First is this description of Liezi (below). It’s not surprising because it’s wide-spread even in China. bab.la - Online dictionaries, vocabulary, conjugation, grammar, like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each one shows his or her special prowess. Hawkes 1985:194), The "Xi shi" (惜誓 "Sorrow for Troth Betrayed") resembles the "Yuan You", and both reflect Daoist ideas from the Han period. Translation for 'immortality' in the free English-Chinese dictionary and many other Chinese translations. Archeologists in China have discovered a 2,000-year-old bronze pot that contains a yellow liquid once-believed to be an “elixir of immortality. Many conclusions can be reached on the basis of this story, but it seems that death is regarded as a natural part of the ebb and flow of transformations which constitute the movement of Dao. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. This elixir is expected to grant eternal life to the person who consumes it. For instance, "Shou zhi" (守志 "Maintaining Resolution), uses zhenren (真人 "true person", tr. The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji lists five classes of immortals: The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, in an approach to Taoist teachings, discusses the characteristics of ten types of xian who exist between the world of devas ("gods") and that of human beings. Xian (“Immortals”) were beings who ascended to immortality through Taoist cultivation practices. (tr. biological immortality translation in English-Chinese dictionary. Chang’e herself, in some stories as a mortal human and in some an outcast deity, consumed too much elixir of immortality and floated to the moon. "The marvelous powers of the Hsien are so like those of the jinni of the Arabian Nights that one wonders whether the Arabic word, jinn, may not be derived from the Chinese Hsien." (Compare qiān 遷 "move; transfer; change" combining this phonetic and the motion radical.) ""Then what should I do?" The Ku-ye mountains stand on a chain of islands where the Yellow River enters the sea. Lieh Tzu could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. The [仙聖] immortals found this troublesome, and complained about it to God. Had she not been caught by men, she would have become a transcendent." 'But there was a giant from the kingdom of the Dragon Earl, who came to the place of the five mountains in no more than a few strides. Ko Hung on the Gold Medicine and on the Yellow and the White", This page was last edited on 1 March 2021, at 15:43. He inspires no awe, he is never angry, yet the eager and diligent act as his messengers. When the world has the Way, he joins in the chorus with all other things. Immortality (Chinese: 皓衣行; pinyin: Hàoyī Xíng) is an upcoming Chinese television series based on the BL xianxia novel The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (Chinese: 二哈和他的白猫师尊; pinyin: Èr Hā Hé Tā De Bái Māo Shī Zūn) by Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat (Chinese: 肉包不吃肉; pinyin: Ròubāo Bùchī Ròu) starring Luo Yunxi and Chen Feiyu. Alle Formate und Ausgaben anzeigen Andere Formate und Ausgaben ausblenden. Nearly half of Chapter 2 ("The Yellow Emperor") comes from the Zhuangzi, including this recounting of the above fable about Mount Gushe (姑射, or Guye, or Miao Gushe 藐姑射). This section chronologically reviews how Chinese texts describe xian "immortals; transcendents". The authors of the Zhuangzi had a lyrical view of life and death, seeing them as complementary aspects of natural changes. "Drug Taking and Immortality", in, Schafer, Edward H. (1966), "Thoughts about a Students' Dictionary of Classical Chinese,". Hawkes 1985:318). If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don't understand anything about fate. (11, tr. Sennin is a common Japanese character name. The Shenxian zhuan uses this story to illustrate the importance of bigu "grain avoidance": "During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person who wore no clothes, his body covered with black hair. He doesn't eat the five grains, but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the Four Seas. Dark and undifferentiated chaos—to the end of life none will depart from it. and Lü Dongbin (9th century CE), two of the legendary Eight Immortals. Fàn (饭—“Diet”): Ingestion of herbal compounds and abstention from the Sān Shī Fàn (三尸饭—“Three-Corpses food”)—Meats (raw fish, pork, dog, leeks, and scallions) and grains. These xian are not considered true cultivators of samadhi ("unification of mind"), as their methods differ from the practice of dhyāna ("meditation").