Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 8 (Chinese and Japanese).djvu/46

22 magical and occult practices, and its development in China from the T'ang dynasty onward would not have been much different from what it has been if no relation with Lao Tzǔ had been established. The true source of Taoism is rightly placed in the mythical and magical Yellow Emperor and the ascetic Chang Tao-ling rather than in the ethical recluse, Lao Tzǔ. With the Yellow Emperor was associated Kuang Ch'êng-tzǔ who has become a famous character. He dwelt as a

recluse in a stone house on the K'ung-t'ung Mountain. According to Chuang Tzǔ the Yellow Emperor at one time went to this mountain to inquire of Kuang Ch'êng-tzǔ concerning philosophical matters. Kuang Ch'êng-tzǔ is popularly represented as standing with his face upturned, with his arms folded in such a way as to gather up his long sleeves, and with a large medallion suspended from his belt. On the medallion are inscribed the Eight Diagrams. His celestial abode is in the Capital of Silence (Yü Hsü Kung). He is credited with the power of controlling evil spirits and giving victory in war.

It was during the Yiian dynasty that the position of Lao Tzǔ became fixed in Taoism. He had been canonized by T'ai Tsung with the title of Hsüan Yüan Huang Ti, which means "Emperor of Mysterious Origin." The Yüan dynasty seized upon the first two characters of this canonical name, and connected