One night when the old monk had fallen asleep he dreamt that an old woman in black approached him, bowed down and then left. Before she left, she said to Shang Gong, “I just owed your temple eight hundred coins.” Shang Gong then woke up and felt very strange about what she had said in the dream. He then took a pen and wrote down the story on a wall in his bedroom. The disciples living with him had no idea what the story meant.

The boy said, “I am Tai Qing Zhengren. The Gods think that you are a gifted person and they sent me down to make friends with you, so I could teach you the secrets of the Tao. But because you were so proud and arrogant, you could never attain the Tao. What a pity!” After he finished, the boy then disappeared.

Tang Shao’s wife once complained: “You have a great reputation and hold an extremely high-level position at the government. You should be cautious in your choice of friends. Li Miao is from a completely different class of society. I think it is very inappropriate for you to be close to someone like Li Miao.” After a moment of silence, Tang Shao replied, “There is a reason behind this that you wouldn’t know about. My predestined relationship with Li Miao is deeper than that of an average friendship.”

Li Yuan was a high-ranking counselor to the emperor. He once lived reclusively in a hut on Song Mountain, a famous mountain in China in order to practise solitary cultivation. During one cold winter night, he started a fire in his hut to warm himself when an elderly man with a huge hat came right into his hut for the warmth. After a long while, the old man asked Li Yuan, “Do you want to go with me? I know you are someone who has the will.”

It has been said that when Lu Dongbin was born, an extraordinary fragrance and heavenly music filled the air. In addition, a solitary white stork descended from heaven and disappeared into the bed curtain. He was said to be born of fine qualities, with an oval face of fair complexion, with a strong character, virile body and a strong back, brilliant almond eyes with long slanting eyebrows, slender neck and high cheekbones, broad forehead and round trunk, straight nose and beige complexion with a black mole below his left eyebrow. He was very intelligent and had a good memory since childhood.

Li Yuan was born into a distinguished family. He spent all his time sightseeing, attending banquets, partying, and drinking. During the reign of Emperor Tainbao, his father Li Cheng was a general guarding the border of the empire. General Li Cheng was captured by enemies and never heard from again. This depressed Li Yuan to the extent that he gave up his life of luxury. He moved to the Huilin temple and donated all his possessions to the temple. The temple allowed him only one bowl of food, one drink, and did not provide a servant for him. He was completely isolated from the outside world.

Seeing the sincerity of the grandmother and her kind heart, Bodhisattva pointed to a pair of stone lions and told the grandmother the following before he left, "Whenever you see the eyes of this pair of stone lions turn red, it marks the time of a big flood. You have to quickly run to the top of the hill and then you will be safe." This kind grandmother spread this news around the village. However, no one believed her, but instead they mocked and scolded her...

He knelt down and said, “I don’t have a bowl for my meal. I don’t know what to do without it. I was wondering if you could kindly lend me your bowl for today. I will go to buy a new one tomorrow.” The monk refused to lend him his bowl. He replied, “I have been using this bowl for several decades. I am afraid that you might accidentally break the bowl if I lend it to you.” The novice monk begged, “I am only using it for the meal today, and I will promptly return it to you. How can I possibly break it within such a brief period of time while the bowl is in my possession?” After repeated pleading, the monk finally agreed to lend the novice monk the bowl. Before he handed the bowl over, he cautioned the novice monk; “I treasure this bowl like my own life. If you should damage the bowl, you will really kill me!”

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to western people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practises in China.

There is a story in Buddhism: in the past, a person named Gan Daduo committed all manner of crimes. One day while he was walking on a street, he saw that he was about to step on a spider. A kind thought came to him: "A spider is a small life, but why should I kill it?" So he stepped over the spider and avoided killing it. Since he had done so many bad things, he fell into an endless hell when he died. While he was suffering, a silver thread from a spider fell down from the sky...

The ancients believed that in order to master the fundamental professional medical expertise, one must be content to lead a humble but virtuous life and must not admire fame and self-interest. A doctor who haggles over prices and puts profit before everything else does not care for his patient’s safety. Whether rich or poor, patients should be treated in the same way.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to western people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

In China there is a story about a mysterious old travelling pharmacist. When asked his name, he always introduced himself as “the pharmacist.” Many elderly people remembered having seen him when they were children and found that his face remained exactly the same as when they had first met him. It seemed that he never aged.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to western people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

During the Han Dynasty, the wife of Qimen Officer Cheng Wei, attained enlightenment through cultivation practise. She had supernormal abilities and was able to transform into various things. After a while, Cheng Wei got used to his wife’s abilities and no longer thought of them as strange.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), there was a Taoist monk called Wang Yanbo. He was from Jingzhou and was gifted in the practise of medicine. He had a special talent in diagnosing diseases just by reading one's pulse. His diagnoses of life-threatening diseases were often extremely accurate.

She sat on a stone to the right of the gate of the temple, and inscribed a poem, “When I stop to rest while playing with water and climbing the mountain, many Gods frequently come down to listen to my reciting of poems. I’m not attached to life in this world, as two cranes can be seen flying on the horizon.”

Wang Bo’s poems are refreshing in style, but it was his odes (a lyric poem usually marked by exaltation of feeling and style) that have truly made him stand out as a poet during the early Tang Dynasty. Wang Bo collaborated with Lu Zhaolin and other poets to improve the style of the poetry of his time, which was described as “excessive pursuit of fine structures that has turned poetry writing into detailed carving work.”

When I was little, my mom often told us a story about wheat to teach us to treasure food. My mom often told us, “Wasting food is against the principle of the universe.”
Here is the story that my mom used to tell...

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and Taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an deep insight into the historical origins of cultivation practise.

When one of the emperors in the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, was hunting one day, he came across an old man in a field on the side of a road. There was white light, several metres long around the old mans head. He looked just over fifty years old, with a face that shone like a young mans. At a glance, one could tell that he was extra-ordinary.

Her face carved with fatigue and sorrow, a kind mother came to the Lotus Master with a teenage retarded boy. Though she accepted the retarded child as he was, she wanted to know what her predestined relationship with the child was, and why she had to suffer the pain together with the child.

When King Wuwang [r. BC 310-307] of the Qin State fell ill he summoned the well-known doctor, Bian Que. The king described his symptoms to Bian Que and then asked for his treatment.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and Taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an deep insight into the historical origins of cultivation practice.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practise in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practise in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practice in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practises in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to western people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

As soon as he got money from his begging, he would not keep a penny with him. Instead, he would immediately pass along the money to other people who were even poorer.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to western people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to western people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

Chinese folklore is full of ancient stories of cultivation, immortals and taoists. These stories reflect the depth to which the concept of cultivation permeates the whole of Chinese culture, tradition and history. These stories are not directly related to Falun Gong, but are included on Clear Harmony because they are of interest to western people, providing an insight into the deep cultural tradition of cultivation practices in China.

Wang Yuan, also named Fangping, was born in the region of Dong Hai. He was promoted to several senior positions in the imperial system. Later in his life he left his position and started to cultivate the Tao in remote mountains. In the end he achieved consummation [enlightenment].