air
and fell upon him unexpectedly. With a violent blow of his 'Fix-sea'
staff he cast him down and compelled him to give up the struggle.

T'ung-t'ien Chiao-chu then prepared plans for a new fortified camp
beyond T'ung Kuan, and tried to take the offensive again, but again
Lao Tzu stopped him with a blow of his stick. Yuean-shih T'ien-tsun
wounded his shoulder with his precious stone Ju-i, and Chun-t'i
Tao-jen waved his 'Branch of the Seven Virtues.' Immediately the
magic sword of T'ung-t'ien Chiao-chu was reduced to splinters, and
he saved himself only by flight.

Hung-chuen Lao-tsu, the master of these three genii, seeing his three
beloved disciples in the _melee_, resolved to make peace between
them. He assembled all three in a tent in Chiang Tzu-ya's camp, made
them kneel before him, then reproached T'ung-t'ien Chiao-chu at length
for having taken the part of the tyrant Chou, and recommended them
in future to live in harmony. After finishing his speech, he produced
three pills, and ordered each of the genii to swallow one. When they
had done so, Hung-chuen Lao-tsu said to them: "I have given you these
pills to ensure an inviolable truce among you. Know that the first
who entertains a thought of discord in his heart will find that the
pill will explode in his stomach and cause his instant death."

Hung-chuen Lao-tsu then took T'ung-t'ien Chiao-chu away with him on
his cloud to Heaven.

Immortals, Heroes, Saints

An Immortal, according to Taoist lore, is a solitary man of the
mountains. He appears to die, but does not. After 'death' his body
retains all the qualities of the living. The body or corpse is for
him only a means of transition, a phase of metamorphosis--a cocoon
or chrysalis, the temporary abode of the butterfly.

To reach this state a hygienic regimen both of the body and mind must
be observed. All luxury, greed, and ambition must be avoided. But
negation is not enough. In the system of nourishment all the elements
which strengthen the essence of the constituent _yin_ and _yang_
principles must be found by means of medicine, chemistry, gymnastic
exercises, etc. When the maximum vital force has been acquired the
means of preserving it and keeping it from the attacks of death
and disease must be discovered; in a word, he must spiritualize
himself--render himself completely independent of matter. All
the experiments have for their object the storing in the pills of
immortality the elements neces