Ancient Cultivation story: Liu’an Wang from the Tao School

One morning, a skinny old man named Ba Gong wanted to see Wang. Upon seeing the old man with a big humped back, Wang’s guard said, “My Master only sees those extraordinary Taoist practitioners who know tricks and can achieve eternal long life. Frankly speaking, he will not see someone like you.” Thus the guard kept the old man out. Ba Gong said, “Fine. If it is simply because of my age that your Master is not willing to see me, then I can change it.” In a matter of seconds the old man changed himself into a young person. The guard ran to report this astonishment to his Master. When Wang heard that such a high achiever had come to see him, he was so eager to meet the old man that he did not even bother to put on his shoes, rushing all the way out with bare feet. Wang paid his highest respects to Ba Gong and asked very politely, “What could I do for such a high level deity like your excellency?” Ba Gong said, “I am the one who knows everything and I command the life and death of all beings in the world. I also command the changes in climates and time. Even ghosts and spirits have to follow my orders. At the same time I can move mountains around and I can live on the bottom of the sea. I can change into anything at will. There is almost nothing that I cannot achieve.” Upon hearing this Wang was very convinced and he paid more respects to Ba Gong. Wang invited the old man to stay and guide his Taoist practice.

One of Wang’s students, named Wu, did many bad things behind Wang’s back. He always worried that if one day his Master found out then he would be punished. Therefore the wicked Wu went to see the emperor and reported that his Master was planning to rebel. The emperor did not believe him. However, he decided to send for Wang to check it out. Even before the emperor’s messenger arrived, the old man told Wang, “Your student Wu is bad-mouthing you in front of the emperor. A student such as this will be punished by the heavens. You can now depart. I wonder if this is the way the heavens called upon you. If this scandal had not happened, I would have worried that you could have become accustomed to life in this human world after such a long time.” Upon saying this, Ba Gong asked the servants to cook some medicine and offered it to Wang and all his family. The remains were given to the chickens and the guard dogs. After taking the medicine, all 300 members of Wang’s family, together with all the animals, rose from the ground and ascended to the heavens.

Such is the origin of the ancient Chinese saying, “If one person achieves the Tao, even his chickens and dogs benefit from it”. However as time passed the meaning of this saying has changed from good to bad, and is now understood as, “If one person achieves fame and power even his servants benefit from it”.