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I've been transcribing the biography written about the Taoist Priestess Huang Ling Wei by the official Yen written around the end of the 8th century. It was translated by Russell Kirkland in 1991. Mostly I put it hear so I will have a record of the sources in an extra place in case something unfortunate happens to the computer. And you never know, some of my friends might actually be interested in reading an old hagiography or seeing some of the source material I'm using...
Huang Ling-Wei (640-721), Wei-Fu jen ping ming Written by Yen (late 8th century) Translated by Russell Kirkland
The Flower Maid surnamed Huang tabooed name Ling-Wei, was a person from Lin-Chuan in Fu Chou. In youth she was disposed towards the Tao. She was remarkably attractive and graceful, and discontinued [the consumption of] grain in a natural manner. At age 12 she was ordained a female tao-shih in the Tien-pao monastery. At the age of 80 her hair was white and her face ruddy. She was as robust as a young lady. The people of the period referred to her as "the flower maid" and [though] she walked with a plodding gait, a speeding hours could not overtake her
Hua Ku] heard that the Shrine of Lady Wei was located South of the outskirts of the prefecture. Grass and tress had overgrown and obscured it. She constructed a hut, and sought [the shrine] without success.
In the second year of the Ch'ang-shou reign, a jen-chen year in winter, the tenth month, on the Jen-shen day, at the new moon [24th November 693?] she called upon celestial master Hu in the western mountains of Huang-Chou" 50
"He was named Ch'ao. He could surpress demons and spirits into his service. Harkening to her earnest supplication he gestured and indicated that 200 paces south of the maid's dwelling was the plateau of the Raven Black Tortoise (wu-kuei yuan) in the midst thereof was a "stone tortoise" that had often trampled the rice fields. The common people had [eventually] become distressed and knocked off its head. [the spot where that had occurred] would be the place [for huang to find the shrine]. The next day [Hu] climbed the mountain with the maid and gazed out upon the Western side. There was a pool of water there. The celestial Master addressed the maid saying, "Is there anything to be seen in the pool?" [she] replied, "there is not". The Master then raised his left hand and commanded the maid to observe [the pool] from beneath the crook of his arm. [complying she beheld] four immortals bathing in it. The master said, "you have the Tao as your appointed lot. It is necessary and fitting that you should attain it". Consequently, he remained and conversed with her for several days. After he returned to the prefecture [Huang] devout and sincere, sought out [the shrine]. She subsequently found the stone tortoise at the very centre of the altar. Digging beneath it with a knife and saw, five oil vessels and several tens of lamps. The Heavenly Empress [i.e. Wu tse-tian] heard of it, and gathered all [the objects] into [her palace]. "
Once while the maid was spending the whole day in rapt meditation on the images, there suddenly occurred an annunciation saying "South of the alter is the Pool of the nine Meanders (chiu-ch-u ch'ih). You can reveal it" The Maid complied and found it, with it's step stones all extant.
Another day there was an unusual fragrance and variegated clouds coming from the Southwest. That evening, the maid dreamt that there was someone saying to her, "why do you not restore the Taoist shrine at the Mount of the Well (ching-shan)?" Before the Maid departed she suddenly contracted an illness. The maid distressed saying, "Is this not because I failed to obey the venerable [one's] instructions?" The following day, the illness passed. Again, she detected the unusual fragrance, and passed the night in the mouth of the valley [where she] heard the sound of bells when dawn came she approached the mountains and did in fact discover the remains of an alter and shrine [both] the [main] area and the steps. Halfway up the mountain there was a natural stone well, of a depth of perhaps three feet and a breadth of more than ten feet. Hence [the mountain] was called the mount of the well.
As it was on the verge of raining, clouds and mists had already arisen, the maid constructed a meditation hut. At times, she detected the sounds of an immortal chanting. Surrounding the alter for an interval of 5 to 7 li. No one dared [to wander near, even] to gather fuel. The maid subsequently rinsed and swept restoring [the shrine] to the fullest extent of her strength. People who were not purified and sincere would inevitably encounter supernatural terrors from serpents and tigers [there], and become confused and unable to find their way out. Up to the present so it is so.
