Of Encountering Immortals 遇仙 – Zhiguai Translations

An Immortal Treats Reversed Hands 仙醫反掌

In the market of Huofu, in Wanzai County, there was a beggar surnamed Guo, whose left hand and both feet were all twisted upwards. This only allowed him to scrape along the ground leaning on a staff held in his right hand, so people called him ‘Scrape Guo’. His mother was elderly and suffered from arthritis; his younger brother suffered in the same way. Scrape went out to beg on the first and fifteenth day of each month. The people of the market all felt sympathy for him and treated him generously, so he was able to support both mother and brother, gathering a month’s worth of provisions, and he went on like this for eighteen years without resentment. In the winter of the second year Yuanzhen (1296), he encountered a Daoist who, seeing his extreme poverty, and his voluntary support for mother and younger brother, he then took five balls of medicine and gave them to Scrape, saying: “If you take my medicine, your long-standing trouble will immediately be resolved.” Scrape took them as instructed, and his hand and feet were then as normal. Not having expected such healing of his illness, he no longer had a reason for his begging, and people were no longer generous to him. Just as he found himself in dire need, he again encountered the same Daoist. Scrape thanked him, and entreated him, saying: “When I received the kind grant of medicine, I happened to forget that my mother is ill; not having shared it with her, my mother now remains [146] ill.” The Daoist gave him five more medicine balls; his mother took two balls, and it was as if her illness had vanished. He still had three balls, and this came to the attention of a wealthy person living near the village who suffered from the same condition. The rich person spoke to Scrape: “It is said you have three pellets of a wonder drug; I will buy these from you for one ingot’s worth of paper money.” Scrape replied that he did not want to accept money, but did want to relieve his condition, and, if he could supply the needs of their three mouths for life, he would happily give him the medicine. Afterwards, when the effect had been demonstrated, the wealthy person kept his word and supported them.

It can only be that Scrape Guo’s single-minded filial piety led him to encounter this immortal and benefit from boundless good fortune. Why, if a beggar can devote himself in this way, others should certainly examine their own conduct.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.145-46 (Tale 255):

仙醫反掌

萬載縣獲賦市，有丐者姓郭，左手及兩足皆反掌於上，止得右手拄地擦行，人遂名以「郭擦」。母老病風，弟病亦然。擦每月朔望出丐，一市人皆憐而惠之，遂得養母及弟，僅得一月之食，如此者十八年無怨。元貞二年冬，遇一道人，見其貧苦，又甘心養母與弟，遂與藥五丸與擦，云：「汝服吾藥，宿疾頓可。」擦如教服之，手足隨即如常。不料疾愈，無可託辭以丐，而人亦無惠之者。方窘急間，又遇元道人。擦謝之，且祈之云：「向蒙惠藥，偶忘母疾，未曾分與，今母尚 [146] 病。」道人再以五丸與之，其母服兩丸，其疾如失。尚餘三丸，適為里近富人所知，其病亦同，富人與擦云：「聞汝有妙藥三丸，以鈔一錠與汝回贖。」擦應言不願受鈔，願病安，三口乞終身供給，遂以藥授之。後果效，富人守信供給之，得非郭擦一念孝悌，獲遇神仙以受無窮之福。吁！丐者而處心如此，人亦可以自反矣。

Yuan Haowen 元好問, Chang Zhenguo 常振國 (ed), Xu Yijian zhi 續夷堅志 (Continued Records of the Listener), and Anon., Jin Xin 金心 (ed.), Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi 湖海新聞夷堅續志 (Continuation of Records of the Listener with New Items from the Lakes and Seas) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986).

An Immortal Treats Tumours 仙醫瘤疾

Li Zhongweng had a tumour in his nose. As big as a walnut, he feared it would gradually increase in size, and tried many methods to treat it, but without effect. Arriving at a guesthouse in Xiangyang, he encountered a Daoist and they drank together happily, passing the cup day and night. When they were about to part, the Daoist took out a small gourd, about as big as a jujube, and poured out three millet-sized grains of medicine, giving these to Zhongweng and saying: “At night you should puncture the root of the tumour with a needle, and stitch the medicine into this needle-hole; the next day the tumour should fall away. The other two grains are to treat strange illnesses.” Zhongweng used the needle as instructed. By midnight, he felt the medicine moving around the base of the growth and twisting around. When dawn arrived he touched it, and found that the tumour was already quite gone. Hurrying to a mirror to examine his face, he saw that there was not even a scar. He therefore marvelled at the miracle, and kept the remaining grains secret. When his young daughter fell over and broke a tooth, he placed one of the medicine grains in the tooth root, and after an evening her teeth returned to their even shape. He took a liang (31.25g) of mercury and placed it on the blade of a hoe, then put the last grain on this, at which it transformed into the finest quality gold. He then understood that these were pills of the Great Elixir smelted by the immortals.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.145 (Tale 254):

