Writers › Cultural Persona
Lu Dongbin (Lu Yan)
Figure whom the Song History in its biography of Chen Tuan calls a recluse of Guanxi with sword skill and a boyish face at over a hundred, held to be an immortal; his life cannot be established
In lantern light and drifting smoke, a row of painted theatrical masks stands on a wooden rail beneath a glowing paper dragon lantern and hanging red lanterns; a folding screen painted with a river, a bridge and hills stands at the right, with a bronze burner and small lamps on the floor.
Also known as Master Chunyang · Patriarch Lu · Hui Daoren
- Roles
- Cultural Persona
Lü Dongbin is a figure widely known in Daoism and folk tradition from the Song on, honoured as Patriarch Lü. The Song History (compiled under the Yuan), in its biography of Chen Tuan, calls him a recluse from Guanxi with sword skill, boyish in face at over a hundred, swift on foot, covering hundreds of li in a moment, and held by the world to be an immortal. Later Daoist books give his name as Yan and his style as Chunyangzi, make him a native of Pu in Hezhong and one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of the Quanzhen order, and attribute poems such as Qiaoyao ge to him. His dates and the authorship of these works cannot be established, and scholars differ on whether he existed.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; the Song History calls him a recluse of Guanxi