Ancient Stories of Cultivaton: Taoist Jie Xiang

Jie Xiang came from Kueichi in the Epoch of the Three Kingdoms. He was well-read and knowledgeable, and learned many supernormal techniques and abilities through cultivating in the Eastern Mountains. Later he was told that "the Scripture of Nine-Dan" was for people to cultivate Dan. [Dan is an energy cluster developed in the lower abdomen] As a result, he walked several thousand miles in search of this Scripture along with some others. Jie Xiang was aware that what he had learned were only some trivial side ways of cultivation, not a great way. He then decided to quietly meditate and cultivate in the mountains hoping to meet supernatural beings some day.

One day, he felt exhausted and unconsciously fell asleep on a rock after walking a long way. When he dreamed of a tiger jumping toward him, he woke up suddenly and surprisingly saw a tiger wanting to eat him. Jie Xiang told the tiger: "You should not eat me because I am a cultivator. You were assigned by Heaven to protect me as opposed to eating me. If you were assigned by the Mountain Gods to test me, you'd better leave me alone."

As soon as the tiger heard the words, it turned its head and ran away immediately. As Jie Xiang continued to walk into a valley, he found lots of stones as big as eggs shinning with purple light. He picked up two of them unintentionally with his hands, and went on walking ahead. Because he couldn't find the way out in the valley, he then returned.

Shortly he met a 15-or-16-year-old pretty charming girl with colorful clothes standing on the roadside. Upon seeing the girl, Jie Xiang was aware that she was a fairy. Thus he bowed to her right away and asked her for an elixir. The girl said: "Put the stones back to the original place, and then come back here." Jie Xiang returned them to the original place quickly. Seeing the girl was still there, he bowed to her again and asked her to teach him something. The girl mentioned: "Your body is still full of impure odors. You may come back here to see me after you undergo three years of bigu (an ancient cultivation way by abstinence of food and water.)"

Jie Xiang thus went back to his home to practice bigu. On the same day three years later, he entered the mountains again, and saw the girl was still there waiting for him. After Jie Xiang bowed to her, she handed him the instructions about Dan-cultivations. She also told him that he might become a supernatural being if he took the Dan after he got one through cultivation.

Jie Xiang returned to his home, and started to cultivate the Dan according to the instructions. For a period of time, he cultivated in his cousin's place. One day he overheard some scholars arguing about historical issues next door. Jie Xiang could not help coming over to help settle their disputes. The scholars found that Jie Xiang was not an ordinary person, and reported it to King Wu (the lord of a state in the Epoch of the Three Kingdoms). After Jie Xiang heard of the news, he didn't want to be entangled by the bureaucracy, and planned to escape. But his cousin insisted that he should not leave, for fear of offending the King. Shortly after the King invited Jie Xiang to Wu-Chang. King Wu treated him very courteously and had a mansion built for him.

King Wu asked Jie Xiang to teach him the techniques of becoming invisible. After the King successfully learned the technique, he was able to enter and leave the palace without being noticed by anyone. One day King Wu and Jie Xiang were debating on what kind of fish was most delicious. Jie Xiang maintained that shark was the best, but the King wondered how they could get the fish as it lived in the sea. Jie Xiang replied that it was easy, and asked someone to make a small pond in the yard of the palace. After filling the pond with water and getting some fishing rods, Jie Xiang got some sharks from the pond. King Wu said: "I was told that the ginger grow in Si-Chuan is very tasty. I was wondering if you can get some here."
Jie Xiang replied: "No problem." He then asked the King to call a servant, and handed fifty cents to him. He asked the servant to close his eyes, and rode on a bamboo pole with Taoist magic charm to buy the ginger. As expected, the servant bought some ginger from Cheng-Du before long. An emissary of the Kingdom Wu, by the name of Wen Zhang, happened to be in Cheng-Du, and bumped into the servant. He was very much shocked by the scenario, and then wrote to ask for the truth. Gradually Jie Xiang's Taoist supernormal techniques were known to everyone in the Kingdom Wu.

After staying in the Kingdom Wu for a certain period of time, Jie Xiang requested to leave a couple of times, but were rejected by King Wu. One day Jie Xiang asked someone to tell the King that he himself was sick. The King sent someone to see him along with a basket of pears. Shortly after eating the pears, Jie Xiang died. King Wu ordered to have an honorable burial for him. Afterward, it was said that someone saw Jie Xiang in the mountains again, and that Jie Xiang looked like much younger than before. King Wu ordered to open the coffin, but only to find an empty coffin with nothing inside except for a Taoist paper charm.

Source: "Chronicle of the Supernatural Beings of Various Age"

(Translated from: http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200208/11629.html