[2][3]. He knows neither intimacy nor love, yet [仙聖] immortals and sages serve him as ministers. Longevity / Long Life 5. immortal translate: 永生的；永存的, 不朽的，流芳百世的, 不朽的人物. It is part of the so-called “Zhong-Lü” (鍾呂) textual tradition of internal alchemy (neidan). Therefore, I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. Other common words include xiānrén (仙人 sennin in Japanese, "immortal person; transcendent", see Xiānrén Dòng), xiānrénzhăng (仙人掌 "immortal's palm; cactus"), xiānnǚ (仙女 "immortal woman; female celestial; angel"), and shénxiān (神仙 "gods and immortals; divine immortal"). Wu Lu-ch’iang and Tenney L. Davis. "You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Although it was traditionally attributed to Ge Hong (283–343 CE), Komjathy (2004:43) says, "The received versions of the text contain some 100-odd hagiographies, most of which date from 6th-8th centuries at the earliest.". Paper (1995:55) writes, "the function of the term xian in a line describing dancing may be to denote the height of the leaps. (Welch 1957:95), The Shenxian zhuan (神仙傳 Biographies of Spirit Immortals") is a hagiography of xian. The true sage is a quail at rest, a little fledgling at its meal, a bird in flight who leaves no trail behind. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. (Campany 2002:52–60). News - Mar 2, 2021 Just in time for white day celebrations and after a 4-year delay, Chinese … It is seventy thousand miles from one mountain to the next, but they are considered close neighbours. My spirit darted forth and did not return to me,And my body, left tenantless, grew withered and lifeless.Then I looked into myself to strengthen my resolution,And sought to learn from where the primal spirit issues.In emptiness and silence I found serenity;In tranquil inaction I gained true satisfaction.I heard how once Red Pine had washed the world's dust off:I would model myself on the pattern he had left me.I honoured the wondrous powers of the [真人] Pure Ones,And those of past ages who had become [仙] Immortals.They departed in the flux of change and vanished from men's sight,Leaving a famous name that endures after them. The men who dwell there are all of the race of [仙聖] immortal sages, who fly, too many to be counted, to and from one mountain to another in a day and a night. The usual modern xiān character 仙, and its rare variant 仚, have a shān (山 "mountain") phonetic. each one shows his or her special prowess. Find more Chinese words at wordhippo.com! The towers and terraces upon them are all gold and jade, the beasts and birds are all unsullied white; trees of pearl and garnet always grow densely, flowering and bearing fruit which is always luscious, and those who eat of it never grow old and die. ", We gazed down of the Middle Land [China] with its myriad peopleAs we rested on the whirlwind, drifting about at random.In this way we came at last to the moor of Shao-yuan:There, with the other blessed ones, were Red Pine and Wang Qiao.The two Masters held zithers tuned in perfect concord:I sang the Qing Shang air to their playing.In tranquil calm and quiet enjoyment,Gently I floated, inhaling all the essences.But then I thought that this immortal life of [僊] the blessed,Was not worth the sacrifice of my home-returning. Ah, this is the fault of men who 'govern'! Eternity / Always and Forever 8. When he had surrendered to the 'invaders of the east', she fled into the mountains where she learned to subside on 'the resin and nuts of pines' from an old man. said Big Concealment. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root—return to the root and not know why. Below is a wooden netsuke, made in the 18th century. Chinese-South Korean Film "Catman" to be released after a 4-year delay! 1935. So he commanded Yü-ch'iang to make fifteen [鼇] giant turtles carry the five mountains on their lifted heads, taking turns in three watches, each sixty thousand years long; and for the first time the mountains stood firm and did not move. immortality tower translation in English-Chinese dictionary. (1995:100). (1, tr. The Chinese word xian is translatable into English as: Eternal Life / Everlasting Life / Immortality 3. God was very angry, and reduced by degrees the size of the Dragon Earl's kingdom and the height of his subjects. "Cloud Chief said, "Heavenly Master, it has been hard indeed for me to meet with you—I beg one word of instruction! The liquid is of significant value for the study of ancient Chinese thoughts on achieving immortality and the evolution of Chinese civilization,” Shi Jiazhen, head of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Luoyang, explained. The Chinese word xian is translatable into English as: Xian semantically developed from meaning spiritual "immortality; enlightenment", to physical "immortality; longevity" involving