Issue Date: January 1994

The unicorn flew to the moon, crashed into a tree, and immediately changed into a fruit like those hanging from its branches.  The donkey also came crashing into the tree, and Chang Kuo fell to the ground.  Chang Kuo was despondent.  How close he had come to immortality.  Suddenly, Lao Tzu appeared and offered him a fruit from the tree.  As Chang Kuo ate the fruit he felt his body filled with boundless energy, and he thanked his benefactor for his immortality.  Chang rested on the moon for a few days and then returned to the earth.

HANG CHUNG LI

Han Chung Li is represented as a man with a large belly who lies or sits comfortably with a feather fan to keep him cool and a whisk to keep off flies.  He is said to have been a general who had failed in an assignment to control a border dispute and went into voluntary exile.  Han retreated into the mountains and after years of meditation and self-examination received enlightenment.  He traveled into the upper realms of immortality after various miracles on earth, among them, turning copper into gold and, some legends say, finding the formula for the pill of immortality.  He is considered to be the patron of long life and good fortune, especially in gambling.

                                                                                                                        - P.C.

Han Hsiang Tzu best represents true harmony

The popular story of the Dragon Girl explains how Han Hsiang Tzu attained immortality.  Said to have been the nephew of Tang dynasty statesman Han Yu, he is most famous for having made a rose garden bloom in the dead of winter, within a week.  The blooms occurred in a number of predicated colors, with each flower displaying a poem.  Han Hsiang Tzu performed this feat as part of an attempt to convert his famous uncle to Taoism.  Han Yu is said to have witnessed this and other miracles by his nephew.  Han Hsiang Tzu is always pictured with his flute, his primary symbol, and is honored as the patron of musicians.  He is considered to be the immortal who best represents true harmony in all things, the Taoist ideal.

The Dragon Girl. Han Hsiang Tzu came to the shores of the Eastern Sea.  At the close of the day, he played his flute and was heard by the beautiful Dragon Girls. 


page
5

Copyright 2001 THE WORLD AND I Magazine. All rights reserved.
The World & I is published monthly by News World Communications, Inc.

Five Tales from
China
Author:
Yao-wen Li
June 1986

The Dragon King's
Daughter
Author:
Shien Min Jen
October 1988

Yu-yen
Author:
Pack Carnes
August 1990

The Eight Immortals,
Part 1
Author:
Pack Carnes
December 1993

Flower, Birds,
and Butterflies
Author:
David Hicks
November 1997