ChenTuan [ca 900 989 C.E..] was perhaps the most famous Taoist master who lived most of his life on or at the base of Hua Shan during the Five Dynasties and early Song periods. He was famous for his explanation of and prognostication with the I –Ching, or Classic on Change.

Zhao Daoyi compiled one of the most extensive works on the lives of the immortals around 1300. In the Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian [Comprehensive Mirror through the Ages of Perfected Immortals and Those Who Embody the Tao.] In it he tells of the life and legend of Chen Tuan.

“The sleep of the perfected” describes the feats that made Chen Tuan most famous, namely his months long sleeps using Taoist meditation techniques. An eyewitness went to call on Chen and found him comatose…

“He noticed that master Chen slept while lying flat on his back, no inhalation or exhalation was perceptible, and yet his face showed a rosy and radiantly healthy complexion.” translation- Livia Kohn

Some monks on Hua Shan continued to practice this unusual sleeping meditation into the 1940’s on the western peak of Hua Shan as evidenced by Hedda Morrison’s photographs taken there in 1935. note- See pictures at the Harvard University Library web site.

Chen Tuan, also known as Chen, Tu-nan, and Chen Bo, who called himself Fu, Yao tze had a great deal of mystery surrounding his birth and early childhood. The story is that a fisherman netted a flesh ball wrapped in a purple cloth and took it home to cook. Lightening flashed and thunder roared and a child appeared out of the ball. As a child Chen Tuan memorized all of the ancient tracts but he never took an Imperial exam or became a bureaucrat.

He went to the mountains as a young adult and by his own account he said he met two strange men who lead him to enlightenment. Their names were Sun, Chuin feng and Chang, Pi. After this he went to Wudang Shan and learned a method of locking his breath and sleep kung fu from He, Chang I.

According to the Taoist Cannon, Chen Tuan was inspired by the Blue/Green Lady who came to him in the woods when he was a child. She represents Mercury, and the wood element during meditation. Chen was originally on Wudang Shan until the Five Dragons who serve Jen Wu by controlling the energy there came to him in a vision and told him he didn't belong there and that he should go to Hua Shan. They taught him the sleep meditation that he was to become known for and then in his sleep he was astrally delivered to the Western peak of Hua Shan, arriving instantly. translation- Shawn Eichman

Hua Shan is where Chen perfected the sleep meditation until he could sleep for weeks or months at a time. He slept so long on Hua Shan that moss grew on him and a passing wood cutter thought he was dead and tried to bury him. He woke up and said “Who disturbed my good dreams?” Chen practiced this sleeping meditation in which he circulated his chi while asleep, and did not require food or water for weeks or months at a time, for his entire life.

In the spring of 960 A.D. Zhao, Kuangyin was the commanding general of the Imperial army. According to Ray Huang in China, A Macro History, Zhao was known for his tact, moderation, and generosity. While the army was camped at Chenqiaoyi his officers woke him early in the morning and wrapped a yellow robe around his shoulders and made him Emperor. This was one of the few times in Chinese history that and emperor was elected. It was reported that Chen Bo was thrilled when he heard that Zhao had been made Emperor and it was thought that he might have had some behind the scenes influence.

Several weeks after he became the first Emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao traveled to Hua Shan. The story is that he had heard of the famous mountain recluse Chen Tuan’s feats. By the time Zhao came looking for the master Chen was old and was living at the foot of the mountain instead of on the top. Zhao asked Chen Tuan to be his adviser.

Chen Tuan said he would leave Hua Shan only if the Emperor could defeat him in a friendly chess match. Zhao was defeated and Chen didn’t leave Hua Shan then but this was part of a longstanding connection between the Imperial Court and the Taoists on Hua Shan. The story goes that as a parting gift Chen Tuan taught the Emperor the nei kung practice that was to become known as Tai –Chi Ruler and it was treasured in the Zhao family for many generations.

The historical record shows that Zhao, Kuangyin had a monastery built at the foot of the mountain and Tai Chi Ruler in particular was handed down through the Zhao family for centuries. There was a stele on Hua Shan that told this story of the famous meeting of Chen Tuan the mountain sage and the Emperor. However, no mention of this story was found by us in the Taoist Cannon or in the Song or Yuan dynasty records. There are Taoist records of Chen leaving Hua Shan at least twice over the years to travel to the Imperial Court to serve as a prognosticator or advisor. Chen Tuan’s cave in Jade Spring Monastery at the foot of Hua Shan served as his shrine and is still intact.

The second Song Emperor Zhao Kuangyi [reigned from 976 to 997] gave Chen Tuan the title Hsi –I as an honorific. Chen Tuan was received by two Emperors; Zhao, Dien Chien and Sung, Tai Tsung. He wrote many books with the three most important being I Lung Tu, Hsien Tian Tu, and Wu Ji Tu. These works are considered basic source material of the ancient philosophy.

Chen Tuan has inspired many schools over the centuries including Neo-Confucianism and later still in Japan with the Huangbo [Obaku] school of Zen. He is credited in some texts with the development of the yin/yang diagram, in particular Zhou Dunyi’s “Diagram of the Great Ultimate.” Chen is also credited with the creation of several prenatal chi kung methods including T’ai-Chi Ruler [T’ai-chi Chih], the afore mentioned sleeping meditation, and a martial art form known as Six Harmonies, Eight Methods Boxing [Luihebafa] There is no clear lineage for any of this and it was common for the Chinese to credit the creation of arts to famous historical spiritual figures.

Kohn, Livia The Taoist Experience (State University of New York Press, 1993)

Translation of the Taoist Canon provided by Dr. Shawn Eichman.

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