() or ("divide the physical form") was a legendary Daoist and fangshi Master of Esoterica technique for multilocation, that is, transforming or multiplying one's body into two or more identical versions. A famous story about fenshen concerns general Cao Cao ordering the execution of the alchemist Zuo Ci, who when taken into prison playfully divided himself into multiple Master Zuos; thus bamboozling the guards and escaping death.
Terminology The Chinese word is a compound of and .Kroll, Paul K. (2017), A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese, rev. ed., Brill."
The Chinese Hanyu Da Cidian, which is lexicographically comparable to the Oxford English Dictionary, defines with four meanings and cites earliest usages.Penny, Benjamin David (1993), "Early Daoist Biography: A Study of Shenxian zhuan", PhD thesis, Australian National University. Transforming one's body into multiple bodies (), Hui Jiao 's c. 530 Memoirs of Eminent Monks biography of Shao Shuo , on the same day that Shao was participating in a Chengdu procession while walking on all fours like a lion, "On that day, it was said that Shao was in Pidu District having assumed the form of a lion, and was conscious of his multiple bodies" () A term for dealing with other matters (), Luo Guanzhong's 14th-century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang tells Wang Ping, "even if you can be both wise and brave, you are only one person, can you divide yourself into two places? It would be yet more marvelous if you could be one general going together" () As if cutting up the body (), c. 1478 Story of Hua Guan suo, Emperor Guangwu of Han "apprehended the traitorous usurper" Wang Mang "And in the Tower Bathed by Water hacked him to pieces" ().King, Gail Oman (1989), The Story of Hua Guan Suo, Arizona State University Center for Asian Studies. "Buddhist term, the Buddha's wish to teach all living beings in the worlds of all directions, using the power of upaya to physically manifest in each world as a mark of attaining Buddhahood, called ." (), Dharmarakṣa's c. 286 Chinese Lotus Sutra translation, "I divide myself into various Buddhas existing in the worlds of all directions in order to expound the dharma" ().
The near synonym , with for ("body"), translates as "give some attention to; divert attention to; distraction", as used in ."Bishop, Tom (2016), Wenlin Software for learning Chinese, version 4.3.2. Compare the terms and referring to a meditator identifying with a specific deity or the entire cosmos.Anderson, Poul (2008), The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., Routledge, p. 230-231.
The term , with ", was synonymous with in early Daoist texts.
The defines with two meanings and cites their earliest usages Description of presenting all kinds of form/shapes (), Zhang Heng's c. 106 , "Amazing magicians, quicker than the eye, Changed appearance, sundered bodies. (), Swallowed knives, exhaled fire." (tr. Knechgtes 1982: 231). To separate (), Bao Zhao's early 5th-century poem "Presented to my old friend Ma Ziqiao" (), "Paired swords about to be parted, First cry out from inside their case. Mist and rain mixing as evening approaches, From this point on they separate their forms ().Varsano, Paula M. (2003), Tracking the Banished Immortal: The Poetry of Li Bo and Its Critical Reception, University of Hawaii Press."
Chinese Buddhist terminology uses referring to the temporal of the Buddha, "with which he teaches and saves living beings, a Buddha's power to reproduce himself ad infinitum and anywhere"; and means "to manifest in different forms for different beings simultaneously" (Digital Dictionary of Buddhism). In general usage, means "incarnation; embodiment; personification".
In Sino-Japanese vocabulary, (borrowed from ) translates as "a branch; an offshoot; the other self; one's alter ego; incarnations of the Buddha", and is used in (from ) "magic to create body-doubles".Watanabe Toshirō (), Edmund R. Skrzypczak, and Paul Snowden, eds. (2003), Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary (), fifth edition, Kenkyusha.
Standard Chinese usage has semantically modernized both these ancient Daoist "body division" words: is Internet slang for sockpuppet and is mathematical jargon for fractal.
Translations Translating Chinese and into English is problematic owing to numerous different stories about how Daoist and Buddhist masters could multiply themselves. The narratives describe body division as more of an ephemeral incarnation than a perpetual reincarnation, and involve elements of shapeshifting, body double, alter ego, doppelganger, avatar, personification, embodiment, and astral projection.
English translations of ancient and include: "multiplying the bodyWare, James R. (1966), Alchemy, Medicine and Religion in the China of A.D. 320: The Nei Pien of Ko Hung, Dover." "divide the body", "ubiquity"Robinet, Isabelle (1979), "Metamorphosis and Deliverance from the Corpse in Taoism", History of Religions 19: 37-70. "create dual images of oneself", "body splitting" "body division", "dividing oneself", "divide one's formCampany, Robert Ford (2002), To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: A Translation and Study of Ge Hong's Traditions of Divine Transcendents, University of California Press." "create body-doubles" "multiplication of the bodyBaldrian-Hussein, Farzeen (2008), "Hun and po Yang soul(s) and Yin soul(s); celestial soul(s) and earthly soul(s)," in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., Routledge, 406–409." "dividing oneself", "replicating oneself"
In present-day usage, English translation equivalents for expressions include:Wu Guanghua , chief ed. (2003), , 3 vols., Dalian University of Technology Press.
Textual examples
Chinese texts began to record and in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.
