Fang Changxu
#Taoist classics
·2022-08-20 23:32:13
Fang Changxu didn't know his name. According to the "Great Mountain Taihe Mountain Annals" citing the "Biography of Wudang", during the Southern Song Dynasty, he practiced under a hidden name in Wudang. He first resided in the Five Dragons Palace. During the day, he spent his time planting pine and fir trees, and in his spare time, he practiced cultivation. One day, the God Xuanwu transformed into a human and asked him why he was so dedicated to planting trees every day. He said, "This is the merit that should be accumulated in one's spare time from spiritual cultivation." After hearing this, the Xuanwu God said, "Your heart has been purified to a very high degree, but you don't need to speak. You lack the appearance of a celestial being." I'll help you." Having said that, she wiped her face and left. Fang Changxu was very surprised and didn't know why. That night, when I slept in bed, I only felt a thread-like sensation lingering on my chest and an itchy feeling on my cheeks. Then he woke up immediately, lit the lamp and looked around. The beard on his chest was already over a foot long. Because a beard suddenly grew in the room, it was later called "long beard of the room". Later, Fang Changxu personally dug a cave on Wudang Mountain, practiced in it, served the Xuan Emperor, and refused to eat any grain. On the first day of the third month of the first year of the Chunxi era (1174 AD), a Taoist priest in the mountain suddenly saw Fang Changxu riding a crane on the clouds and leaving. Seeing his residence, only his walking stick and straw sandals were still there. By the Qing Dynasty, most of the ancient cypresses around the Wulong Palace were hand-planted by Fang Changxu. According to the analysis, Fang Changxu seems to be an official of the Northern Song Dynasty. Due to the Jingkang Rebellion (1162 AD), the Northern Song Dynasty fell. Unwilling to bear the national humiliation, he moved south and thus became a monk under a hidden name. He was about eighty to ninety years old when he passed away.