9th November, 2022
東華帝君
Day of the Ascent of The Sovereign of the Eastern Florescence
The day of the ascent of the Sovereign of the Eastern Florescence is on the 16th day of the 10th lunar month. He was also known as a counterpart to the Queen Mother of the West. His other appellations, however, are Sovereign of the Western Florescence and Minor Yang Sovereign of the Purple Mansion and Realized One of Florescent Yang. His common name before entering the register of immortals was Wang Xuanfu.
The Sovereign of the Eastern Florescence is ranked as the first of the Five Northern Founding Ancestors, together with Han Zhong Li, Lü Dong Bin, Liu Hai Chan and Wang Chong Yang. He is associate with the fabled island of Fang Zhu, together with Peng Lai and Ying Zhou, it is one of the three islands where immortals dwell. Furthermore, the blue colour of the ordinary Daoist robes represents the East in reverence and standing testimony to the disciple’s descent from the Complete Realization’s first ancestor.
In his honour, there is a scripture bearing his name in reverence called The Immortal Scripture of The Realized One Yin’s Verification of the Dao from the Eastern Florescence Upright Sect, for the Inaugurating of the Utmost Imperial Standard.
His life is described in ‘The Records of the Upright Ancestry of the Golden Lotus’ by Qin Zhi’an published in 1241:
帝君姓王氏，字玄甫，道號東華子。生有奇表，幼慕真風，白雲上真見而愛之曰：天上謫仙人也。乃引之入山，授之以青符玉篆、金科靈文、大丹秘訣、週天火候、青龍劍法。先生得之，拳拳服膺，三年精心，盡得其妙。遂退居於昆嵛山煙霞洞，頤神養浩。久之結草庵以自居，篆其額曰東華觀，韜光晦迹百有餘年，而人未之知也。後徙居代州五臺之陽山中，今有紫府洞天，山下有道人縣。在人間數百歲，殊無衰老之容，開闡玄宗，發揮妙蘊，陰功濟物，玄德動天，故天真賜號曰東華帝君，又曰紫府少陽君。授度門人正陽真人，鍾離雲房嗣弘法教，所有聖遠不能其述，全真之道由此濫觴，故立之以為全真第一祖也。
The surname of the Sovereign is that of the Wang Clan, his courtesy name is Xuanfu, and his Daoist appellation is Master of the Eastern Florescence. When he was born, there were extraordinary manifestations. When he was young, he admired the elegant bearing of the Realized Ones. When the Superior Realized One Baiyun saw him, he felt fondness for [Wang Xuanfu] and said: ‘He must be an immortal who was banished from the heavens.’ Hence, he brought [Wang Xuanfu] into the mountains, instructing him on the azure talisman and the jade seal, the divine scripts of the golden rules,the secret oral transmission of the great elixir, the fire phases of the cosmic orbits, and the azure dragon sword technique. Whenever the elder [Wang Xuanfu] received [instruction], he earnestly committed it to mind; after three years of diligent effort, he obtained all the marvels from his teacher. Thereupon, he secluded himself and dwelt in the Yanxia Cave on Mount Kunyu, where he nourished the spirit and cultivated his vast and noble nature.
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