, took the body down, and prepared it for burial. All this time, Chang-fang was standing nearby watching. He tried to tell his parents that he wasn’t really dead, but he found they could not hear him. He tried to put his hand on his father’s shoulder, but his parents acted as if nothing had happened. Chang-fang slowly turned away and followed the old man into the mountains.

The immortal led him into a cave and said, “Sit down on this slab of rock.”

When Chang-fang had settled himself on the rock, the old man hung a large boulder over his pupil’s head. Then he conjured up snakes that began to bite at the rope with their sharp fangs. Soon the rope began to fray, and the boulder was suspended by only one thin strand. When
Chang-fang continued to sit on the rock as if nothing was happening, the old man said, “Not bad. You have the potential to learn magic and divination.”