Biographies of the Immortals

Long before organized religion took hold in ancient China, there were legends of extraordinary beings who transcended mortality: they climbed the highest peaks, mastered alchemy, tamed mythical beasts, and achieved everlasting life. Traditionally attributed to the Han scholar Liu Xiang, the Liexian Zhuan gathers their stories.

The ritual codes, philosophical discourses, educational primers and religious classics that shaped Chinese civilization for over two millennia. Where the narrative classics tell China’s stories, these texts encode its institutions, its ethics and its inner life.