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Introduction to the History of Great Light: Origins and Immortals

The author of The History of Great Light, Huai-Nan-Tzu (sometimes called Lui An, Liu Ngan, or Lew Gan), was a grandson of the Emperor Kao Ti (or Kao Tsu), the founder of the Han Dynasty, who ascended the throne in 206 B.C. and died in 195 B.C.

The father of Huai-Nan-Tzu was prince Li and his mother a lady of the court of the prince of Chao.

The date of his birth is not known, but he is said to have died in 122 B.C.

Huai-Nan-Tzu, although of royal lineage, preferred to devote his life to scholarship and spiritual philosophy rather than to the occupations of a courtier, and gradually he gathered about him a group of the most profound exponents of Taoism and men of kindred interests.

He was a man of exceptional ability, with a widely extended mental horizon and a deeply religious reverence for all that is Divine.

The Eight Sages, who are said to have been his companions, teachers and collaborators, were especially venerated for their holiness and wisdom. In some accounts they are identified with the Eight Taoist Immortals.

In early Chinese records it is difficult to distinguish between fact and legend, history and myth, as is evident from the legendary character of the accounts of the Eight Immortals which are subsequently given.

This legendary element enters into many fabulous tales associated with the life of Huai-Nan-Tzu himself, for many miraculous adventures are told concerning him.

He is said to have learned from the Eight Sages the secret of the Elixir of Life.

A dramatic and humorous fable relates that after he had drunk of the Elixir, he and the Sages mounted upon a cloud and sailed up to heaven. Huai-Nan-Tzu, however, dropped the vessel containing the Elixir into his courtyard, where his dogs and the farmyard animals licked the dregs and at once sailed up to heaven after him.

Such tales as these are in accordance with the mentality of a people steeped in mystical lore and although they are fantastic when regarded in a literal sense, if their symbolic significance is understood, behind the fabulous setting are to be found luminous truths.

This work of Huai-Nan-Tzu is little known, being over-shadowed by the writings of Lao-Tzu and Chuang Tzu, but a perusal of it will convince the student of mystical philosophy that it is worthy of careful study. Its profundity of thought is illuminated by bright flashes of delightful humour, and through out it breathes a peace and a perpetual joy which characterize the writings of all true exponents of Taoist Mysticism.

In The History of The Great Light Huai-Nan-Tzu presents his teachings in the paradoxical method adopted by Lao-Tzu in The Simple Way, using as illustrations the common things of everyday life, suggesting, by means of contrast and analogy, the inner realities of Tao, the balance of the masculine and the feminine, the balance of the light and the dark, and the sublime virtues of the soul when it is united to Tao. Thus the moral of the teachings is within the comprehension of the most simple, while the mode of life which they advocate may be practised by all. Their very simplicity, however, veils an inner depth of meaning which can only be fully revealed when union with Tao has been attained.

The Eight Immortals are very interesting figures in the legendary lore of Taoism. They are the subjects of stories, poems and paintings, and each of them is credited with possessing marvellous qualities and mystic powers. A symbol also is assigned to each of them, the significance of which will gradually become evident through reflection.

The number eight is especially venerated by the Taoists, probably because of the basic nature of the Eight Kwa of theYang and Yin Diagrams. * upon which many of their metaphysical speculations are founded.

