**2. The Saints Trilogy**

The three books I refer to here collectively as the *Saints Trilogy* were published in the early years of the seventeenth century by the Cuiqing tang - - publishing house in Jianyang , Fujian Province. They are of similar length and share a common format, opening with a handwritten preface by Deng Zhimo, followed by a table of contents and a cover page noting the names of the author and the publisher (see Figures 1 and 2). All three books contain eleven rows of printed text in a single register, as well as several full-page illustrations that depict key episodes (Figures 3–5) and portraits of the immortals (Figure 6). In language and style of narration, the *Saints Trilogy* conforms to the conventions of the Wanli-era (1572–1620) "vernacular" prose-narrative writing mode (problematically referred to as *xiaoshuo* or *zhanghui xiaoshuo*; see Berg (2003, pp. 176–88), Chen (1993, pp. 2–32), Hanan (1981), Hegel (1981), Idema (1974), and Shang (2014, pp. 258–62). The format and themes of the *Saints Trilogy* place it among several dozen late-Ming *xiaoshuo* works classified by Sun Kaidi as *lingguai xiaoshuo*, or "supernatural narratives" (Sun 1933). Shahar divides this category into two groups: hagiographic works centering on one deity, and large-scale narratives sporting an extensive array of divine protagonists (Shahar 1998, pp. 8–11). The books of the *Saints Trilogy* belong to the first category of narratives, which I termed "origin narratives" elsewhere (Ganany 2018), a subgenre whose profound impact on Chinese culture in the past four centuries is ye<sup>t</sup> to be thoroughly explored (a task which I am undertaking in my current book project).

Deng Zhimo's captivating retelling of the three immortals' lives diverges from the lackluster tone of his source-material, dramatizing the events and personages that populate their hagiographical traditions. The chronological "grocery lists" of earlier hagiographies is transformed beyond recognition by the *Trilogy*'s vivid descriptions, flashbacks, dialogs, and verse, the vast majority of which penned by Deng himself. It is unclear whether Deng conceived of the three books as separate projects, a trilogy, or parts of a longer series that he did not develop further. In any case, the three books stand apart from the rest of the corpus of Deng's works as the only full-length narratives that he had authored independently (Bai 2005, pp. 27–31; Chen 2012, pp. 132–39).

The narrative dedicated to Xu Xun was published in 1603 under the title *Newly Carved Narrative of the Jin-era Xu of Jingyang Attaining the Dao and Capturing the Dragon, the Iron Tree* (*Xin qie Jindai Xu Jingyang dedao qin jiao tieshu ji* ; Deng 1603a) by Yu Siquan (Yu Zhangde ), who was a prominent publisher during the Wanli era and a cousin of the famous publisher Yu Xiangdou . The book must have won considerable commercial success, as it was reprinted by the same publisher in the following year (1604), and once more in the second half of the seventeenth century by the Zhengsheng tang - publishing house. The commercial success of *The Iron Tree* might be credited, at least in part, to the vibrancy of Xu Xun reverence around the turn of the seventeenth century, particularly in Jiangxi and Fujian. A multifaceted icon, Xu Xun has been worshiped as a local saint and a water deity in the Xishan - region of Jiangxi since the Six Dynasties period at the latest.<sup>2</sup> Xu Xun was gradually appropriated by the Jingming Daoist sect (also known as Filial Daoism, *xiaodao* ) and the Lüshan Daoist sect, a local movement originating in Northern Fujian that was inspired by Jingming and Zhengyi Daoism and

adopted Xu Xun as one of its leading patriarchs (Akizuki 1978, pp. 248–49; Ang 2016, pp. 197–218; Boltz 1987, pp. 70–78; Huang 1973, pp. 43–75; Li 1997, pp. 14–17).<sup>3</sup>

**Figure 1.** The first page of Deng Zhimo's preface to *The Iron Tree*, 1603.


**Figure 2.** First page of *The Flying Sword*.

**Figure 3.** Seeking the Dao in *The Enchanted Date*, 1603.

**Figure 4.** Xu Xun fights the dragon of Poyang Lake, *The Iron Tree*, 1604 edition.

**Figure 5.** Lü Dongbin confronts a dragon in *The Flying Sword*.

**Figure 6.** A portrait of Sa Shoujian in *The Enchanted Date*, 1603.

Xu Xun was the focus of a rich hagiographic tradition in the centuries prior to the publication of *The Iron Tree.* Among Xu Xun's most notable extant hagiographies are the *Xiaodao Wu Xu er zhenjun zhuan* - (DZ 449), *Jingyang Xu zhenjun zhuan* - by the famous Song-Dynasty Daoist thinker Bai Yuchan ---, the *Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian* by Zhao Daoyi -- (DZ 296), the