仙醫瘤疾

李仲翁，鼻間生一瘤，大如胡桃，懼其浸大，百方治之不效。至襄陽客邸，遇一道人喜飲，日夕周旋，臨別，出一小瓢如棗大，傾藥三粒如粟，授仲翁曰：「汝夜以鍼刺瘤根，納藥鍼穴內，明日瘤當自落。其二粒以救奇疾也。」仲翁如其教用鍼。至夜半，覺藥巡瘤根而轉。至曉捫之，則瘤已失矣。急取鏡照之，更無瘢痕，因大神之，秘其餘藥。其女小時倒地，折齒不生，取藥納齒根，一夕齒平復。以水銀一兩置銚間，取藥投之，則化為紫金矣，方知其為神仙所煉大丹也。

Immortals Treat Tuberculosis 仙醫瘵疾

Xianju is a Daoist hall in Jizhou. In the xinchou year of the Song Jiaxi era (1241), near the hall there lived a Li Laojia, who was somewhat warm and well-fed, and whenever a Daoist came by, he would supply them with good quality tea, nicely cooked foods and wine. His baby son suffered tuberculosis; his bones as thin as firewood; the hour of his death seemed certain. It happened that there were three Daoists in the hall, their appearance and manner showing an ancient vigour and elegance; they came and said: “Your heir should come to the hall and spend a night in the bed with us; he will then be restored.” Li said he should urgently be sent out. When night fell, two Daoists surrounded him and slept, and one Daoist covered him from above. His breath steaming like smoke from a fire, the patient felt like he was seated in a rice steamer, and was several times unable to bear it. The Daoists said: “Just restrain yourself.” This happened five or six times, but as dawn rose his spirit became clear and free, his bones and muscles beautiful and loose, and he asked for food and drink just as usual. Within ten days, he was exceptionally plump and well-formed. The Daoists urged him: “Now you must wait for two years until he can be married, otherwise the illness will return.” The Laos, husband and wife, bowed in gratitude, offering them money, cloth and silk, but they would not accept any of these, taking only fruit and three cups of drink, announcing that they would leave the hall to set off for Shaoshan in Yuanzhou. When the skies darkened towards evening, old Li [145] and the Daoists of the hall implored them to stay, but they would not accept this request, and as soon as they emerged from the gate they vanished, so it became clear that they were immortals.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.144-45 (Tale 253):

仙醫瘵疾

仙居，乃吉州道堂也。宋嘉熙辛丑年，堂近有李老家，稍溫飽，道人〔來往〕（據明刻本補。）即供以好茶，深熟者與酒。適有幼子病瘵，骨瘦如柴，死期可必。忽有堂內三道人，風貌蒼古，來曰：「令嗣能過堂同榻一宵，則可再生。」李道急遣去。入夜，兩道人夾之而睡，一道人蓋其上。其氣蒸之如火，病者如坐甑，幾不能堪。道人曰：「且忍耐。」凡若是者五六次，早起精神清爽，肌骨美暢，索飲食如常。不十日，豐悅殊異。道人囑之曰：「姑遲兩年方可娶，若早則病復來。」李老夫婦拜謝之，與以錢會布帛，一毫不受，但受果飲三杯，辭堂往袁州邵山。時天色晚矣，李老 [145] 與堂中道衆苦留之，不從所請，方出門則不見矣，乃知其仙也。

Immortals Treat Sicknesses Of The Feet 仙醫足疾

The Imperial Student Xu Quan was from Wuzhou. One day, leaving his home village and hurrying by water towards Hangzhou, he rode a rice boat, seated each day atop the rice sacks with his feet folded beneath him, and nobody realized that an illness affected his feet. It happened that, one day, the boat leaked, so the boatman asked him to step onto the shore, in order to stop up the hole. When, the job being finished, he was invited back on board, the water had risen under heavy rain, and everyone bared their feet to step aboard. His fellow passengers noticed that his toes were all as short as a little toe, and asked him about it. He replied: “When I left my mother’s womb, my toes all pointed backwards. After two years had passed, it happened that a Daoist came along and insisted on looking at me, so the wet-nurse wrapped me up and took me out to show him. The Daoist ordered her to cook up a young lamb, and use the lambskin to wrap my feet overnight. The next day at dawn they were unwrapped, and it turned out that my toes all pointed forwards. On examination they were all this size and length.” He subsequently passed the imperial examinations.

