It's not that cultivators don't exist, but they are deliberately hidden in history. From the Yellow Emperor asking Guangchengzi, to Laozi leaving Hangu Pass, to Zhang Liang receiving the book from Huang Shigong - these legends are half true and half false. Cultivation system (integrated into the ideological trends of the Han Dynasty):
Nourishing Qi: exhaling and breathing Daoyin, strengthening the body and prolonging life (corresponding to the Daoyin technique in history)
Tongmai: Open up the meridians all over the body, and internal energy can be generated by itself.
Concentration: Awakening of spiritual consciousness, able to sense Qi movement
Golden elixir: the inner elixir is formed and has a lifespan of 200 years (extremely rare, known as the "Earth Immortal" in history)
Yang Shen: The Yang Shen leaves the body and travels to Taixu (legendary realm, where no one appears for hundreds of years)
Cultivation forces (true identity hidden in history): Huang Laodao: the mainstream cultivation school in the early Han Dynasty, Zhang Liang and Cao Shen were both disciples, advocating "quietness and inaction, unity with Tao", which influenced the "Government of Wenjing"
Fang Xiandao: With Xu Fu as the ancestor, he was good at alchemy, immortality, and illusion. He was active during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but was suppressed by the imperial court and went underground.
Predictor: acting as a Confucian, able to observe celestial phenomena, predict good and bad luck, predict human affairs, one of the driving forces behind Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han Dynasty
The Hidden Sect of Mohism: After Mozi, the Mohist sect combined organ skills with cultivation, and was good at formations, magic weapons, and organ arts, and was hidden among the people.
Tianshi Dao: During the founding period, Zhang Ling (Zhang Daoling) had not yet officially established the religion, but it had already taken shape and was active in Shu.
Historical truth:
Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, killed the White Snake and revolted, which was actually a great battle in the world of cultivation.
The reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism" was because Confucianism joined forces with cultivation forces to suppress other schools.
Wang Mang replaced the Han Dynasty, which was a political experiment jointly carried out by the Chenwei family and Fang Xiandao
Reader comments
It's a good book. I feel like there really were immortal cultivators in history. It's worth reading.
It's a good book. I feel like there really were immortal cultivators in history. It's worth reading.