Chen Tuan

Chen Tuan, courtesy name Tunan, was granted the honorific title Master Xiyi. A native of Zhenyuan in Bozhou, he lived during the Five Dynasties and early Song periods. In his youth, he harboured ambitions to serve the world, but after repeated failures in the imperial civil service examinations, he renounced all worldly possessions and embarked on a quest for Daoist immortality. He first cultivated in seclusion on Mount Wudang, practising breath retention and grain avoidance, before settling at Yuntai Guan on Mount Hua. Renowned for his extraordinary ability to sleep, legend claims he could slumber for entire years—yet this was in fact an advanced form of internal alchemical 'Sleeping Cultivation', earning him the epithet 'Sleeping Immortal'. His teachings gave rise to seminal diagrams including the Wuji Tu (Diagram of the Ultimateless) and the Xiantian Tu (Pre-Heavenly Diagram), which were later expounded by Neo-Confucian thinkers Zhou Dunyi and Shao Yong, profoundly shaping both Song-Ming Neo-Confucian philosophy and internal alchemy. The theoretical foundations of Taijiquan likewise trace back to his cosmological interpretations of yin-yang dynamics within the Taiji framework. Emperor Taizong of Song repeatedly summoned him to court, yet he steadfastly declined official appointment. To this day, Mount Hua preserves landmarks such as Xiyi Gorge and the Sleeping Immortal Pavilion, testifying to his enduring status as the foundational patriarch of Mount Hua’s Daoist cultural tradition.