[144] Duya Guiyuan was from Jinhua. At the beginning of the Song Shaoxi era (1190-94), he arrived at Longquan at Guacang, passing his days in singing praises, and, because he suffered from arthritis and both feet were stiff and spasming, he tottered along on wooden clogs, begging in the market. On the seventeenth night of the eighth month in the guichou year of the Chunyou era,[1] he was squatting by Magistrate Zhang’s back gate. It was already the third watch (11pm to 1am), and the moonlight was as bright as day. He saw a person, wearing a dark soft hat, black ribbon and white scholar’s robe, who descended from on high and, stepping forward slightly, addressed Yagui: “Why would you be here so deep in the night?” He said: “Due to illness and fatigue I cannot go anywhere.” The person selected various weeds from the roadside, rubbed them and broke them apart, then mixed them with ditchwater into a kind of pellet, which he gave to him, saying: “You should eat this.” Yagui realised that this was no ordinary person, and swallowed it without suspicion. The person then said: “Come back tomorrow night and meet me here.” They then departed. Yagui felt a stirring within his belly, becoming restless and unable to settle himself, dragging himself onto the Jichuan Bridge, leaning against the railing and dozing. After a long time he awoke and found he could stretch his feet a little, and trying to stand while holding the balustrade, his bones making chirping sounds like birdsong, he found himself able to walk. The next night he waited for the other person, but they didn’t come back. Yagui travelled around talking to people, but never found his whereabouts.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.143-44 (Tale 252):

仙醫足疾

徐上舍洤，婺州人。一日，自鄉泛舟趨杭，乘米舟，每日坐於米袋之上，惟疊足坐，人亦不知其有疾也。忽一日，舟漏，梢子請上岸，將塞舟。事畢請入時，水潦稍漲，皆跣足而入，同舟人見其足大小指皆短，從容問之，彼曰：「自出母胎，一足指皆向後。越二年，忽有道人來，必欲見，乳母抱出示之。道人命烹一小羊，用羊皮裹其足，一宿，次早掀開，則其指皆向前，但視足指有大小長短耳。」後亦登第。

[144] 杜亞歸元，金華人。宋紹熙初，到括蒼龍泉歌唱度日，因病風，兩足拘攣，木屐曳行，丐於市。淳祐癸丑八月十七夜，蹲於張通判後門，已三鼓矣，月明如晝，見一人青巾皁絛白襴衫，自最高軒下，行至其前少許，謂亞歸曰：「夜深何故在此？」曰：「病倦，去不得也。」其人於路旁采雜草，挼碎，掬溝之污水若彈然，授之曰：「汝可食此。」亞歸亦意其不凡人也，餌之不疑。其人曰：「明夜再來會我于此。」遂去。亞歸覺腹中攪戚不能自安，曳行至濟川橋上，倚柱假寐。良久，方覺其一足略能伸，試扶欄起立，骨磔磔然有聲，自此能行。次夜候之，其人不復來矣。亞歸遍以語人，後不知所在。

[1] This is 11 September 1253, but the Chunyou era (1241-53) had already finished some months before, on 30 January 1253.

An Immortal Treats A Hunchback 仙醫曲背

Monk Li of Xichuan had a disciple whose back was so bent that they could not look upwards, and because the medicine market had closed, saw a Daoist, who said: “If the scholar has money, I beg two or three hundred cash for wine.” The scholar said: “I am poor and lack money, but there is some weak wine in my residence; will you have a drink with me?” The Daoist accepted happily and accompanied him. When the wine was half finished, the Daoist said: “Why is your back curved?” The scholar said: “Unfortunately I happened to suffer this illness; there is nothing to be done about it.” The Daoist therefore took out thirty grains of medicine, saying: “In the coming days, at the fifth watch (3-5am) face east, take these with freshly drawn water, and do not become alarmed if you feel a slight pain.” The scholar did as instructed and, having taken the medicine, felt an extreme and unbearable dryness, turning and thrashing on his bed and regretting it bitterly. Nevertheless, every time he stretched himself he felt slightly more comfortable, and by the next day his back was quite straight.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.143 (Tale 251):