methods such as alchemy, breath meditation, and tai chi chuan, and eventually to legendary and figurative "immortality". Schafer noted xian was cognate to xian 䙴 "soar up", qian 遷 "remove", and xianxian 僊僊 "a flapping dance movement"; and compared Chinese yuren 羽人 "feathered man; xian" with English peri "a fairy or supernatural being in Persian mythology" (Persian pari from par "feather; wing"). Axel Schuessler's etymological dictionary (2007:527) suggests a Sino-Tibetan connection between xiān (Old Chinese *san or *sen) "'An immortal' ... men and women who attain supernatural abilities; after death they become immortals and deities who can fly through the air" and Tibetan gšen < g-syen "shaman, one who has supernatural abilities, incl[uding] travel through the air". God was afraid that they would drift to the far West and he would lose the home of his sages. Things will live naturally end of themselves. Graham 1960:97–8). Two linguistic hypotheses for the etymology of xian involve Arabic and Sino-Tibetan languages. In Chinese alchemy, elixir poisoning refers to the toxic effects from elixirs of immortality that contained metals and minerals such as mercury and arsenic.The official Twenty-Four Histories record numerous Chinese emperors, nobles, and officials who died from taking elixirs in order to prolong their lifespans. If you hear of someone who has suffered a poisonous insect bite, even if you are not in his presence, you can, from a distance, blow and say in incantation over your own hand (males on the left hand, females on the right), and the person will at once be healed even if more than a hundred li away. Chuang Tzu said, "You're wrong. Showing page 1. The search for the pill was started several centuries BC, and continued until 500 AD and was often based on gold. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn't fret and worry. Those who belong to this school can, "...blow on water and it will flow against its own current for several paces; blow on fire, and it will be extinguished; blow at tigers or wolves, and they will crouch down and not be able to move; blow at serpents, and they will coil up and be unable to flee. "An Ancient Chinese Alchemical Classic. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as ṛṣi who possessed similar traits. They had magical powers, could fly freely through the air, and had a close connection to the Tao and the natural world. The idea of a spiritual immortality like that of Christianity was alien to the Chinese until Buddhism was introduced to China. Without using the word xian, several Zhuangzi passages employ xian imagery, like flying in the clouds, to describe individuals with superhuman powers. Chapter 11 has a parable about "Cloud Chief" (雲 將) and "Big Concealment" (鴻濛) that uses the Shijing compound xianxian ("dance; jump"): Big Concealment said, "If you confuse the constant strands of Heaven and violate the true form of things, then Dark Heaven will reach no fulfillment. Its search was supported by the emperors and the nobility of China, with a strong tradition in Taoism. And after a thousand years, should he weary of the world, he will leave it and [上] ascend to [僊] the immortals, riding on those white clouds all the way up to the village of God. Learn more. Of course, this reading is somewhat ironic given the fact that much of the subsequent Daoist tradition comes to seek longevity and immortality, and bases some of their basic models on the Zhuangzi. In later Daoist hagiography, Chi Song was Lord of Rain under Shennong, the legendary inventor of agriculture; and Wang Qiao was a son of King Ling of Zhou (r. 571–545 BCE), who flew away on a giant white bird, became an immortal and was never again seen. The Pill of Immortality was an elixir or pill sought by Chinese alchemists to confer physical or spiritual immortality. He said that there is a Holy Man living on faraway [姑射] Ku-she Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like a young girl. Chapter 5 uses xiansheng three times in a conversation set between legendary rulers Tang (湯) of the Shang Dynasty and Ji (革) of the Xia Dynasty. immortal definition: 1. living or lasting for ever: 2. very special and famous and therefore likely to be remembered…. The word xiān is written with three characters 僊, 仙, or 仚, which combine the logographic "radical" rén (人 or 亻 "person; human") with two "phonetic" elements (see Chinese character classification). As we shall see, their books came to be adopted as scriptural authority by those who did practice magic and seek to become immortal. Besides the following major Chinese texts, many others use both graphic variants of xian. Taoist painters have traditionally chosen immortally as one