episodic *Xishan Xu zhenjun bashiwu hua lu* - - - (DZ 448), the pictorial hagiography *Xutaishi zhenjun tuzhuan* - (DZ 440),<sup>4</sup> and the *Jingming daoshi Jingyang Xu zhenjun* , included in the *Jingming zhongxiao quanshu* (DZ 1110). Xu Xun's early hagiographies describe him as a native of Yuzhang County - in Jiangxi who lived during the Jin Dynasty (265–420) and served as magistrate of Jingyang (arguably in Sichuan). His role as a water deity who protects against floods, droughts, and water-borne epidemics eclipsed other aspects of his lore by the Song Dynasty.<sup>5</sup> It was also during this transformative period that Xu Xun's association with the Jingming sect became a key element in his cultic reverence. The geographical proximity of Xu Xun's cult center to the heart of the Jingming sect in the Xishan region of Jiangxi is most likely the reason for his appropriation. The geographical origins of the Jingming Dao in the Xishan area also shed light on its early ties to inner alchemy. The Tang alchemist-poet Shi Jianwu (fl. 820–835) became a part of the Xishan lore along with his preceptors Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, particularly in the *Xishan qun xian hui zhen ji* - - , the third most important text in the Zhong-Lü corpus, to whom it is attributed.<sup>6</sup> Although a thorough treatment of Jingming Daoism lies beyond the scope of this article, it is noteworthy here that Jingming Daoist practices draw on Shangqing and Tianshi Daoism, especially in its usages of talismans and charms, as well as on Buddhism (Guo 2005, pp. 25, 188). Moreover, from the earliest stages of its formation, Jingming Daoism maintained a close connection to the Lingbao liturgical tradition. Du Guangting concluded his hagiography of Chenmu, one of Xu Xun's spiritual progenitors, by noting that "the ritual of the Way of Filial Piety is little different from that of the Ling-pao [tradition]. The people of Yu-chang have been practicing it for generations" (Schipper 1985, p. 827). Indeed, the earliest hagiography of Xu Xun that survives intact, the supposedly Tang-dynasty *Xiaodao Wu Xu er zhenjun zhuan*, describes the rituals conducted during the anniversary of the ascent of Xu Xun, including lists of important dates and offerings, as a standardized Lingbao ritual. The Southern Song liturgist Jin Yunzhong (fl. circa 1224) not only saw the Jingming Dao and Xu Xun worship as an integral part of the Lingbao liturgical tradition, but even regarded it as its crowning achievement.

Late Ming saw a growing engagemen<sup>t</sup> of writers, artists, and commercial publishers with the Xu Xun lore and his association with Jingming Daoism. One interesting example from this period is the *Zhenxian shiji* , an exquisite pictorial hagiography of Xu Xun dating 1546, which was compiled by Zhu Gonggui of Yiyang - , Jiangxi, and includes sixty paintings by the artist Xie Shichen - -. This album, which seems to have been prepared as a gift for the Jiajing Emperor, a grea<sup>t</sup> patron of Daoism, relies heavily on canonical sources, and particularly the aforementioned *Xutaishi zhenjun tuzhuan.*<sup>7</sup> In 1604, only a year after the first edition of Deng Zhimo's *The Iron Tree*, the writer-editor-publisher Yang Erzeng produced a Jingming collection of texts relating to Xu Xun, titled *Xu zhenjun Jingming zongjiao lu* - (Yang 2007, p. xxiv; Chen and Zou 2009). *The Iron Tree* positions itself as indebted to Xu Xun's existing hagiographical and doctrinal traditions, and as consciously contributing to them. While the impact of local folklore and oral traditions on the composition of *The Iron Tree* remains a matter for speculation, it is very likely that Deng Zhimo, a native of the Poyang Lake region, also drew on his own personal experiences with the Xu Xun cult and lore.<sup>8</sup> As discussed below, *The Iron Tree* stands out in this context in its ambitious attempt to create a comprehensive ye<sup>t</sup> entertaining depiction of Xu Xun and his cult for a lay audience that seeks to consolidate the disparate aspects of his lore, from his role as a water deity and saintly miracle-worker to his post as the righteous magistrate of Jingyang and a paragon of filial piety who is destined to eventually take his place in the divine realm as a Daoist immortal.