仙醫曲背

西川李和尚，有門人背傴不能仰視，因藥市罷，見一道士，云：「秀才有錢，丐一二百文為酒資。」書生謂：「貧無錢，所居有薄釀，同一醉可乎？」道士欣然便往。酒半，道士問：「何故背傴？」書生言：「不幸遇此疾，無如之何。」道士因出藥三十粒，云：「來日五更面東，新汲水下，覺微痛不足怪。」書生如教，既服藥，燥甚不可勝，展轉牀上，亦甚悔之。然每一伸縮，漸覺舒快，比明身已直矣。

An Immortal Teaches Medicine 神仙教醫

Wei Taicheng was from Pucheng. He had never possessed any medical ability. On the day of the Yuanxiao Festival (the fifteenth day of the first month) he went to the suburbs, and he encountered an elderly man carrying firewood, who went over and sat with him, remarking that the festival would be good to see that evening in Yangzhou. Wei said: “That place is thirty li away; how could one see it?” The old man said: “This is an especially simple matter.” He then unfolded a lined garment of black cloth and had Wei close his eyes and sit tight. After a little while, he told him to open his eyes, and they were indeed in the city of Yangzhou. The inhabitants thought them descended immortals. After the cock crowed, he again unfolded the black lined cloth, they sat in it, and then found themselves back at their original point of departure. One day, which happened to be the birthday of True Man Hua Yue, the old man went in to celebrate it, and instructed Wei at the gate: “We will meet a two-eyed person; that is my master. When you see him you should bow.” After some time, three people, each blind in one eye, arrived supporting an old man, and Wei then bowed to them. The elderly man entered and addressed the first old man: “That person outside the door has the character of an immortal but lacks the fate and fortune of an immortal; he should quickly receive instruction.” They therefore handed over a volume of prescriptions, instructing him how to use the medicines. There was a sufferer of illness whose case he treated and who returned, and then he left home for more than twenty years. None among the villagers knew that he had medical ability, but when he returned and reached their fields, a rue grower said: “Medical Officer Wei says he has medical ability; let’s test his skill a little.” Someone, as soon as their lunch hour arrived, came leaping and jumping together, entering one of his rooms, and pretending to be a patient, their friends making them ask him for medical treatment. Wei felt their pulse and said: “You will die at the shen hour.” (i.e., between 3 and 5pm) They replied: “I am actually not ill.” Returning to the fields they said: “The Medical Officer is mistaken.” Before a moment had passed, however, they developed unbearable abdominal pain, this being caused by the food of their meal having burst through their stomach and intestines during their jumping. From then on Taicheng’s medical practice flourished more and more each day; it is not known how he ended up.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.141 (Tale 248):

神仙教醫

衛太丞，浦城人也。素不能醫。元宵日郊行，遇一老子負薪而至，與之同坐，且謂今夕揚州上元好看。衛曰：「此去三千里，何可得觀。」老子曰：「特易事耳。」乃鋪青布複，俾衛閉目同坐。少頃，令其開目，則揚州城矣。州人以為仙降。至雞鳴後，復用青布複，坐其中，則已回原處矣。一日，值華岳真人誕日，老子入內慶賀，俾衛在門首：「遇二目人，此吾師也。見即拜之。」良久，有三人皆瞽一目，扶一老人到，衛則設拜。老人入謂老子曰：「門外之人，有仙骨而無仙分，宜速分付。」乃付藥方一本，指教用藥，有病者治之原而歸，則去家二十餘年矣。鄉人莫知其能醫，歸到田所，芸田人曰：「衛太丞謂其能醫，少試其術。」一人方午飯，自田中跳躑踴躍走入一室，佯為病者，俾請之用藥。衛診脈曰：「申時當死。」其人曰：「我本無病。」復于田曰：「太丞誤矣。」未踰時，腹痛不可救，蓋飯飽踴躍，斷其腸胃故也。自是醫道日盛，不知所終。

A Woman Eats Fuling Fungus 女食茯苓

In Changqiushan, in Pujiang County, Qiongzhou, there was a woman surnamed Yang, who lived by the riverside. Her father went to the market, bought two carp and returned, ordering his daughter to boil and wash them. The woman did not [140] kill them, but released them in the water as a joke, doing this lightheartedly and then wandering off.

