Han Zhongli 汉钟离
In tales of the Eight Immortals, Han Zhongli usually appears with a fan that can bring the dead back to life. In Daoist lore he is also remembered as the teacher of Lv Dong-Bin. His most famous lesson takes place at an inn, where his disciple lives through an entire lifetime in a dream while millet cooks.
In Daoist texts, Han Zhongli (漢鍾離) is known by the name Zhongli Quan. Some legends place him in the Han era and tell of his military service, while others set him in a later age. He has no single biography. In one version of his life, his master Wang Xuanfu introduces him to the Dao in the Zhongnan Mountains. Later Zhongli himself becomes a master, and Daoist schools hold that it was he who passed on to them the teaching of internal alchemy.
In the story of the yellow millet, Zhongli meets Lv Dong-Bin at an inn. While the food is cooking, Lv falls asleep. In his dream he receives official posts, goes through rises and falls, and loses all that he has acquired. Waking, he sees that the millet is still not cooked. The story of a whole lifetime contained within a brief dream has been told of other heroes too. In the Daoist retelling, it explains why Lv Dong-Bin decided to study under Zhongli.
Among the Eight Immortals, Zhongli is easily recognized by his bare belly and large fan. In the Singaporean series Legends of the Eight Immortals (1998) he was played by Mak Hiu-Wai. In A Chinese Immortal Story (2014) the role went to Liu Hao-Yan. And in the film Eight Immortals of Zhong Li Play Tyrant (2016), with Li Chong, Zhongli is already the protagonist.
