58 THE EIGHT IMMORTALS OF THE TAOIST RELIGION 



often depicted as equipped with a fan, or a br.ush, or a gourd 

 of immortal pills or some other miraculous stuff. 



It is well worth noticing that the way by which a man 

 passes from the earthly existence to the genii existence is 

 singularly simple. Etymologically, a genius is one who 

 enters the mountain ( fjlj = A '• ). The genii are men who 

 have entered upon an ascetic life living in the mountains. 

 The Tz'u yuan f? kW says, in definition of the word 

 "genii," that the Taoists attain immortality by abstention 

 from food, and mystic contemplation. In so doing, they 

 abandon all thoughts of the world, and become impertur- 

 bable. And then, comes the transmigration to the super- 

 human existence, unlimited by space, and force. 



However lofty may be the ideals attached to this im- 

 mortal life, the genii never transcend the atmospheric 

 universe. They surmount the clouds, or transfigure as they 

 please, but they have always geographical locations as to 

 their abodes. It is impossible to locate the Buddhist 

 Nirvana, or the Christian Paradise, but the Taoist genii are 

 always represented as living in some regions within the 

 Chinese dominion, but these places are inaccessible to 

 ordinary men. Thus they dwell in the "golden isles of the 

 blest," in "Yuen-chow yt W where grows the herb of im- 

 mortality" S. £. & ; in the "Kwen-lung mountains E $r 111 

 where there are halls of emerald, and apartments of jade 

 stones. ' ' We also find the statement that "the fourth happy 

 land is the Eastern Abode of the genii, the fifth happy land 

 is the Western abode of the genii, and both of them belong 

 to the Tai-chow prefecture # M It £1 U ." 



Not only do genii dwell upon the earth, but also their 

 personal appearance is humanistic. They are represented 

 as wearing garbs of ordinary men and women, but most of 

 them are distinguished by some peculiar traits or gaits. By 

 these, and by the wonderful power they possess, they can be 

 recognised whenever they make their appearance. 



Having discussed the question to this point, it is neces- 

 sary to spend some time on the more important theories 

 regarding the genii. Whether the genii possess corporeal 

 -constitutions or not is the problem we wish to enter into. 

 One naturally asks, do the men who have passed from the 

 limited existence into the genii existence, carry away their 

 physical body with them? Do they enter upon this new 

 life leaving their corpses after death ? Or do they transform 

 into the immortal life carrying away with them flesh and 

 hones? 



The first of the two theories admits that they do not 

 possess corporeal existence. The aspirants, after a period 



