SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

immortality

  • Commentary on Body, Shadow, and Spirit

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    The Body, Shadow, and Spirit is a series of five-character-per-line poems. The first poem features the Body addressing the Shadow: while the physical forms of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers endure forever, and grass and trees can regenerate even after withering, the human body is destined to die and vanish. Therefore, one should seize…

  • Body, Shadow, and Spirit (2 of 3)

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    The Shadow Replies to the BodyTo preserve this life forever is impossible;To nurture the body is a clumsy, futile endeavor.I truly wished to roam the peaks of Kunlun and Mount Hua,But that path is distant and entirely cut off.Since you and I first met,We have never differed in sorrow or joy.When you rest in…

  • Body, Shadow, and Spirit (1 of 3)

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    This poem is the first in a famous three-poem series where Tao Yuanming personifies three aspects of human existence: the physical Body, the Shadow, and the Spirit. This structure is deeply influenced by Buddhist and Daoist philosophical debates of the Wei-Jin period regarding the nature of the soul and the afterlife.

  • Murder Most Foul: When friends push you to the edge

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    This essay compares Cheng Xian (Becoming an Immortal) with Water Margin’s Cui‑ping Mountain episode. It explores how friends push men into irreversible choices, contrasting worldly outlawdom with Taoist immortality and questioning noble‑intentioned cruelty.

  • The Ear Dweller

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    From Pu Songling’s Liaozhai, this tale tells of scholar Tan Jinxuan. Obsessed with Daoist inner‑alchemy meditation, he hears a tiny voice in his ear. A miniature demon emerges, yet flees at a sudden knock, driving Tan mad. It warns against craving supernatural visions.

  • Jiao Shen [Biographies of Noble Scholars]

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    Daoist Jiao Shen practiced immortality arts and lived secluded. He ignored Wu Cang’s letter persuading him to serve the court. Unmarried, he predicted his own death; later sighted in Dunhuang, he was deemed an immortal. His townsman Ma Yao also lived a simple hermit’s life.

  • An Qisheng [Biographies of Noble Scholars]

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    Daoist immortal An Qisheng sold herbs by the sea and never took office. He rejected Emperor Qin’s lavish treasures, leaving red jade shoes and an invitation to meet at Penglai. Later he also turned down noble rank offered by Xiang Yu.

  • Lu Tong [Biographies of Noble Scholars]

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    Lu Tong, the Madman of Chu, feigned madness to evade officialdom. He sang to dissuade Confucius from political pursuit, preaching the Daoist “utility of the useless”. Rejecting royal recruitment, he and his wife secluded themselves on Mount Emei.

  • Seven-Character Quatrain – Immortal Cave on Lushan [Mao’s Poems]

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    –Mao Zedong, September 9, 1961 Amid dusk’s haze stands the strong pine,Through wild cloud surges, calm it doth shine.A cave of immortals by nature’s design –All grandest sights on perilous peak align.