Lee So Hee

Li Suxi, styled Youyan and with the pseudonym Mingshi, was from Luoyang, Henan Province. A renowned Taoist priest on Wudang Mountain during the Ming Dynasty. According to the "Great Mountain Taihe Mountain Annals" and the "Junzhou Annals", Li left his family at the end of the Yuan Dynasty to enter the Wudang Taoist School, where he studied under Shan Dao 'an and was a disciple of Zhang Shouqing. Because of his high reputation, he served as the abbot of the Five Dragons Palace in the early years of the Hongwu reign. Later, he retired to a natural hermitage, delved deeply into the study of the I Ching, and devoted himself to the cultivation of Taoist affairs. In the third year of Yongle (1405 AD), the Wudang plum tree bore fruit. Li Suxi sent a Taoist priest named Yi Benzhong to present it as tribute to the capital, and was highly rewarded by the imperial court. The following year, the plum trees bore fruit again, and the rare and precious Qianlin tea was sent to Taoist Priest Lyu Zhengzhong to present as a reward once more. Li Suxi then went to the capital to express her gratitude. Zhu Di ordered Li Suxi to sit in the side hall and asked about state affairs and health preservation. Li Suxi responded with morality to all of them. Zhu Di was overjoyed and treated him with great courtesy, returning Wudang. Later, he repeatedly sent Qianlin tea to the capital. Zhu Di, considering his hard work in sending them, issued an imperial edict to exempt them from being sent. In the tenth year of Yongle, Zhu Di sent Zhang Xin and Mu Xin to supervise the construction of the Wudang Temple. He inquired about the ancient sites and old regulations from Zhu Di and presented them all to him. On the fifth day of the sixth lunar month in the 19th year of Yongle (1421 AD), Li Suxi instructed his disciples, "Now that the sect has flourished, you should each focus on your spiritual practice. I will go." Having said that, he sat upright with his eyes closed. When he passed away, Wang Heqin, the chief of the Ministry of Revenue, was by his side. He was ninety-three years old at that time. After being burned, all the bones and teeth turned green, and everyone was amazed. His ashes, a crown sword, were hidden in the Black Tiger Ravine.