Lv Dong-Bin 吕洞宾
Lv Dong-Bin is a Taoist patriarch and a legendary historical figure who was inducted into the Taoist pantheon and is counted among the Eight Immortals. Lv Dong-Bin is considered the foremost of the Eight Immortals (though, more precisely, the foremost is Zhongli Quan). His birth name was Lü Yán (Chinese: 巖 or 岩). He also called himself Master of Pure Yang (Chunyang Zi) (Chinese: 純陽子 Chunyang Zi), and in Taoism he is also known as Patriarch Lü (呂祖).
He was born in Jingzhao County in present-day Hunan Province around 796 during the Tang Dynasty. When he was born, a fragrance of incense appeared around him. At 20 he was unmarried and had twice attempted the imperial examinations, only to fail.
He met one of the eldest Taoists among the Eight Immortals, Zhongli Quan, who gave him his pillow to rest on. One day, when Lv was in Chang'an, he set some yellow millet to boil, laid his head on the pillow and dozed off. He dreamed a momentous dream, as though he had passed the state examination, received an important post and soon became a vice minister. He took as his wife the daughter of a respected wealthy man, and a son and daughter were born to him. Later he rose to the rank of prime minister. Yet many envious men appeared, he was accused of crimes, forced to resign, his wife deceived him, his children were killed by bandits and he lost his entire fortune. Dying a beggar in the street, he suddenly woke. Though eighteen years had passed in the dream, in reality the whole dream had lasted only the few minutes it took the millet to cook. Through this dream Zhongli Quan explained to him the futility and emptiness of everyday life. He began to study Taoism together with Zhongli. At first he learned swordsmanship, then the various arts of magic and the alchemy of the Taoist Shangqing (Highest Clarity) school.
Lv received his initiation into immortality on Mount He, where the «Sword of Wondrous Power» was presented to him, and only after that did he begin to master the secret formulas of the Taoist Shangqing (Highest Clarity) school. At 50, Lv attained immortality. Thereafter he wandered the world for a long time, using his sword to deliver people from sorrow and evil. Lv Dong-Bin departed from the human world in the Yellow Crane Tower in 1016 CE, during the period of the Northern Song Dynasty.
