introduction
Born in the Five Dynasties period, Chen Zhuo's ancestors liked to sleep very much, and in his "Two Poems of Gifted Money" once said: "In the dream of knowing sleep, the first Xuan in the world." In fact, There are many poems about sleep in Chen Zhuo's old ancestors, and it is said that he can sleep for three months at a time.
Throughout the ages, there have been many stories of legendary figures circulated in folk or history books, including many Taoist priests with great supernatural powers. In the legend, these strange people may be able to shrink into inches or turn stones into gold, but Chen Zhuo is different, and his most surprising "ability" is to sleep and predict the future.
▲Chen Zhuo sleeping eagle
01
Chen Zhuo was born in the twelfth year of Emperor Yizong of Tang (871 AD), and Chen Zhuo was not outstanding until the age of 5, and he was not very good at speaking. But when he was about four or five years old, he once met an old woman who breastfed him while playing by the river, and since then Chen Xuan has become more and more intelligent, reading can be described as a glance and ten lines, and he has never forgotten. In the second year of Tang Changxing (931 AD) five generations later, Chen Zhuo took the imperial examination and was named Sun Shan, and since then he has no intention of pursuing a career and has taken pleasure in sightseeing in the mountains and rivers.
During the time that Chen Zhuo traveled in all directions of the world, according to his own account, he once met two Taoist masters, Sun Junfang and Zhangpi, and under the guidance of these two masters, Chen Zhuo lived in seclusion in the Nine Chambers Of The Wudang Mountains, and only drank a few glasses of wine a day. More than 20 years later, Chen Xuan moved to The Yuntai Temple in Huashan, often sleeping for hundreds of days, according to the History of the Song Dynasty. The biography of Chen Zhuo records: "Every bed, more than a hundred days can not afford."
▲Scenery of Mount Hua
02
The fame of Chen Zhuo's monasticism spread among the people, and the Later Zhou Emperor Chai Rong, because he liked some Taoist spells, summoned Chen Zhuo. This time, Chen Zhuo lived in the palace for more than a month, and Chai Rong once asked Chen Zhuo about the art of ascension and yellow and white. Chen Xuan told Chai Rong that as an emperor, he should focus on governing the country and should not focus on the road of ascending to seek immortals. Chai Rong thought that Chen Xuan's words were also reasonable, and did not blame him, so he let him return to the mountain. It is said that during the time when Chen Zhuo was living in the palace, Chai Rong, in order to test whether Chen Zhuo was really able to sleep as rumored, locked him in a room and provided neither food nor water. A month later, Chai Rong went to see it and found that Chen Xuan was really still sleeping.
Another peculiarity of Chen Zhuo is that he can predict what will happen in the future. Once, another Daoist priest came to visit Chen Zhuo, and Chen Zhuo knew that this person wanted the big scoop hanging in his room, and before the other party could speak, he asked someone to take the big scoop down and give it to the Daoist, and from then on the Daoist priest thought that Chen Zhuo was a living immortal.
▲Huashan Yuntai View
Another time, another person came to visit Chen Zhuo, and at night he lived in Yuntaiguan, and in the middle of the night, Chen Zhuo suddenly woke up this person and told him to go home quickly, and just when this person hesitated, Chen Zhuo told him that he did not need to go back. The next day the man returned home to learn that his mother had suddenly fainted from an illness the night before and had woken up again. So Chen Xuan first told him to go back, and then he said that he didn't need to go back.
03
Legend has it that Chen Zhuo also relied on this ability to win Mount Hua by betting from Zhao Kuangyin. Chen Zhuo knew that Zhao Kuangyin would eventually get the world, so he found a day to ask him to play chess. Before playing chess, he told Zhao Kuangyin that if he won, Chen Zhuo would give him a basket of peaches. But if Zhao Kuangyin lost, he would have to give Mount Hua to Chen Zhuo.
▲Zhao Kuangyin stills
Zhao Kuangyin did not take it seriously and casually agreed. As a result, the two played chess this time, Chen Zhuo won three games in a row, he took out a pen and ink paper, and wrote down the content of the bet between the two in black and white. It said that Zhao Kuangyin wanted to give Mount Hua to Chen Zhuo, zhao Kuangyin did not get the world at that time, he thought that Chen Kuangyin was joking, so he signed and signed it.
Later, Zhao Kuangyin really became emperor and unified the world, which understood Chen Xuan's intention to play chess with him and bet on him. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin also realized that Chen Zhuo was indeed a god man, so he wanted to summon him into the palace to help him as an official. However, Chen Zhuo refused Zhao Kuangyin's offer, saying that he had no intention of being an official, and only wanted to be a wild crane in the landscape of heaven and earth, and in the end Zhao Kuangyin could only give up.
▲Statue of Chen Zhuo
Chen Xuan can not only predict the future of others, but also know the limits of his own life and death. One day he suddenly told his disciple that he was going to dig a grotto, and that it would be the place where he would rest later. After his disciple dug the grotto for him, Chen Zhuo wrote a sonata in which he indicated that he was close to the number of qi and would die on the twenty-second day of this month. Later, on July 22 of the second year of Duangong (August 25, 989 AD), Chen Zhuo died at the age of 118. Seven days after his death, his limbs and body had not yet cooled, and there was still a temperature like a living person, and many five-colored clouds appeared at the entrance of the cave where he lived, and they did not disperse for a long time.
epilogue
There are many legends about Chen Zhuo, and in his lifetime he wrote a lot of Taoist doctrines and studies on the I Ching, but there are not many that have really been handed down to the present, and most of the books and doctrines written by Chen Zhuo are mostly entrusted to the name. There is also no debate about Chen Zhuo's ancestral origin, one is from Bozhou, the other is from the current Chongqing area, and there are many other theories.
Resources:
"Two Poems of Gifted Sleep"
History of Song. Biography of Chen Xuan