Chisongzi Refines Elixir at Tianmen
Chisongzi Refines Elixir at Tianmen. Around Tianmen Mountain, sixteen peaks cluster like stars around the moon, one of them called Danzao Peak, said to be named for Chisongzi's elixir refining. Chisongzi was the Rain Master of the Shennong era. Tall and elegant, with a face like morning glow, he seemed forever in his thirties. As Rain Master, when he willed rain, it rained; when he willed clear skies, they cleared—rain every five days...
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Chisongzi Refines Elixir at Tianmen
Around Tianmen Mountain, sixteen peaks cluster like stars around the moon, and one of them is called Danzao Peak (Elixir Stove Peak), said to be named after Chisongzi's elixir refining.
Chisongzi was the Rain Master of the Shennong era. Tall and elegant, with a face like the morning glow, he seemed forever only about thirty years old.
When Chisongzi served as Rain Master, if he willed rain, it rained; if he willed clear skies, they cleared. Rain every five days was called Xingyu (traveling rain), every ten days Guyu (grain rain), and every fifteen days Shiyu (seasonal rain). Because he possessed such great power, the common people of that time called the rain he brought divine rain.
Chisongzi was skilled in the arts of breath regulation and guided breathing, abstained from grains, and often ate fire mushrooms as his meals. He loved wolfberries most of all, so his teeth would grow, fall out, and grow again. He also urged Shennong to consume water jade, saying it could allow one to enter fire without being burned, and he won the deep admiration of Shennong's youngest daughter. After resigning from his post as Rain Master, he invited Shennong's youngest daughter to accompany him in visiting famous mountains and traveling the four seas.
At some unknown time, he came to Dayong County, where Shun had exiled Huandou. He first went up Zhangjiajie, then climbed Tianmen Mountain. He believed that Tianmen Mountain, a solitary peak towering into the sky, was full of spiritual energy and suitable for cultivation and dwelling. So he devoted himself to refining elixir at the foot of Danzao Peak. The Qing dynasty poet Ye Shouli intoned:
The sheer cliffs cut off the mortal world,
Above, an immortal learns to refine elixir.
The elixir done, the crane has flown away,
Only the elixir stove remains among the peaks.
Exactly when and why Chisongzi left remains a mystery.
But wherever he went, places were named after him and have been passed down to this day—such as Chisong Mountain, Chisong Flat, Chisong Village, Chisong Bridge, Chisong Cliff, Chisong Stream, and Songzi Ridge (in Zhangjiajie Park). After Chisongzi lived in seclusion at Tianmen Mountain and Zhangjiajie, he attracted many notable figures to follow. Qu Yuan, the grandee of the Warring States period, and Zhang Liang, a famous minister of the Han dynasty, both "roamed with Chisongzi," coming to Tianmen Mountain and Zhangjiajie to seek traces of him. Later, some ancient texts recorded Chisongzi's whereabouts in scattered fragments. The Lu Shi says: "Chisongzi was a feudal lord in the time of Emperor Yan, and in old age dwelt in a stone chamber in Xiangyang. The emperor once paid him the respects of a disciple."
The Liexian Zhuan says: "There was a Chisongzi who, in the time of the Yellow Emperor, ate the flowers of a hundred plants and did not eat grains, and still existed in the time of Yao. This is the one Zhang Liang wished to follow." The Continued Gazetteer of Yongding County says: "Chisongzi is said to have lived in seclusion on Chisong Mountain, and to this day there is an elixir stove there."
[Appendix] Preface to the Chisong Bridge Stele
Chisong Bridge is located at Chisong Stream in Daping Town, at the southern foot of Tianmen Mountain in present-day Yongding District. Before the Ming dynasty it was a wooden bridge, and during the Qianlong reign it was converted into a wind-and-rain bridge. In the fifteenth year of Daoguang it was destroyed by flood, and that same year local gentry raised funds to rebuild it. The existing Chisong Bridge was rebuilt once more after being swept away by flood in 1954. Its stele inscription was composed after the restoration in the fifteenth year of Daoguang in the Qing dynasty, and the full text reads as follows:
I have heard that among the ancients there was one Chisongzi, the Rain Master of the time of the Yellow Emperor. In Tang poetry one still encounters Chisongzi; Master Chen Zi'ang also sang of him. Our forebears named this bridge after him—was it this man or not? In any case, there must be some explanation for it. The bridge was first built in the Qianlong reign, at great expense of toil. Yet alas, the floodwaters ran wild and the bridge collapsed. This spring, in a moment of leisure, we all opened our purses, and the bridge was completed again. From Yuandian above to Fushou below, all is now connected. This is the preface. Written by the licensed scholar Zhao Zongzhou. Erected on an auspicious day in the spring month of the fifteenth year of Daoguang, year of Yiwei, Longfei.