Her mother and father wanting to whip her, the girl then fled into Changqiushan’s Daoist temple, depending on a lay Daoist, obediently providing him with fuel and water. Whenever the Daoist sent her to carry water, she would stay away a long time and not return, and one of the other female servants feared she might have a lover outside, and therefore pressured and questioned her, until she said: “When I lower the well-bucket, an infant grabs the rope and rises; we play a while, and then it drops back into the well; there is nothing other than that.” The Daoist said: “You should take a cloth sack and bag it.” The girl did as he said, and when she took the bag to the temple and opened it to look, they found a lump of fuling fungus, placing it in the rice steamer and cooking it. The Daoist had crossed the river in response to an invitation, but the water had risen and he had not yet returned. The girl having noticed that the steamer smelled extremely delicious, then took and ate some, and as the day drew on eventually ate it all.

It happened that the Heavenly Emperor’s envoy summoned her, and in broad daylight she became an immortal and departed. When her home village informed the county, the county registrar Wei Wang went into the mountains to make a detailed investigation. A small piece of fungus was left over, so he also took and ate this, subsequently also departing as an immortal. The registrar was then placed among twenty-four heavenly masters who provide governance.

As I see it the immortals are extremely numerous, and, as they cannot all be laid out here, I record this to show to people in the future.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.139-40 (Tale 246):

女食茯苓

邛州蒲江縣長秋山，有女子姓楊，濱江而住。其父入市，買二鯉歸，令女子烹洗。其女不 [140] 殺，放水中戲，悠然而逝。父母欲箠之，此女遂奔入長秋山一道觀，依火居道士，供柴水之奉。道士每日使之擔水，忽去久不歸，道婆恐其有外慕，因苦問之，乃云：「於弔水時，有一嬰孩扶繩而上，同嬉一時，又投井中，非有他也。」道士云：「可將布袋袋之。」其女子如其言，袋至宮中開看，乃是一塊茯苓，置之飯甑蒸熟。道士適渡江赴請，水漲未歸，其女子聞其蒸熟甚香，遂取食之，日久食盡，忽天帝差使者召之，白日仙去。其鄉村申縣，縣委王主簿入山體究，止餘茯苓一小塊，簿亦取而食之，竟仙去。主簿，乃天師排定二十四治之一者。吾觀神仙者甚多，皆不載此，因錄之，以示來者。

A Well Becomes A Wine-Spring 井化酒泉

Fifteen li beyond the walls of Changdefu, in a place called River Underground, there was an Old Woman Cui, who sold tea for her living, and whenever she encountered a passing monk or Daoist, she would always give to them. One Daoist came and went more than ten times, and Old Woman Cui always gave him tea. The Daoist was deeply touched by this, and said to her: “I would like you to change your livelihood to selling wine; how about it?” Old Woman Cui was delighted. The Daoist leaned on his staff and clear liquid bubbled up where it touched the ground, at which he addressed Old Woman Cui: “This can be your wine.” When Old Woman Cui took it back with her, it tasted like wine, strong and fragrant, and the buyers came flocking to her. When they returned to drinking other people’s wine, these normal products were like water. Old Woman Cui profited greatly from this.

When the Daoist returned, Old Woman Cui thanked him over and over, but said: “I only regret I lack distiller’s dregs on which to raise pigs.” The Daoist grew angry at this grasping heart that did not know contentment, and leaned again on his staff at the spring, which returned to being water, never again tasting of wine. The wellspring exists to this day.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.139 (Tale 245):

井化酒泉

常德府城外十五里，地名河洑，有崔婆者，賣茶為活，遇有僧道過往，必施與之。一道人往來凡十餘次，崔婆見之，必與茶。道人深感之，與之曰：「我欲使汝改業賣酒如何？」崔婆喜。道人以杖拄地，清水迸出，為崔婆言：「此可為酒。」崔婆取之以歸，味如酒，濃而香，買者如市。若他人汲之歸，則常品水也。崔婆大享其利。道人重來，崔婆再三謝之，但云：「只恨無糟養豬。」道人怒其貪心不足，再以杖拄泉，則復成水，無復酒味矣。其井至今尚存。