of their central themes. Victor H. Mair describes the xian archetype as: They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. The first emperor Qin Shi Huang sent his court alchemist Xu Fu on expeditions to find these plants of immortality, but he never returned (although by some accounts, he discovered Japan). The two explanations are appropriate to these beings: they haunt the holy mountains, while also embodying nature. This is antithetical to the physical immortality (changshengbulao 長生不老 "live forever and never age") sought by later Daoist alchemists. Copyright © IDM 2020, unless otherwise noted. Thereupon two of the mountains, Tai-yü and Yüan-chiao, drifted to the far North and sank in the great sea; the [仙聖] immortals who were carried away numbered many millions. Besides humans, xiān can also refer to supernatural animals. Chapter 12 uses xian when mythical Emperor Yao describes a shengren (聖 人 "sagely person"). This position betrayed him as Sennin Tekkay, whose soul has found the second life in the body of the lame beggar. Chinese-South Korean Film "Catman" to be released after a 4-year delay! (18, tr. Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. (tr. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. said Cloud Chief. Immortal / Immortality 2. Wu and Davis (1935:224) suggested the source was jinn, or jinni "genie" (from Arabic جني jinnī). When the world is without the Way, he nurses his Virtue and retires in leisure. By concentrating his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plentiful. The series is expected to air on Tencent Video with 50 episodes. Like Heaven and Earth, the male and female share a parallel relationship in attaining an immortal existence. Watson 1968:33). They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. Yet the bases of the five mountains used to rest on nothing; they were always rising and falling, going and returning, with the ebb and flow of the tide, and never for a moment stood firm. On the other hand, waidan (外丹 "external alchemy") techniques for immortality included alchemical recipes, magic plants, rare minerals, herbal medicines, drugs, and dietetic techniques like inedia. mortality translate: 必死性，生命的有限, 死亡數字，死亡率. But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. The circa 200 CE Shiming, a Chinese dictionary that provided word-pun "etymologies", defines xiān (仙) as "to get old and not die," and explains it as someone who qiān (遷 "moves into") the mountains.". According to the Shenxian zhuan, there are four schools of immortality: Qì (气—“energy”): Breath control and meditation. '—'To the East of the Gulf of Chih-li, who knows how many thousands and millions of miles, there is a deep ravine, a valley truly without bottom; and its bottomless underneath is named "The Entry to the Void". They both must learn how to engage and develop their natural sexual instincts and behaviors; otherwise the only result is decay and traumatic discord of their physical lives. The text lists three classes of immortals: These titles were usually given to humans who had either not proven themselves worthy of or were not fated to become immortals. ", The Classic of Poetry (220/3) contains the oldest occurrence of the character 僊, reduplicated as xiānxiān (僊僊 "dance lightly; hop about; jump around"), and rhymed with qiān (遷). Xian (Chinese: 仙/仚/僊; pinyin: xiān; Wade–Giles: hsien) refers to a person or similar entity having a long life or being immortal. “It is the first time that mythical ‘immortality medicines’ have been found in China. In Chinese art, xian are often pictured with symbols of immortality including the dragon, crane, fox, white deer, various trees (such as, pine trees and peach trees), and mushrooms (such as lingzhi and fuling). (12, tr. The history of China is filled with emperors and other important men who sought to live forever, but instead died an untimely death for their ambitions. All rights reserved. The above three poems are variations describing Daoist xian. In shape the beggarly old man this legendary personality portrayed prominent carver of the early period Jobun. After little more than two years of this [diet], her body hair fell out; she turned old and died. Within it there are five mountains, called Tai-yü, Yüan-chiao, Fang-hu, Ying-chou and P'eng-Iai. A Han Dynasty painting, Sennin with his staff, carver Jobun, 18th century, wood, height 80 mm, Liu Hai carrying a Chan Chu (three legged toad), This article is about Taoist religion. Hawkes 1985:266). Learn more in the Cambridge English-Chinese traditional Dictionary. The waters of the eight corners and the nine regions, the stream of the Milky Way, all pour into it, but it neither shrinks nor grows.