Writers › Cultural Persona
Zhang Sanfeng (Master Xuanxuan)
Figure whom the Ming History calls a man of Yizhou in Liaodong, named Quanyi or Junbao, repeatedly sought by Ming emperors without success; 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 Zhang Junbao · Master Xuanxuan · Immortal Zhang
- Roles
- Cultural Persona
Zhang Sanfeng is described in the Ming History, in the section on practitioners of the arts, as a man of Yizhou in Liaodong named Quanyi, or Junbao, with Sanfeng as his sobriquet, also called the Slovenly Zhang for his untidy ways. It says the Taizu emperor sent envoys to look for him in 1391 without success, that under Yongle the Chengzu emperor sent the official Hu Ying and others with a sealed letter and offerings, who travelled for several years without finding him, and that in 1459 the Yingzong emperor issued a decree granting him the title True Man Who Penetrates the Subtle and Manifests Change, while his survival remained unknowable. Later tradition makes him founder of the Wudang school and of internal boxing, and works such as Dadao lun are attributed to him. His dates and these attributions cannot be established.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; sought repeatedly in the early Ming, and the Ming History says his survival could not be known