Clerics › Religious Figure
Wei Boyang
Eastern Han Daoist alchemist traditionally credited with the Cantong Qi, revered as the 'king of alchemical scriptures'.
In a temple courtyard at dusk, a great bronze bell hangs at the right and incense smoke rises from a bronze urn; monks in orange robes and plainly dressed visitors walk toward a lamplit hall, lotus flowers bloom in a stone basin, and a gold prayer wheel stands at the left.
Also known as Hao Yunyazi
Wei Boyang, from Shangyu in Kuaiji, styled Yunyazi, is traditionally placed in the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han as a man of good family who declined office to cultivate the Dao. He is credited with the Zhouyi Cantong Qi, which uses the hexagrams of the Book of Changes and Huang-Lao thought to explain alchemy and self-cultivation, later revered by Daoists as the 'king of alchemical scriptures'. Most details of his life come from Daoist sources such as Ge Hong's Biographies of Immortals, and his exact dates cannot be confirmed.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; traditionally placed under Emperor Huan of Eastern Han (147–167 CE)