Title: The EIGHT IMMORTALS
Description: He Xian-gu
Description: He Xian-gu
REBORN - September 28, 2006 12:16 AM (GMT)
Female Immortal He, Who Flew to Feed Her Mother:
She was the only female among the Eight Immortals. It was said that her personal name was Qiong and that she came from Ninling, in the district of Yong, and that she was born on the tenth day of the fourth lunar month. When she was thirteen, she went into mountains to pick tea. There she met Lu Dongbin. When she was 15 years old, Xiangu dreamt of a deity who told her take some stones and pound them into powder, which she should then consume. This she faithfully did, and found that she could walk at the speed of lightning. She consumed fruits that she found in the mountains and nothing else. One day she found a peach and ate it, and never felt hungry again. (The Chinese believe that the peach is the fruit of immortality.)
Her parents soon arranged a match for her with a good-looking young man in the village. Xiangu did not voice her opinions on the matter but on the wedding day, she was found missing in her bedchambers. She had left a poem on a screen but tried as they did, her parents could not understand the meaning of the poem. She also left behind her favorite pair of soft shoes.
A few years later, a young Taoist priest went to Xiangu's house. He had come down from Luofu Mountain and was instructed by another apprentice named Xiangu to bring her shoes back. It was only then her parents knew that their daughter had been studying Taoism under the famous female Taoist priestess, Magu in Luofu Mountain.
He Xiangu soon became an immortal and was seen by some people floating upon a cloud to Heaven.
She was the only female among the Eight Immortals. It was said that her personal name was Qiong and that she came from Ninling, in the district of Yong, and that she was born on the tenth day of the fourth lunar month. When she was thirteen, she went into mountains to pick tea. There she met Lu Dongbin. When she was 15 years old, Xiangu dreamt of a deity who told her take some stones and pound them into powder, which she should then consume. This she faithfully did, and found that she could walk at the speed of lightning. She consumed fruits that she found in the mountains and nothing else. One day she found a peach and ate it, and never felt hungry again. (The Chinese believe that the peach is the fruit of immortality.)
Her parents soon arranged a match for her with a good-looking young man in the village. Xiangu did not voice her opinions on the matter but on the wedding day, she was found missing in her bedchambers. She had left a poem on a screen but tried as they did, her parents could not understand the meaning of the poem. She also left behind her favorite pair of soft shoes.
A few years later, a young Taoist priest went to Xiangu's house. He had come down from Luofu Mountain and was instructed by another apprentice named Xiangu to bring her shoes back. It was only then her parents knew that their daughter had been studying Taoism under the famous female Taoist priestess, Magu in Luofu Mountain.
He Xiangu soon became an immortal and was seen by some people floating upon a cloud to Heaven.