74 THE EIGHT IMMORTALS OF THE TAOIST RELIGION 



One other familiar allusion has been attributed to the 

 Immortals Eight, that is their crossing of the Eastern Sea 

 A flU £& ft. Every Chinese boy is acquainted with the 

 tradition that they did, and let us see how it was accom- 

 plished. Lii Yen was the instigator of the excursion, being 

 represented as the most merry and pleasure -seeking of the 

 Eight. He was seconded by Tieh-kuai and Chung-li and 

 they started on their expedition. The purpose of the trip 

 was simply sight-seeing, such as the mirage and other 

 wonders of the sea, which were not seen in the celestial 

 spheres. 



They travelled on the clouds as they were wont to do. 

 But Tung-pin's versatility again prompted him to devise a 

 novel means of locomotion; and he said thus to his comrades, 

 "Travelling on the clouds does not at all reveal the power 

 of us genii. Let us try to throw something on to the sea, 

 and tread upon it, and pass in that manner to show our 

 infinite ability." 



This being agreed to, Tieh-kuai threw his staff, and 

 scudded over the waves rapidly. Chung-li used his brush, 

 Chang-kuo his paper mule, Tung-pin his sword, Hsiang-tzu 

 his flower basket, Hsien-ku her lotus flowers, and Ts'ai-ho 

 his musical instrument. Now it happened that Ts'ai-ho 's 

 instrument was espied by the Crown Prince of the Eastern 

 Sea, being son of the dragon king there, and it provoked his 

 greed to try and steal it from Ts'ai-ho, and imprison him. 

 The injury was never to be put up with by the wonder- 

 working Immortals, and a war ensued, in which the Dragon 

 king was utterly routed. 



So far, let it suffice to say, that the Eight Immortals 

 continued their exploits of this nature for an incalculable 

 time; and as stated in the prefatory remark, the present 

 essay will not enter much into the more fictitious elements 

 of the tradition. Besides A Mission of the Eight Genii to 

 the East, there are three other books by the same author, 

 entitled To the West, To the South, and To the North. 

 What is dealt with in them is very much Buddhistic in style 

 intermixed with Taoist influences. 



As already stated, the appellation "Eight Immortals" 

 is a figurative term for happiness. In fact the number 

 "eight" is lucky owing to its association with this tradition, 

 and persons or things good, or eight in number, are graced 

 according^. Thus we note reverence for "The Eight Genii 

 table" A fill *| , "Eight Genii bridge" A fill * , "Eight Genii 

 vermicelli" A fill H , "The Eight Genii of the Wine Cup" 

 $k $* A fill (celebrated wine-bibbers, of the Tang dynasty, 

 to whom Tu Fu ££ ffif in his poems gave this designation). 