There was [once ] a wild elephant that had been shot by a hunter. It came before the maid, and the maid removed the arrows. Thereafter, whenever the time for a chai ritual arrived [the elephant returned] bearing lotus roots in its mouth to present to the maid
In the 9th year of Kai-yuan (721/722) when she desired to ascend [Huang] suddenly addressed her disciples saying, "Do not nail my coffin [shut] you can [just] cover it with crimson gauze." Several evenings later there was thunder and a lightening bolt. Turning to look at the gauze [the disciples observed that] there was [also] an opening in [the ceiling of] the room [large enough to] accommodate a human being. Within the coffin, there was only the shroud and the screed. The disciples made an offering of gourds, and in several days [the gourds] put forth creepers several feet long and produced two fruits as large as peaches.
The maid's fellow student and disciple, Li Chi'ing-hsien continually ingested china root and linseed, desisting from grain, for more than 40 autumns, At the age of f80 her teeth and hair had not decayed. It was when she was 6 or 7 years old that she personally saw the matter [of Huang's transformation]
Each time the anniversary [of Huang's transformation] arrived, wind and clouds billowed forth and penetrated directly into the Hall. Wayfarers from the countryside from time to time saw iridescent clouds and white cranes fly into the mouth of the cave. Each time that a rite of purification or sacrifice was conducted, there would be a white horse with a crimson mane at the side of the altar. If pestered it would run away, if treated charitably it would follow and come back. The miraculous epiphanies cannot be recounted in toto (total?)
Each time that [the holy days of] the three primordials (san yuan) arrived the tao-shih of the abbeys of Hsin-t'ai T'an Hsuan-t'ung and tso T'ang hsuan maintained the chai and chia rituals in regular order
In the 3rd year of Ta-li [I yen] Cheng-ch'ing received [the post of] prefect of this prefecture. The following year, in spring, the 3rd month (April may 769) there was a priestess, Tseng Miao-hsing below the mountain. She once dreamt that the priestess (nu shih) commanded her to ascend a 7 tiered blossoming tree. She gathered flowers to eat at each tier, and when she awoke she felt well fed. Wherefore she stopped eating. Once, she met Li Ch'iung-hsien within the abbey knelt and did obeisance saying, "what I saw in the dream was the venerable mistress (tsun shih). Accordingly I beg to follow her. At this moment I feel [her] glorious countenance displaying her favour". She devoutly re-instituted the [offerings of] inscecne and flame at this mountain. There was awe and admiration of it far and near
Alas! "the hemp maid" (ma ku) achieved the Tao in the famed mountains. "The southern perfected one [i.e. lady Wei] ascended to immortality at the plateau of the tortoise! "The flower maid" soared away [on] a crane at this peak.
Ch'iung-hsien and Miao-hsing departed in rapid succession. How amazing! The pervasive harmonies of heaven and earth are so from antiquity. How is it, then, that the vapours of immortality and the ethers of fecundity flourish like this? Accordingly [I] Chen-ch'ing had the honour of setting forth what I knew and had personally witnessed however haphazardly. [For] if I kept silent and did not speak, then how could those to come set forth [these things]? Thus I composed a stele inscription reading as follows: The modest and selfless flower maid,
Classed among the perfected immortals (Chen-hsien)!
Excellent qualities convalesced in her visage:
Refined without effort, yet ardent and zealous!
In the Southern marches, she pursued [lady] Wei:
In the Western mountains she visited [master] Hu
[Beneath] the arm, she described the bathing immortals:
[Upon] the plateau, she discovered the raven-black tortoise.
The miraculous vestige were in fact imposing
The pool of meanders was still stagnant
Majestically, she renewed the features of the temple.
Illustriously, she enhanced its magnificence
[the palace] was known as the mount of the well.
There she ended and went no further.
An elephant came bearing [lotus] roots
A horse appeared with crimson mane
Liberated through the screed (chien-hua) she abided(?) in vacco.
The Shroud being pierced she ascended in quietus.
The offering gourds put forth fruits;
the luxuriant apartments were pierced by mists.
