He was born
during the Western Zhou period, and was originally named Li Yüan. He
studied with Lao Tzu (founder of Taoism) and Goddess Hsi Wang Mu. He is
said to have devoted 40 years to the practice of meditation and
cultivation of Taoist esoteric practice.
Before
becoming an immortal, he had a pleasant disposition. However, on one
occasion his spirit traveled to celestial realm. He instructs his
disciple to wait seven days for his spirit to return; but after six
days the student had to return to attend his sick mother, so he
cremated his body assuming that he had deceased.
Upon
returning, Li was forced to enter the only body available, the corpse
of a homeless beggar who had died of starvation; who unfortunately had
"a long and pointed head, blackened face, woolly and disheveled beard
and hair, huge eyes, and a lame leg." His emblem is the pilgrim’s gourd
which identifies him as one of the Eight Immortals, and his iron
crutch.
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