A Wineseller Encounters An Immortal 賣酒遇仙

In the Song Jingding era, the renxu year (1262), within the borders of Jingjiang fu one Lin Yilang opened up a wineshop, the flavour of his wine being rather good. One day, a frail and emaciated Daoist came, saying: “This poor cleric wishes to buy wine from the gentleman on credit; one thousand per day, paying back the money within a year; how about it?” Lin said: “More than a thousand would also be permissible; longer than a year would also be permissible, just as long as the Master receives a drink.” He gave the cleric several cups of wine to drink before he left. The next day he came again, and, provided with a thousand’s worth of wine, the Daoist drank it all. Lin said to his wife and son: “This Daoist is unusual; he never [139] speaks at all.” From then he came and drank, the same for six days, then took out a lump of silver from his robe and entrusted it to Lin. Lin said: “The deal is for a year, and it has not even been ten days, so why now? I certainly do not dare to accept this.” The Daoist was pleased, drinking again, and then saying: “It is said that your residence contains unburied dead; this poor cleric is skilled at geomancy, and above your residence is a certain place in Wulito where you should bury it quickly, and subsequently attain wealth and prosperity.” Lin said: “How dare one expect such things? Have some wine.” After repeated urging he finally complied. When the burial was complete, the Daoist requested wine before the tomb, and poured several horn cups over it, chanting:

Finally drunk once after fifty days,

Villagers’ homebrew outshines heavenly ambrosia.

Holding out his hand he summoned a crane, climbing aboard it and departing, not returning despite the family all beseeching him. After three years, the Lin family became greatly wealthy, and the son went straight, by means of the grain for posts exchange, into office; this is truly proof of the cleric’s skill.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.138-39 (Tale 244):

賣酒遇仙

宋景定壬戌，靜江府境內有林一郎者，開酒肆，味頗佳。一日，有癯瘠道人來，曰：「貧道欲與公賒酒，一日一千，限一年方還錢，可乎？」林曰：「一千以上亦可，一年以外亦可，只要先生飲得。」即與飲數杯而往。次日來，供以酒一千，道人飲盡。林與妻子曰：「此道人不凡，決不可出 [139] 言語。」自此來飲，凡六日，懷中出銀一塊權寄。林曰：「一年之約，未得十日，何故？決不敢（「敢」，明刻本、明抄本作「收」。）受。」道人喜，又飲，卻云：「聞宅上有喪未葬，貧道善風水，宅上自有地在五里頭某處，急宜葬，則立致富貴。」林曰：「安敢望此！且飲酒。」再三再四方從。葬畢，道人在墳前索酒，連沃數觥，朗吟曰：「五十日來方一醉，人間村酒勝天漿。」引手招一鶴，跨之而去，一家懇求不返。後三年，林家大發財，直（「直」，明抄本作「產」。）子納粟補官，果符其術。

A Daoist Sends A Letter 道人寄書

Before the seat of the Linchuan County Magistrate is a stone peak, topped with a small pavilion, and this is protected by a vermillion railing. A seventy-year-old army veteran said:

Beneath this peak was an immortal paradise. Long ago there was an Attaché to the Guard in Zhejiang who, encountering an immortal there, was given a letter, and told: “If I may trouble you, when you are about to leave Fuzhou, please knock on the rock below Ram’s Horn Peak that stands before the town, and there will be the letter’s recipient.” When the attaché returned, he knocked on the stone, and saw a red gate open to a cave, snaggletoothed with glazed tiles, and with windows and a pavilion, quite different from those seen in the human world. Elderly men and women all came out to greet and question him, giving him a cup of broth to drink that was fragrant and beguiling in flavour, and telling him: “The attaché can stay here.” The attaché said: “I have young and old to care for, and do not wish to remain here.” They gave him a sheng (about 1 litre) of grain, and although the attaché threw it to the ground angrily, a dozen or so grains stuck to the skirt of his robe. They then showed him out of the gate, which turned out to be on the riverbank at Wushigang. When he worked out the date, it turned out that he’d been gone more than a year. Later, he saw that the ten or more grains were actually tiny nuggets of gold.

From this we know that the stone at the peak is a border with the territory of the immortals, and that the attaché was not fated to enjoy their good fortune!

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.137 (Tale 241):

道人寄書

臨川郡治前有石山，覆以小亭，及結朱闌護之。有七十歲老兵云：此石山下有洞天福地。昔有一承局在浙，間逢一道人寄書云：「煩將去撫州州前羊角山投下，請扣石，自有人接書。」承局歸，往叩石間，即見朱門洞開，碧瓦參差，亭臺窗戶，殊異人間世。翁姥男女皆歡迎出問，飲以湯一杯，香味襲人，且謂：「承局可留此。」承局曰：「我有老小，不願留止。」與以穀一升，承局怒擲之地，但存十數粒粘於布裙間。遂送出門，乃是烏石岡江畔。以年月計之，則已過一年以外。後見穀十數粒，乃瓜子金也。因知仙境在石山之下，而承局亦無緣分也夫！