Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms: Volume 11 (Human Figures)

Page 7

Huang Chuping

original: "黃初平"

Huang Chuping was a native of Danxi Located in modern-day Lanxi, Zhejiang Province. during the Jin Dynasty. When he was fifteen years old, he was tasked by his family with herding sheep. During his travels, he encountered a Daoist practitioner who was struck by Chuping’s innate spiritual potential. The Daoist led him away to a stone chamber on Mount Jinhua Literally "Golden Flower Mountain.", where Chuping devoted himself to cultivation for forty years, leaving the mortal world behind.

His elder brother, Huang Chuqi, never stopped searching for him. After four decades of wandering, Chuqi encountered a marketplace healer who informed him, “On Mount Jinhua, there is a shepherd boy. His family name is Huang, and his given name is Chuping. He must be the one you seek.”

When the brothers were finally reunited, Chuqi was astonished to see his brother had not aged. However, looking around the mountain slopes, Chuqi noticed the absence of the flock and asked, “Where are the sheep you were meant to tend?”

Chuping replied, “The sheep are right here on the east side of the hill.”

Chuqi went to look but saw only a vast field of white boulders. He returned, thinking his brother was mocking him, and said, “There are no sheep there, only white stones.”

Chuping smiled and said, “The sheep are there; it is only that you cannot see them yet.” He then walked to the hillside and shouted:

In an instant, the thousands of white stones transformed, sprouting legs and wool, until the mountainside was covered with a flock of tens of thousands of sheep.

Commanding Stones to become SheepThe phrase "Chishi Cheng Yang" (叱石成羊) has become a classic literary reference to divine power and the illusory nature of the physical world.

Realizing his brother had become a True Immortal ImmortalA "Xian" (仙) is a person who has attained transcendence, often possessing supernatural powers and eternal life through the study of the Tao., Chuqi abandoned his worldly life to study under him. Both brothers eventually attained the Way. Chuping later became known as Master Red Pine Not to be confused with the primordial rain god of the same name; Chuping is often referred to as the "Great Immortal of the Red Pine" (Chisong Xian Shi)..