Ba Xian Guo Hai:the Eight Immortals Cross the Sea (2)

Lu Dingbin was a native of Shaanxi (some say, of Shanxi) province and lived during the Tang dynasty. After failing twice at the imperial examinations during the years 841 - 846A. D., he led a vagrant life for years. At the age of sixty - four, he met Han Zhongli, who taught him the secrets of alchemy. He was given an official title by a Yuan emperor and came to be generally know as Lu Zu (Patriarch Lu). Taoists considered him to be one of the five supreme deities of the North.

Han Xiangzi is said to be a distant nephew of the great Tang writer - statesman Han Yu. Intelligent and unrestrained in nature, he managed, once in an early winter, to make rose - peonies blossom in a few days in different colours, each blossom carrying a written poem, to the great astonishment of his uncle. He tried to proselyte Han Yu to renounce the world for Taoism. When Yu fell into disfavour and was banished to Chaoyang in the far south, he met with snow on the way. Suddenly Xiangzi came from nowhere to bid him farewell. Before parting, Xinagzi told about future happenings, all of which came true.

Cao Guojiu is said to have lived during the Song dynasty and his name was Cao You, Guojiu being a semi - official title for the brothers of the empress. He had a brother who, taking advantage of his imperial connexion, became a notorious evildoer. Ashamed of his brother and afraid of becoming implicated, he scattered his wealth among the poor and went into the mountains to seek the Way of Enlightenment. Finally, he was immortalized by Han Zhongli and Lu Dongbin. Another source says that he left his mortal remains at a Taoist temple in Xuzhou.

The best known tale that involves all of them together is Ba Xian Guo Hai or The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea. It describes how, when crossing a sea in their wanderings, each of them used a different object (a walking cane, a fan, a scimitar, etc.) as a vessel. Thes has given rise to an everyday saying: when people try to accomplish the same task by different methods, they are said to be emulating the example of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea.