ABSTRACT
Anqi Sheng is a legendary immortal, reputed to have been a thousand years old during the reign of Qin Shi huangdi (r. 221-210 bce). According to the *Liexian zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Immortals; trans. Kaltenmark 1953, 115-18), he was from Langya 瑯琊 (Shandong). He sold medicines by the coast, and was known as the Thousand Year-Old Gentleman (Qiansui weng 千歲翁). The same source relates that when Qin Shi huangdi was travelling east, he spoke with Anqi for three days and nights. The emperor gave him a large quantity of jade and gold. Anqi returned the treasure, along with a pair of red jade slippers and a message inviting the emperor to seek him several years later on the island of *Penglai in the eastern sea. The emperor later sent an expedition in search of Anqi, but it was unable to reach Penglai. The Shiji (Records of the Historian; trans. Watson 1961, 2: 39) records the Han dynasty alchemist *Li Shaojun’s claim to have visited Anqi Sheng during his travels on the eastern sea, where he had seen the legendary immortal eat jujubes as big as melons. Han Wudi (r. 141-87 bce), like Qin Shi huangdi before him, sent explorers on an unsuccessful mission to nd Anqi on Penglai. Anqi Sheng learned his arts, according to the Gaoshi zhuan 高士傳 (Biographies of Eminent Gentlemen, compiled by Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 215-82), from Heshang zhangren 河上丈 人 (Great Man of the River Bank), an ancient master sometimes identied with the author of the Daode jing commentary known as *Laozi Heshang gong zhangju. Anqi Sheng occupies an important place in the *Taiqing and *Shangqing traditions. He is held to be one of the earliest Taiqing masters, and is said to have transmitted the Method of the Furnace Fire for the Divine Elixir (shendan luhuo zhi fang 神丹爐火之方) to Li Shaojun, and to have provided *Maming sheng with the Method of the Elixir of the Golden Liquor (jinye danfa 金液 丹法). His name appears in Shangqing scriptures as one of the Perfected of the Four Poles (Siji zhenren 四極真人), and he is identied as the Perfected of the Northern Pole (Beiji zhenren 北極真人) in *Tao Hongjing’s *Zhenling weiye tu (Chart of the Ranks and Functions of the Perfected Numinous Beings). In literary works, Anqi Sheng’s name continued to be linked with the island of Penglai, as for example in Mu Hua’s 木華 (. 290) Haifu 海賦 (Rhapsody on the Sea; trans. Knechtges 1982-96, 2: 305-20). Several geographical locations in China are also associated with this famous immortal, including the
site near Guangzhou (Canton) where he is said to have lived, and a mica-rich mountain in Shandong that was named after him.
