Xu Ziping

Xu Ziping, according to the "Encyclopedias", was a person of the Jin Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor An (379-418 AD), he served as the magistrate of Huayin (now Huayin County, Shaanxi Province). Later, he gave up his official position to study Taoism and secluded himself at the foot of the fishing platform in the Shalang Stream of Wudang Mountain (this point is not known today). Xu Ziping was most proficient in the art of medical acupuncture. According to legend, the most renowned elixir of the Wudang Taoist School during the Ming and Qing dynasties, "Eight Treasures Purple Gold Tablets", was first developed by Xu Ziping. Later, it was further refined and improved by Zhang Sanfeng, a Wudang Great Pill Taoist during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. At Xu's time, there were only nine ingredients in this medicine. By Zhang Sanfeng, it had been enriched to one hundred and eight ingredients. This medicine, due to its ability to cure all diseases and its extraordinary efficacy, was once bestowed upon Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty and listed as a secret treasure of the Wudang Taoist Sect to protect the mountain. Xu Ziping ascended to immortality on Wudang Mountain in the second year of Long 'an (398 AD). The younger Taoist disciples enshrined a statue of Xu Zhenjun in the Shigu Nunnery of Wudang Mountain. By the Tang Dynasty, Li Xuzhong, a censor-in-chief, accompanied Zen Master Yunyou (as recorded in the "Brief History of Taoism in Wudang", this Zen master Yunyou was the renowned astronomer Thich Nhat Hanh of the time) and Xu Dasheng of the Qiantang Dongzhai to visit Wudang. They paid homage at the temple of Xu Zhenjun and attempted to explore Xu's secret arts but failed. One night, the three of them spent the night at Wudang Mountain and had the same dream. In the dream, Xu Zhenjun told them that there was a pill scripture hidden somewhere below the fishing platform in the Shalang Stream. The next day, the three people went to the place as shown in their dreams to search and found three volumes of elixir scriptures, namely: "The Treatise on the Determination of Truth", "The Chapter on Joy and Sorrow", and "The Chapter on the Continuation of Goodness". It was then published by them.