WANG, Shizhen; WANG, Yunpeng (ed.).

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Liexian quanzhuan ("Complete Biographies of the Assembled Immortals"). First Japanese edition, presenting biographies and illustrations of over 500 luminaries from China's religious and mythological tradition. Arranged chronologically, the selection begins with Laozi and ends with Zhou Side, a Daoist master who possessed the power of spirit-possession and held high office at the Ming imperial court.The Complete Biographies is usually attributed to the Confucian literatus and senior official Wang Shizhen (1526-1590), who drew on the Shenxian zhuan ("Biographies of the Divine Immortals") by the Jin scholar Ge Hong (283-343). Wang's selection includes a pantheon of early goddesses, including the Queen Mother of the West, who appears in Chinese oracle-bone inscriptions from the Shang dynasty, Lady Shangyuan, and Yandi Shaonü, the daughter of the Flame Emperor. Among the many other additions is Dongfang Shuo, the Han dynasty court jester who famously stole the peaches of immortality. Several figures are shown riding animals such as a crane, tortoise, or winged sea creature.The first edition was released by Wang's posthumous editor, Wang Yunpeng, in 1600. The illustrations in this edition were re-engraved after the Chinese original.

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