**5. Coda**

In its textual hybridity, Deng's *Saints Trilogy* shines a valuable light on the interplay between print culture and popular reverence in late Ming. Similarly to contemporaneous experimentations with multitextuality in *xiaoshuo* writing, from *Jinpingmei* to *Xiyoubu*, which Li Qiancheng rightfully describes as "a literary collage" (Li and Hegel 2020, p. xxiv), the *Saints Trilogy* incorporates its source material into the narrative with care. This type of narrative hybridity effectively collapses the categories of knowledge that governed the presentation of information in encyclopedias and anthologies in order to produce a single, coherent, and highly entertaining narrative. As a "literature of canonization" (Meulenbeld 2015) that is firmly rooted in cultic reverence, the *Trilogy* highlights the crucial role of writers-compilers such as Deng Zhimo in reinterpreting and disseminating specialized knowledge—in this case, doctrinal and hagiographical information—to an unprecedently large and diverse lay readership. In this respect, the *Saints Trilogy* should be regarded as attempting to form a kind of "alternative lay canon" (Durand-Dastès 2013, p. 78). In this respect, the *Saints Trilogy* undescores Shahar's point that "in terms of its textual tradition, Chinese religion is inseparable from vernacular fiction and drama" (Shahar 1998, p. 18).

As Deng Zhimo himself reiterates, the primary goal of composing the *Saints Trilogy* was to present comprehensive records of the immortals that serve as guidebooks for their worship and roadmaps for self-cultivation.

The textual layering of the *Trilogy* is closely tied to the vision of the immortal saint that Deng and contemporaneous writers advocated in hagiographic narratives— a miracle-working Daoist adept, whose attainment and canonization is conditioned upon his self-cultivation through inner alchemy and the protective services he provides mankind, from exorcism to curing epidemics. The issue of conversion, or deliverance, underlies the *Trilogy's* dual emphasis on self-cultivation and altruistic action. The quest to convert others not only provides a compelling narrative device, but it also resonates with the overarching aim of the *Trilogy* to inspire the readers to follow in the footsteps of the immortals. As demonstrated above, moments of heightened multitextuality in the *Trilogy* correspond to its hagiographical and doctrinal functions. Episodes of religious instruction, depictions of cultivation practices, and protective action (exorcistic or otherwise) are particularly layered, showcasing Deng's conscious attempt to exhaust the sources at his disposal. The format of *xiaoshuo* narration provided Deng with an ever-expanding canvas to incorporate different types of doctrinal and liturgical materials that make up the multifaceted lore of the three immortals. Within the basic framework of the "banished immortal" trope, the episodic nature of the protagonists' hagiographic traditions looms large despite the narratives' structural unity, while maintaining the tension between the disparate—and sometimes contradictory—aspects of the protagonists' myth-cycles.

Crucially, in striving to form living bridges between the readers and the immortals, either by facilitating reverence or providing models for cultivation, the *Saints Trilogy* draws our attention to the vast realm of cultural preoccupations with the immortals that has been intertwined with their cultic worship for generations, but has often been overlooked. The productive interplay between the various forms of engagemen<sup>t</sup> with the immortals—as subjects of worship, as models of spiritual attainment, as vehicles for doctrinal teachings, as literary and dramatic protagonists, as popular artistic tropes, and as cultural icons in a broad sense—has been a key factor in the expansion and endurance of their veneration. The *Trilogy* is best understood as a prominent example of this interrelated network of cultural expressions that has been shaping the lore and reverence of Xu Xun, Lü Dongbin, and Sa Shoujian in the last millennium.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** I would like to thank Vincent Durand-Dastès for his illuminating notes and suggestions.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