The Eight Taoist Immortals are described as follows :-

1. Chung-li K'uan, the first and greatest, is said to have discovered the Elixir of life. His symbol is the peach, an emblem of longevity. He is also depicted as carrying a fan with which he could revive the dead.
2. Chung Kwoh-Lao. A recluse with mystic powers. He is said to have had a mule that could carry him a thousand miles in a day, which he could fold up like a piece of paper and put in his wallet. When again required he had simply to sprinkle it with water and it resumed its normal proportions. His symbols are a musical instrument made of bamboo, called the Yu Ku, and the feather of the Phoenix, the bird of immortality.
3. Lu Tung-pin. A Taoist scholar and recluse, who received the secret of immortality from Chung-li K'uan. During his probation he is described as having to undergo ten temptations, upon the overcoming of which he was given a sword possessing supernatural powers. With this he rid the country of dragons and other monsters that infested it. His symbols are the sword and the Taoist fly-brush.
4. Ts'ao Kuo-chiu. A military commander who turned hermit. Once when meditating, the wall of his cave was rent asunder, disclosing a casket of jade containing a scroll upon which were written the secrets of immortality and of the transmutation of metals. As he followed the instructions given therein the cave became filled with luminous clouds out of which came a stork, upon whose back he was transported to the Happy Land of Immortality. He is the patron saint of the drama, and his symbols are a pair of castanets and a feather fan.
5. Li T'ieh-Kuai. A beggar with a crutch. He is said to have been a disciple of Lao-Tzu, who summoned him to Heaven, instructing him to leave his body in the care of a pupil. During his absence the pupil was summoned to the bedside of his dying mother, and the body in his charge, being considered dead, was consigned to the flames. Li T'ieh-Kuai, on returning, found only a heap of ashes, so he entered the body of a beggar who had just died and in this continued his life. His symbols are a pilgrim's gourd, containing magical medicines with which he healed many of the sick, and a crab. He is sometimes represented as accompanied by a deer. He is the patron saint of Apothecaries.
6. Han Hsang-Tzu. Scholar, poet and student of transcendental lore. He is said to have been able to make flowers grow before the eyes of the beholders.* He was a pupil of Lu Tung-pin, and was instructed by him to climb a peach tree, whereupon he fell from its branches and became immortal. He is the patron saint of musicians, and his symbol is the flute, which he is usually represented as playing.
7. Lan Ts'ai-ho. A woman, who was a strolling singer, whose songs told about the unreality of this fleeting life and the delusiveness of earthly pleasures. She was dressed in a blue robe and wore only one shoe. At the end of her earthly life she disappeared into a cloud. Her symbol is a basket of flowers, and she is the patron saint of florists.
8. Ho Hsien-Ku. Called the Immortal Maiden. In a vision she was instructed that if she ate mother-of-pearl she would gradually become immortal. She lived in the mountains and became more and more ethereal, floating from peak to peak. At last, dispensing with earthly food, she attained her quest. Her symbol is the lotus, the flower of open-heartedness.

The idea of immortality permeates the whole of the Taoist teachings and finds expression in various passages of The History of Great Light. Its conscious attainment is one of the fruits of the truly alchemical life with which the more profound teachings of Taoism are concerned. It is realized only through the soul's perfective union with Tao, which union, as all true mystics teach, may be accomplished in this present life, and is not necessarily reserved for the after death state or for some future life.

Taoism, while appearing to depreciate the things of this world, does so only in contrast to the world of reality, in comparison with which they are only as shadows to substance; as the reflected beauty of nature to the transcendent beauty of the spiritual world; as the temporal existence of the body to the immortal life of the soul.

The aim of Taoist teachings is to free man from attachments to all that is transient, thus enabling him both to use and to enjoy all things to the fullest possible extent by assigning them to their proper place in his life.

Numerous methods are given in Taoist writings for the realization of immortality, foremost among which is a system of mental and mystical discipline.

The unfoldment of the higher faculties of the mind whereby it is related to the realities of the spiritual realms, and the control of the lower nature so that it functions normally, will ever be man's chief means for the elevation of the little self to the great Self, whereby he participates consciously in Eternal Life.

A body kept fit and healthy by proper exercise and diet can, however, help in the accomplishment of the soul's purpose; Consequently most mystical systems contain instructions regarding the care of the physical part of man, in order that it may be given its correct place in a complete rule of life, and neither hinder him by its ill-health, nor prematurely decay and perish.

The search for the true Elixir of Immortality through the discipline of the whole nature, and through identification with Tao, often degenerated in the later decadent ages into a superstitious hunt for longevity, or the preservation of physical existence by numerous magical arts of an inordinate and a godless character.

A clear distinction should, however, be made between immortality and longevity, since the former belongs to the soul, while the latter pertains merely to the external nature.

The physical body, being generated in time, is subject to the constant changes which are inseparable from all corporeal existence's; consequently, although it is said mystically to "put on immortality", it can neither be immortal nor can it become immortal, whatsoever processes are employed in endeavouring to make it so.

The essence of soul, however, belongs to the spiritual realm, which is eternal: therefore, is essentially immortal.

But until his spiritual nature is unfolded, man identifies himself with his body and the material world, and these obscure his real Self and prevent him from realizing his true nature: thus he is not conscious of his essential immortality.

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