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with records of the "autobiography” of the Taoist saint Huang Chuping, the figure worshipped by many thousands of devotees in Hong Kong as "Wong Tai Sin." This autobiography has been reprinted in official publications of the Sese Yuan, and reads as follows (using the Sese Yuan's translation):
As a young shepherd boy, I spent my early childhood at Kim Hwa [Jinhua] Mountain located at the north of Kim Hwa City in Chekiang [Zhejiang] Province. The mountain was said to have derived its name from Venus and Mou Nui Constellation (Wunüxing) both of which were directly overhead. Orientated at the north of Kim Hwa Mountain was the Hill of Red Pines where I took abode. This hill, densely forested and often hidden in clouds and fog, was seldom frequented by outsiders. Among thick natural vegetations and interlocking peaks there was a deep ravine named Kim Hwa, one of the thirty-six caves of the similar geological structures in the neighbouring district.
My childhood was marred by poverty and hunger, compelling me to start earning my daily bread as a shepherd boy at the age of eight. At fifteen I was fortunate enough to have been blessed by a fairy who led me to a stone cave where I learned the art of refining cinnabar nine times into an immortal drug. For forty years in succession, I lived in this seclusion from the rest of the world until my brother broke this isolation. His early efforts were at first futile. However, through the guidance of a Taoist fortune-teller, he located me. My brother queried me of the whereabouts of the sheep under my custody. To this I replied that they could be traced in the east of the Kim Hwa Mountain. He was surprised, on arrival, to find nothing but heaps of white boulders which quickly transformed into sheep at my call. Fascinated by this impressive show of mine, my brother also took steps to learn to become an immortal.
Originally, I was named Wong Cho-ping (Huang Chuping), a subject of the Tsun [Jin] Dynasty and a
76
with records of the "autobiography” of the Taoist saint Huang Chuping, the figure worshipped by many thousands of devotees in Hong Kong as "Wong Tai Sin." This autobiography has been reprinted in official publications of the Sese Yuan, and reads as follows (using the Sese Yuan's translation):"
As a young shepherd boy, I spent my early child- hood at Kim Hwa [Jinhua] Mountain located at the north of Kim Hwa City in Chekiang [Zhejiang] Prov- ince. The mountain was said to have derived its name from Venus and Mou Nui Constellation (Wunüxing] both of which were directly overhead. Orientated at the north of Kim Hwa Mountain was the Hill of Red Pines where I took abode. This hill, densely forested and of ten hidden in clouds and fog, was seldom frequented by outsiders. Among thick natural vegetations and inter- locking peaks there was a deep ravine named Kim Hwa, one of the thirty-six caves of the similar geologi- cal structures in the neighbouring district [sic].
My childhood was marred by poverty and hunger, compelling me to start earning my daily bread as a shepherd boy at the age of eight. At fifteen I was fortu- nate enough to have been blessed by a fairy who led me to a stone cave where I learned the art of refining cinna- bar nine times into an immortal drug. For forty years in succession, I lived in this seclusion from the rest of the world until my brother broke this isolation. His early efforts were at first futile. However, through the guid- ance of a Taoist fortune-teller, he located me. My brother queried me of the whereabouts of the sheep under my custody. To this I replied that they could be traced in the east of the Kim Hwa Mountain. He was 'surprised, on arrival, to find nothing but heaps of white boulders which quickly transformed into sheep at my call. Fascinated by this impressive show of mine, my brother also took steps to learn to become an immortal,
Originally, I was named Wong Cho-ping (Huang Chuping), a subject of the Tsun [Jin] Dynasty and a
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