The Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms

Portraits, Volume 11

Page 5

...ror Continuing from "terror" on the previous page, describing the flight of the ghost-armies..

While the Celestial MasterOriginal: "天師" (Tianshi); the formal title of Zhang Daoling, signifying his divine authority as a mediator between the celestial bureaucracy and the human world. remained among the world of men, he received a secret decree revealing the appointed time for his transcendenceOriginal: "飛昇" (Feisheng); literally "to fly and ascend," this refers to the ultimate Taoist goal of becoming an immortal and rising to the heavenly realms.. At Cloud Terrace PeakOriginal: "雲臺峰" (Yuntaifeng); a sacred location traditionally associated with the Master's final cultivation and his success in refining the elixir of immortality., he ascended to heaven in broad daylightOriginal: "白日昇天" (Bairi shengtian); regarded as the highest possible achievement for a Taoist practitioner, where the physical body is transformed into light or rises directly into the heavens in full view of witnesses, proving the truth of the teachings..