Ancient Cultivation Stories: Wang Lei

Edited by Zhu Yueyue

Wang Lei was also known as Chang Lin. He came from Hebei province and it was said he lived to be more than three hundred and thirty years old, even though his features still remained very youthful.

Wang Lei was very capable; he could walk mountainous routes and arduous paths without effort and he was a very knowledgeable and versatile scholar, who always discussed ancient scripts. He was also highly respected by officials also, including Yi Kang [one of the Seven Gentlemen of Bamboo Forest] who would often go to the mountains with him for a walk or to obtain some medicine.

Later, Wang Leo went to live on Taixing Hill alone. One day he heard the sound of a landside occurring from the eastern side of the hill, which was like thunder. Not knowing what was happening, he went over to take a look. He found that the hillside had a crack that was a few hundred meters in length with blue stone on both sides and a hole a few meters in width in the middle. A marrow-like mud was continuously flowing out of the hole. Wang Lei tried to mould a handful of the mud into a round ball. Within a short while, the mud had solidified to become stone, just as melted wax would harden upon been rolled. The mud pellet smelled like rice and when he chewed it, it also tasted like rice. Wang Lei tasted a few of these mud balls and went back, telling Yi Kang, ” I have found some unusual stuff”. However, when Yi Kang went over to have a look, the mud pellets had turned into blue stone pellets. Also, when Wang Lei brought Yi Kang to the place of the landslide there was no sign of a landslide.

Later on Wang Lei went into Baodu Hill in the Shandong province. Here he saw a stone house and within the house there was a white stone table and on the shelf there were two plain books. Wang Lei picked up the books and realized that he couldn’t recognize any of the characters contained in it. Wang Lei, not daring to take the book away, placed the book on the white stone shelf again. However he memorized some of the words, which he showed to Yi Kang upon his return. Yi Kang recognized all of the words and they planned to go back to the stone house together. Wang Lei could clearly remember the journey back to the stone house; however upon arriving at the location of the stone house, they couldn’t find the house. Later on Wang Lei told his disciples in private, “Yi Kang is not a cultivator hence he is not allowed to see the stone house.” According to the Scripture of God, every 500 hundred years, the Stone Mountain God will crack, from which stone marrow will flow out. People who receive and ingest the stone marrow will live as long as the earth and heaven.

In the year of Yong yu, when Wang Lei went to Shangxi Province for a visit, an elderly man of over ninety years old with the family name of Zhang, respectfully paid his tribute to Wang, Wang Lei accepted his bow. People at the same table criticized Wang Lei for being rude and impolite. Zhang’s elder said, “I saw him when I was only a seven or eight year-old, he looks just as he did then. I am now over ninety years old and he still looks so youthful.” Nobody knew where Wang Lei went thereafter.

Source of information: “Tai Ping Guan Ji”