Wonders transpired as the spirit was sustained.
Exalted perfected ones were herein surpassed.
I engraved a stele in Kingfisher blue jade
To make [it] known forever in the Arcane Capital (hsuan-tu)
Huang Ling-Wei (640-721), Wei-Fu jen ping ming Written by Yen (late 8th century) Translated by Russell Kirkland
The Flower Maid surnamed Huang tabooed name Ling-Wei, was a person from Lin-Chuan in Fu Chou. In youth she was disposed towards the Tao. She was remarkably attractive and graceful, and discontinued [the consumption of] grain in a natural manner. At age 12 she was ordained a female tao-shih in the Tien-pao monastery. At the age of 80 her hair was white and her face ruddy. She was as robust as a young lady. The people of the period referred to her as "the flower maid" and [though] she walked with a plodding gait, a speeding hours could not overtake her
Hua Ku] heard that the Shrine of Lady Wei was located South of the outskirts of the prefecture. Grass and tress had overgrown and obscured it. She constructed a hut, and sought [the shrine] without success.
In the second year of the Ch'ang-shou reign, a jen-chen year in winter, the tenth month, on the Jen-shen day, at the new moon [24th November 693?] she called upon celestial master Hu in the western mountains of Huang-Chou" 50
"He was named Ch'ao. He could surpress demons and spirits into his service. Harkening to her earnest supplication he gestured and indicated that 200 paces south of the maid's dwelling was the plateau of the Raven Black Tortoise (wu-kuei yuan) in the midst thereof was a "stone tortoise" that had often trampled the rice fields. The common people had [eventually] become distressed and knocked off its head. [the spot where that had occurred] would be the place [for huang to find the shrine]. The next day [Hu] climbed the mountain with the maid and gazed out upon the Western side. There was a pool of water there. The celestial Master addressed the maid saying, "Is there anything to be seen in the pool?" [she] replied, "there is not". The Master then raised his left hand and commanded the maid to observe [the pool] from beneath the crook of his arm. [complying she beheld] four immortals bathing in it. The master said, "you have the Tao as your appointed lot. It is necessary and fitting that you should attain it". Consequently, he remained and conversed with her for several days. After he returned to the prefecture [Huang] devout and sincere, sought out [the shrine]. She subsequently found the stone tortoise at the very centre of the altar. Digging beneath it with a knife and saw, five oil vessels and several tens of lamps. The Heavenly Empress [i.e. Wu tse-tian] heard of it, and gathered all [the objects] into [her palace]. "
Once while the maid was spending the whole day in rapt meditation on the images, there suddenly occurred an annunciation saying "South of the alter is the Pool of the nine Meanders (chiu-ch-u ch'ih). You can reveal it" The Maid complied and found it, with it's step stones all extant.
Another day there was an unusual fragrance and variegated clouds coming from the Southwest. That evening, the maid dreamt that there was someone saying to her, "why do you not restore the Taoist shrine at the Mount of the Well (ching-shan)?" Before the Maid departed she suddenly contracted an illness. The maid distressed saying, "Is this not because I failed to obey the venerable [one's] instructions?" The following day, the illness passed. Again, she detected the unusual fragrance, and passed the night in the mouth of the valley [where she] heard the sound of bells when dawn came she approached the mountains and did in fact discover the remains of an alter and shrine [both] the [main] area and the steps. Halfway up the mountain there was a natural stone well, of a depth of perhaps three feet and a breadth of more than ten feet. Hence [the mountain] was called the mount of the well.
As it was on the verge of raining, clouds and mists had already arisen, the maid constructed a meditation hut. At times, she detected the sounds of an immortal chanting. Surrounding the alter for an interval of 5 to 7 li. No one dared [to wander near, even] to gather fuel. The maid subsequently rinsed and swept restoring [the shrine] to the fullest extent of her strength. People who were not purified and sincere would inevitably encounter supernatural terrors from serpents and tigers [there], and become confused and unable to find their way out. Up to the present so it is so.