The narrative recounting the life of the immortal Sa Shoujian, titled *The Story of the Perfected Sa of the Five Dynasties Attaining the Dao, the Enchanted Date* (*Wudai Sa zhenren dedao Zhouzao ji* , Deng 1603b), was likewise published in 1603 by the Cuiqing tang. Sa Shoujian (supposedly circa 1141–1178?) has been revered as a Daoist saint, an exorcist, and a miracle worker since the Song Dynasty, and became especially central in the Xihe - Daoist sect, a branch of the Shenxiao - school (Boltz 2008, pp. 825–26; Goossaert 2021, pp. 149–62; Li 1997, pp. 207–86; Xiong 2016, pp. 41–49). His cult enjoyed particular exuberance during the Ming, when it was also officially recognized and supported by the imperial court. Although Sa Shoujian was the subject of several brief hagiographies in preceding centuries, none is as long, comprehensive, and engaging as Deng Zhimo's *The Enchanted Date*. 9 Deng's work portrays Sa Shoujian not only as an exorcist who effectively uses Thunder Rites to protect mankind, but also brings his persona in line with the current demands of an immortal-saint, shared by the *Trilogy* and contemporaneous works: the virtuous adept who masters the secrets of inner alchemy on the one hand, and the arts of demonic subjugation on the other. In the course of the somewhat formulaic and repetitive *The Enchanted Date*, Sa Shoujian provides a range of services to the people he encounters, from protection against malevolent spirits and human corruption, through curing hunger and illness, to reviving the dead. Sa Shoujian's holiness is epitomized in his didactic journey through the netherworld, which concludes with his performance of mortuary rites informed by Buddhist and Daoist practices (Durand-Dastès 2016, pp. 53–56; Ganany 2021, pp. 159–67).

The exact publication date of the narrative devoted to Lü Dongbin, titled *The Story of Lü Chunyang of the Tang Attaining the Dao, the Flying Sword* (*Tangdai Lü Chunyang dedao Feijian ji* - , Deng n.d.), is not included in the extant first edition printed by the Cuiqing tang, but judging by its content and paratextual characteristics, it is very likely that it was also produced circa 1603. Lü Dongbin was undoubtedly the most celebrated and versatile among the three immortals of Deng's *Trilogy* at the time of publication, and his lore remains the most extensively researched by modern scholars (see for instance, Ang 1993, 1997; Baldrian-Hussein 1986; Eskildsen 1989; Katz 1999; Ma 1989). A kaleidoscopic cultural icon, Lü Dongbin has been portrayed as a bard, a drunkard, a Daoist adept, a Buddhist, a mendicant ink seller, a calligrapher, a healer, a merchant, an artisan, and a patriarch of the Quanzhen sect and the Zhong-Lü school, among many other images. *The Flying Sword* weaves many of these portrayals into Lü's life story, while asserting his centrality in the Quanzhen lineage and his importance as a master of inner alchemy. The episodicyet-unified structure of *The Flying Sword* provided a convenient canvas for Deng to include various unrelated legends about Lü. The plotline of *The Flying Sword* centers on the spiritual deliverance (*du* ) of Lü Dongbin by Zhongli Quan through inner alchemy. Notwithstanding his seemingly successful spiritual attainment under Zhongli Quan's tutelage, Lü Dongbin's divine canonization is conditioned upon Lü's deliverance of others. Lü's attempts to deliver the people he encounters in the course of his journeys in the human realm form the core of the narrative. These encounters, essentially a series of loosely tied tales, showcase some of Lü Dongbin's trademark traits: carefree roaming between heaven and Earth, composing poetry, consuming legendary quantities of wine, making miracles, and carousing with women. Deng Zhimo weaves tales of exorcistic subjugation into this tapestry, thus bringing Lü Dongbin's life story in line with the contemporaneous hagiographic vision of an immortal saint. It is only in the final chapter of the narrative that Lü succeeds in delivering a person, the female immortal He Xiangu , with whom he travels to Zhongnan Mountain tojointheothermembersoftheEightImmortals(*baxian* ).<sup>10</sup>

