Qiu Chuji (excerpt)
From the introductory section of The Dragon Gate’s Core Methods Vol.1 (Longmen Xinfa), Purple Cloud Institute forthcoming:
The following biography (excerpt) underscores the pivotal role Qiu Chuji played in the development of the Complete Reality School. The original Chinese script stems from the Ming Dynasty The Complete Biographies of the Ranks of Immortals (Liexian Quanzhuan列仙全傳):
丘處機，字通密，號長春子，登州人。幼穎悟，夙有道緣。年甫十九近居崑崙山，後聞王重陽住寧海全真菴，即往師焉。相隨遊梁，未幾重陽羽化，與馬丹陽、譚長真、劉長生，四人護喪，葬之終南，廬墓三年餘。
Qiu Chuji’s style name was Tong Mi, and his [Daoist] appellation was Changchun Zi. He was a resident of Deng Prefecture. When he was young, he was sharp and bright, and he always had a destiny with the dao. Shortly after turning nineteen in age, he dwelled near the Kunlun Mountains. Later, he heard that Wang Chongyang lived in the ‘Complete Realization Hut’ in Ninghai , and he went to [study under] this master. [Qiu Chuji] further accompanied him during his travel in Liang [state]. Shortly afterwards, [Wang] Chongyang [underwent] a feathery transformation. Together with Ma Danyang, Tan Changzhen, Liu Changzhen, these four people held vigil at the funeral, buried him in the Zhongnan Mountains, and [stayed] in huts by the burial mound for more than three years.
PS: The reason why mourning periods were set at three years was as payback for the care of one’s mother of three years of breastfeeding according to Roel Sterckx.
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