Bowuzhi Zhang Hua's c. 290 Bowuzhi "Records of Diverse Matters" names sixteen historical brought together by Cao Cao, a powerful general at the end of the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), including Zuo Ci who could .
The names of the 'Master of Technic' whom Cao Cao assembled were Wang Zhen from Shangdang, Feng Junda from Longxi, Gan Shi from Ganling , Lu Nu Sheng , and Hua Tuo, styled Yuanhua, from the land of Qiao; Dongguo Yannian , Tang Yu , Leng Shou Guang , Pu Shi from Henan, Zhang Diao , Ji Zixun , Fei Chang Fang from Runan, Xian Nu Gu , and Zhao Sheng Shi , the military official for the Wei, from Henan; Que Jian , styled Mengjie, from Yangcheng, and Zuo Ci, styled Yuanfang, from Lujiang.
The above sixteen, according to statements made by [Cao Cao's sons] emperor Wen of the Wei (i.e. Cao Pi), the king of Dong'e (i.e. Cao Zhi), and Zong Changtong , could all refrain from eating grains, make themselves invisible, and go in and out without passing over the threshold of the door. Zuo Ci could change his form , deceive people's vision and hearing, dispel evil spirits and the like. They were the sort of people whom the Record of the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli) calls 'mystifiers of the common folk' and the Wangzhi [chapter of the Liji] refers to as 'Holding to the Left path' .
Baopuzi The earliest reliable descriptions of and are found in two c. 320 texts compiled by the Jin Dynasty Daoist scholar Ge Hong (282-343), the or Master who Embraces Simplicity and the or Biographies of Divine Transcendents.
Two Inner Chapters mention multiplying or dividing the body. "Truth on Earth" (18, ) uses twice, once, and once. The context describes three meditation techniques, , , and . Mystery-Unity is seen only in the sun. The search for It begins in the sun, and is described as "knowing white and preserving black" or "unsuccessful in the desire for death" . To begin with, you must purify yourself and fast for a hundred days. Only then may you go to a teacher and seek It, but then It can be obtained in not more than three or four days; once you possess It you will never lose It provided you take steps to preserve It. The preservation of Mystery-Unity consists in imagining yourself as being divided into three persons . Once these three have become visible, you can continue to increase the number to several dozen, all like yourself , who may be concealed or revealed, and all of whom are automatically in possession of secret oral directions. This may be termed a process for multiplying the body . Through this method , , and my uncle could be in several dozen places at one time. When guests were present they could be one host speaking the guests in the house, another host greeting guests beside the stream, and still another host making casts with his fishing line, but the guests were unable to distinguish which was he true one. Robinet notes that Ge Xuan's mundane activities do not distract him from the "major occupation of all Taoists—dreaming alongside running water".
The context continues with Ge Hong quoting "my teacher", Zheng Yin who was a disciple of Ge Xuan, about methods for body multiplication. My teacher used to say that to preserve Unity was to practice jointly Bright Mirror , and that on becoming successful in the mirror procedure a man would be able to multiply his body to several dozen all with the same dress and facial expression . My teacher also used to say that you should take the great medicines diligently if you wished to enjoy Fullness of Life , and that you should use metal solutions and a multiplication of your person if you wished to communicate with the gods . By multiplying the body, the three Hun and the seven Po are automatically seen within the body , and in addition it becomes possible to meet and visit with the powers of heaven and the deities of earth and to have all the gods of the mountains and rivers in one's service. This "metal solutions" translates , referring to Gold Liquor, an alchemical elixir prepared from gold, mercury, saltpeter, and realgar.
"Looking Farther Afield" (19, ) uses and ("divide the body") referring to a lost text, the . By its method people can change into flying birds or stalking animals . Clouds are raised and rain brought for an area a hundred miles square by means of metal, wood, jade, or rock. Snow can be produced in the same fashion. By its method people cross large streams without a boat or weir. They split themselves into thousands of persons . They fly high on the winds; pass in and out of barriers; exhale breath of seven colors. While sitting still, they can see into all eight points of the compass and even to things underground. They emit light shining for thousands of feet; in a dark room, they are their own light. The book does indeed teach a great art.
The three transcendents Zuo Ci , Ge Xuan , and Ji Liao or Li Zixun mentioned as masters of are more fully described in Guo's other compilation below.
Shenxian zhuan Five hagiographies of Daoist describe or body division, usually resulting from the adept taking alchemical elixirs.
First, Zhang Daoling (34-156 CE), first patriarch of the Way of the Celestial Masters, founded the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice movement in 142, and eventually controlled a prosperous theocratic state in present-day Sichuan. On account of all this, Zhang Ling obtained much wealth, which he used to buy the necessary medicinal ingredients for synthesizing elixirs. When the elixirs were completed, he ingested only half the dosage, not wishing to ascend to Heaven immediately. As a result, he gained the ability to divide himself into several dozen persons . Now, there was a pond outside the gate of Zhang's residence, on which he frequently went boating to amuse himself. Meanwhile, however, many Daoist guests would be going and coming in his courtyard. There would always be one Zhang Ling in the courtyard, conversing, eating, and drinking with these guests, while the real Zhang was out on the pond.