As their titles indicate, the main concern of the *Saints Trilogy* is the attainment of the Dao (*dedao* ), or achieving spiritual realization, that is, "transcendence" or "immortality" (*xian*-hood, as Campany aptly refers to it; see Campany 2002, pp. 4–5). The

issue of distinguishing this realized state of *xian*-hood and those who have reached it from the common or mundane (*fan* ) looms large in the *Trilogy*. The pursuit of Daoist attainment takes on various forms in the course of the three narratives, but they can be broadly divided into two categories: self-cultivation and altruistic action. "Cultivation" is, of course, a generic term that does not do justice to the range of practices depicted in the *Trilogy*: moments of instruction and master-disciple exchanges, tests and trials, descriptions of inner-alchemical methods, the conversion of others, and divine canonization. In this category, the protagonists of the *Trilogy* offer three different models of *xian*-hood that diverge on the question of asceticism as precondition for attainment. Sa Shoujian occupies one end of the spectrum as the saintly ascetic who completely detaches himself from all worldly associations. At the other end of the spectrum, we find Xu Xun, the virtuous official and devoted family man who eventually ascends to heaven with his entire household (including livestock!). Lü Dongbin of *The Flying Sword* is the most complicated case of the three, as he travels across this spectrum of asceticism, sometimes withdrawing from society but at other times succumbing to temptation and even using sexual intercourse for cultivation purposes. In this case, Deng's attempt to consolidate the different images of the multifaceted Lü Dongbin lore while still striving to create an all-inclusive hagiographical portrait of the immortal reaches its limit.

Notwithstanding their different approaches to the issue of asceticism as a prerequisite for Daoist attainment, all three models are conditioned upon altruistic action, that is, the numerous services the three immortals offer mankind, primarily through miracles, random virtuous acts, and exorcistic subjugation of the demonic.<sup>11</sup> Among them, exorcism is particularly crucial, as it plays a double role as a demonstration of the protagonist's efficacy as a protective deity (hence worthy of worship) and as an allegory for self-cultivation. This duality is corporealized in the objects-cumemblems that the three immortals' use to help mankind, as indicated in the titles of the narratives: Xu Xun's iron tree, Sa Shoujian's magical date, and Lü Dongbin's flying sword. The successful mastering of both altruism and self-cultivation is the key to Daoist attainment in the hagiographic vision of the *Trilogy*.

*The Iron Tree*, *The Enchanted Date*, and *The Flying Sword* not only narrate the lifestories of the three immortals in grea<sup>t</sup> detail, but also situate them within larger cosmological, historical, geographical, and religious contexts. The basic framework of the *Trilogy* evokes the cosmological outline which characterizes contemporaneous hagiographical narratives around the turn of the seventeenth century (Bai 2005; Ganany 2018; Li 1997; Shahar 1998). Works in this sub-genre begin with a prophecy or a scene in the divine realm that outlines the rationale for the protagonist's descent to the human world, and end with the ascendance or canonization of the protagonist. This framing mechanism builds on the trope of the "banished immortal" (*zhexian* ) that began circulating as early as the Tang Dynasty and became particularly prominent in late-imperial narrative writing (Li 1993, pp. 6–78; Li 2003, pp. 85–86).

In *The Flying Sword*, for instance, the narrative opens with a creation myth that lists the thirty-three heavens and nine earthly counties, followed by a lengthy description of the palace of the Jade Emperor. Lü Dongbin is introduced briefly as an immortal deity (*shenxian* ) of the Tang Dynasty, before the narrative briskly turns to focus on a divine banquet scene. While his master Zhongli Quan converses with the Jade Emperor, Lü Dongbin, then still a disciple, idles outside the heavenly gates and catches sight of the wonders of the human realm. Overcome with temptation (literally "setting his mind on the mundane", *fanxin* ), Lü descends to enjoy the pleasures of the world of dust. After his long journey on the path toward selfrealization through the conversion of others, Lü finally re-ascends to the divine court of the Jade Emperor, who grants Lü Dongbin and He Xiangu celestial posts.

In a similar fashion, the first three chapters of *The Iron Tree* present a "prehistory" of Xu Xun. *The Iron Tree* begins by introducing Confucius, the Buddha, and Laozi and

the Three Teachings while arguing for the supremacy of Daoism. The focus remains on Laozi as the narrative turns to describe a banquet in his honour in the divine realm, in the course of which the gods discuss a prophecy foretelling the emerges of a dangerous dragon in the human realm. Laozi predicts the future arrival of Xu Xun who will be able to subjugate this malevolent demon. Laozi joins other deities in petitioning the Jade Emperor to send a celestial envoy to the human world to set in motion a chain of events that will eventually lead to Xu Xun's predestined vanquishing of the dragon. This opening not only sets the stage for Xu Xun's origin story, but it also highlights the iconic climax of the narrative, the subjugation of the Poyang Lake dragon in Chapter 14, which acts as a rite of passage and paves the way for Xu Xun's canonization in the last chapter.

Using a similar framing mechanism, *The Enchanted Date* begins with a cosmological description of the universe as constructed of three main elements: heaven, Earth, and man. Focusing on the latter category, the first chapter divides humanity by profession, then turns to discuss adepts who pursue immortality through self-cultivation. The rest of the chapter is devoted to Sa Shoujian's previous incarnations, forming a trajectory of gradual spiritual progression toward sainthood.<sup>12</sup> It recounts that in one of his previous incarnations, Sa Shoujian was a butcher who changed his ways and was therefore granted another human lifetime. In this narrative, it is King Yama, presiding over the courts of the netherworld, who recognizes Sa's potential and sends him back to the human world twice to pursue a path of cultivation and virtuous conduct. Unapologetically didactic, the first chapter heralds asceticism and righteousness as critical conditions for spiritual realization. The episodic nature of *The Enchanted Date*, as it follows Sa Shoujian's miraculous and exorcistic adventures, parallels the structure and narratorial style of *The Iron Tree* and *The Flying Sword* and, similarly to Xu and Lü, Sa ascends to take up his celestial appointment in the concluding chapter.

Notwithstanding the importance of the divine framing of these origin stories, it is the historical and geographical settings of the earthly lives of Xu Xun, Sa Shoujian, and Lü Dongbin that take center stage in the *Saints Trilogy*. The *Saints Trilogy* is remarkable in its attempts to trace the local traditions of the three immortals at the same time as celebrating them as transregional icons. Their sacred geographies, namely cult centers and famous sites associated with their lore, occupy an important place in the underlying hagiographical vision of the *Saints Trilogy*. Although Deng drew on a wide range of pre-existing sources in depicting the loci associated with Xu, Sa, and Lü, his interpretation of the significance of these places to their cultic lore and the visual emphasis of his cinematic narration breathed new life into the immortals' geographical "traces" (*yiji* ).

*The Iron Tree*, for instance, celebrates the rich heritage of Xu Xun in the Poyang Lake region, particularly in Xishan, Jiangxi, where his cult center is located, ye<sup>t</sup> it also highlights sites in other regions, particularly in Fujian. The emphasis on sites associated with Xu Xun in Fujian could reflect an attempt to appeal to local audiences in northern Fujian, where the book was published, as well as to tap into the growing popularity of Xu Xun worship in the Lüshan sect that proliferated in the region during the Ming.<sup>13</sup> None of the previous Xu Xun hagiographies that Deng might have consulted could match the level of detail of *The Iron Tree* as it draws a map of the Xu Xun lore in narrative form. In a similar vein, *The Enchanted Date* follows Sa Shoujian's journeys in the world of the living and the underworld, before returning to his hometown of Xihe, where he attains immortality and achieves canonization. *The Flying Sword* reads almost like a travel guide featuring numerous famous loci associated with Lü Dongbin, such as the Yellow Crane Tower (*Huanghe lou* - - -)14 and Yueyang Tower (*Yueyang lou* -), where Lü reportedly leaves behind his "traces" in verse, most often in the form of poems inscribed on walls (*tibishi* - ). In their portrayals of iconic sites, the narratives of the *Saints Trilogy* echo "armchair travel" literature (*woyou* ) of the Ming that celebrated China's landscape as moulded by historical memory and cultural production (Fei 2010; Wang 2003).<sup>15</sup>

The *Saints Trilogy* is particularly noteworthy for weaving the doctrinal and ritual elements of the immortals' lore into their life stories by integrating canonical, liturgical, and epigraphic texts. These intertextual practices are significant in their dual function as providing access to materials that have hitherto been inaccessible to the vast majority of lay readers, and reinterpreting the relationship between these teachings and the immortals' hagiographic traditions. The unprecedented scale of Deng Zhimo's compilation work—a process of selection, interpretation, and reworking a vast corpus of pre-existing materials into *xiaoshuo* narratives—offered a renewed vision of the immortals and the teachings that came to be associated with their lore. The following section takes a closer look at a few examples to illustrate the significance of the textual hybridity of the *Saints Trilogy*.
