Tao Hongjing was born in Moling County, Danyang County. At first, his mother dreamed that a dragon came out of her arms and saw two immortals coming to her house with incense burners in their hands. Soon she became pregnant and gave birth to Tao Hongjing.
He was different from ordinary people when he was a child. When I was ten years old, I saw Ge Hong's Biography of Immortals and studied reasoning day and night, so I had the ambition to keep fit. He said to others, "Looking up at the sky and watching the sun is not a distant thing."
When I grow up, I am seven feet four inches tall, with outstanding manners and appearance, bright eyes, wide eyebrows, slender figure and fat ears. Read more than ten thousand books. He is good at playing the piano and playing chess, and he also writes cursive and official scripts well.
Less than 20 years old, he was named Prime Minister by Emperor Gao of Qi, was appointed as the companion of kings, and was appointed as the distinguished guest. Although living in an aristocratic group, a person who is locked in a house does not associate with outsiders, but only revises and reads manuscripts and court etiquette affairs, and generally asks him for advice and decisions.
In the tenth year of Yongming (492), he wrote to resign, and the emperor agreed to his request and gave him five silks. When he left, bureaucrats or officials gave a banquet to see him off at the Lu Pavilion, because there were too many curtains and horses and chariots at the farewell party, which blocked the road. It is said that nothing like this has happened since Liu Song and Xiao Qi, and both the court and the people think it is a very respectable thing.
Since then, Tao Hongjing has been living in Juqu Mountain in Jurong County. He often said, "Below this mountain is the eighth cave of Taoism, which is called Huayang Heaven in Jintan and 150 Li in Fiona Fang.
Before the Han Dynasty, Sanmaojun in Xianyang was a fairy, but later he was in charge of this mountain, so he was called Maoshan. "So he built a house halfway up the mountain, calling himself Huayang seclusion.
I began to learn from Sun Youyue, a native of Dongyang. Travel many famous mountains and look for fairy medicine. Every time I pass through the flowing water between two mountains, I have to sit or lie in the water, wandering and chanting, involuntarily. At that time, Shen Yue was appointed as the chief of Dongyang, admired his ambition and integrity, and wrote to invite him many times, but he didn't keep the appointment.
Tao Hongjing was naturally fond of writing, believed in strange things and cherished his time, especially in his old age. Especially familiar with yin and yang, five elements, feng shui, astrology, topography, divination, mountain geography, maps and products, medical herbs. He wrote "The Imperial Calendar" and created a muddy sky. He said: "I made the muddy sky phenomenon to meet the needs of monasticism, and it is not just used by historians."
When the rebels captured Jiankang City, they heard that they were talking about extinction. Tao Hongjing inferred from divination that several places were shaped like "beams", so he sent his disciples to see the emperor. Gaozu had contact with him very early, that is, after the emperor ascended the throne, he received more courtesy and care, sent letters and greetings constantly, and the car covers of envoys were one after another.
After four years in Tian Jian (505), he moved to the valley east of Jinjinmao Mountain. He is good at guiding the valley and other health care methods, and he still looks like a young man in his eighties. I envy Sean of the Han Dynasty, saying that "no ancient sage can compare with him". I once dreamed that the Buddha taught him Bodhi and told him to win the Bodhisattva.
So I went to Asoka Tower in Yunxian County and took an oath to accept the five precepts of Buddhism. Later, Emperor Taizong went to South Xuzhou, admired his lofty spirit and fame, and called him to the backyard to talk for a few days before leaving. Emperor Taizong especially respected him. In the early years of Datong, two treasure knives were given to Gaozu, one was good at winning and the other was good at winning, both of which were excellent treasures.
Datong died in 536 at the age of eighty-five. After death, the appearance does not change color, and the joints flex and stretch freely. The emperor ordered Dr. Feng Zhongsan, posthumous title, to send Mr. Scheeren to be buried in prison. Tao Hongjing's last words were buried thinly, and his disciples handled the affairs according to his last wishes.
Source:
Southern History is one of the "Twenty-four History" officially revised by China. Biography, * * * eighty volumes, of which ten volumes and seventy volumes are biographies, which began in the first year of Emperor Wu (420) and ended in the third year (589).
History of the South and History of the North are a pair of companion pieces, which were jointly compiled by Li Shishi and his son li yanshou.