Clerics › Religious Figure
Chen Tuan
Daoist recluse of the Five Dynasties and early Song, courtesy name Tunan, titled Master Xiyi; he lived on Mount Hua, was known for his sleeping practice, and is credited with shaping Song diagram-based Yijing learning.
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 Tunan · Fuyaozi · Master Xiyi · Master Baiyun
Chen Tuan, courtesy name Tunan and literary name Fuyaozi, came from Zhenyuan in Bozhou (by another account Qiao commandery) and was a Daoist recluse of the Five Dynasties and early Song who refused office on Mount Wudang and Mount Hua. Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou gave him the title Master Baiyun, and Emperor Taizong of Song received him and granted the title Master Xiyi. Famed for his sleeping practice, he is revered in Daoism as Chen Tuan Laozu; the Taiji and Wuji diagrams are traditionally said to have passed through him to Zhou Dunyi and Shao Yong. The Song History places his death at Mount Emei in 989.
Life and times
Dates traditionally 871–989 CE