There was [once ] a wild elephant that had been shot by a hunter. It came before the maid, and the maid removed the arrows. Thereafter, whenever the time for a chai ritual arrived [the elephant returned] bearing lotus roots in its mouth to present to the maid
In the 9th year of Kai-yuan (721/722) when she desired to ascend [Huang] suddenly addressed her disciples saying, "Do not nail my coffin [shut] you can [just] cover it with crimson gauze." Several evenings later there was thunder and a lightening bolt. Turning to look at the gauze [the disciples observed that] there was [also] an opening in [the ceiling of] the room [large enough to] accommodate a human being. Within the coffin, there was only the shroud and the screed. The disciples made an offering of gourds, and in several days [the gourds] put forth creepers several feet long and produced two fruits as large as peaches.
The maid's fellow student and disciple, Li Chi'ing-hsien continually ingested china root and linseed, desisting from grain, for more than 40 autumns, At the age of f80 her teeth and hair had not decayed. It was when she was 6 or 7 years old that she personally saw the matter [of Huang's transformation]
Each time the anniversary [of Huang's transformation] arrived, wind and clouds billowed forth and penetrated directly into the Hall. Wayfarers from the countryside from time to time saw iridescent clouds and white cranes fly into the mouth of the cave. Each time that a rite of purification or sacrifice was conducted, there would be a white horse with a crimson mane at the side of the altar. If pestered it would run away, if treated charitably it would follow and come back. The miraculous epiphanies cannot be recounted in toto (total?)
Each time that [the holy days of] the three primordials (san yuan) arrived the tao-shih of the abbeys of Hsin-t'ai T'an Hsuan-t'ung and tso T'ang hsuan maintained the chai and chia rituals in regular order
In the 3rd year of Ta-li [I yen] Cheng-ch'ing received [the post of] prefect of this prefecture. The following year, in spring, the 3rd month (April may 769) there was a priestess, Tseng Miao-hsing below the mountain. She once dreamt that the priestess (nu shih) commanded her to ascend a 7 tiered blossoming tree. She gathered flowers to eat at each tier, and when she awoke she felt well fed. Wherefore she stopped eating. Once, she met Li Ch'iung-hsien within the abbey knelt and did obeisance saying, "what I saw in the dream was the venerable mistress (tsun shih). Accordingly I beg to follow her. At this moment I feel [her] glorious countenance displaying her favour". She devoutly re-instituted the [offerings of] inscecne and flame at this mountain. There was awe and admiration of it far and near
Alas! "the hemp maid" (ma ku) achieved the Tao in the famed mountains. "The southern perfected one [i.e. lady Wei] ascended to immortality at the plateau of the tortoise! "The flower maid" soared away [on] a crane at this peak.
Ch'iung-hsien and Miao-hsing departed in rapid succession. How amazing! The pervasive harmonies of heaven and earth are so from antiquity. How is it, then, that the vapours of immortality and the ethers of fecundity flourish like this? Accordingly [I] Chen-ch'ing had the honour of setting forth what I knew and had personally witnessed however haphazardly. [For] if I kept silent and did not speak, then how could those to come set forth [these things]? Thus I composed a stele inscription reading as follows: The modest and selfless flower maid,
Classed among the perfected immortals (Chen-hsien)!
Excellent qualities convalesced in her visage:
Refined without effort, yet ardent and zealous!
In the Southern marches, she pursued [lady] Wei:
In the Western mountains she visited [master] Hu
[Beneath] the arm, she described the bathing immortals:
[Upon] the plateau, she discovered the raven-black tortoise.
The miraculous vestige were in fact imposing
The pool of meanders was still stagnant
Majestically, she renewed the features of the temple.
Illustriously, she enhanced its magnificence
[the palace] was known as the mount of the well.
There she ended and went no further.
An elephant came bearing [lotus] roots
A horse appeared with crimson mane
Liberated through the screed (chien-hua) she abided(?) in vacco.
The Shroud being pierced she ascended in quietus.
The offering gourds put forth fruits;
the luxuriant apartments were pierced by mists.
Wonders transpired as the spirit was sustained.
Exalted perfected ones were herein surpassed.
I engraved a stele in Kingfisher blue jade
To make [it] known forever in the Arcane Capital (hsuan-tu)