The Mysterious Ascension to Immortality of the Zi Wei Dou Shu‘s Master Chen Tuan

In the first year of the Duan Gong era, Master Chen Tuan suddenly told his disciple Jia De Sheng: “You should carve out a stone chamber in Zhang Chao Gu. I am ready to rest.”

A few months later, when the stone chamber was completed, the master and his disciples visited the site. From the highest cliff, they gazed down at the mist below, shimmering like jade. Pointing at the scene, he said:
“This is the ‘emerald mist of destiny’ that Mao Nữ once spoke of. This shall be my resting place.”

Before he could finish speaking, he gently knelt down and instructed his disciples to leave. With his right hand resting on his cheek, he closed his eyes and peacefully departed at the age of 118.

His disciples kept vigil over his body, and after seven days, his face remained lifelike, his limbs warm, and a strange fragrance filled the air. They placed him inside a stone coffin, securing it with iron chains, and left it in the stone chamber. As soon as they stepped away, the rock face suddenly collapsed, sealing the chamber with towering cliffs. Multicolored clouds shrouded the entrance for an entire month. This site later became known as Xi Yi Gorge.

Years later, Lu Dongbin—one of the Eight Immortals and a close acquaintance of Chen Tuan—visited Yun Tai Guan, hoping to pay his respects. Finding only an empty chamber, he composed the poem “Weeping for Master Chen”:

“The vast net of Heaven reveals myriad forms,
Yet this noble soul has returned to Mount Hua.
Cold clouds drift away, leaving the fading moon,
Spring snow falls upon the boundless void.
The True One of Six Caves has returned to the Purple Palace,
For a thousand years, the cranes cry over Cang Wu.
Since the sage departed from this world,
Across the lands, great men are few.”