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The Xuxianzhuan 續仙傳 "Continued biographies of immortals" is a collection of biographies of immortals compiled by the Southern Tang period 南唐 (937-975) Daoist Shen Fen 沈汾 (also written 沈玢). Shen Fen might also have have lived under the Wu dynasty 吳 (902-937). The 3 juan "scrolls" long book was compiled as a sequel to the book Shenxianzhuan 神仙傳 by Ge Hong 葛洪 and is therefore also called Xu shenxianzhuan 續神仙傳. Shen Fen tried to create a biographical book that was more detailed than Liu Xiang's 劉向 Liexianzhuan 列仙傳, but less intricate than the Shenxianzhuan. The book includes the biographies of 36 persons from the Tang 唐 (618-907) and the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960) periods. The first chapter includes biographies of persons able to ascend to Heaven, like Xuanzhenzi 玄真子 (Zhang Zhihe 張志和), Xie Ziran 謝自然 or Qi Xiaoyao 戚逍遥. The second and third chapters describe the lives of persons living in a recluse, among them famous Daoist masters, like Sun Simiao 孫思邈, Qian Lang 錢朗, Sima Chengzhen 司馬承禎 or Cao Dexiu 曹德休. The great number of historical persons included in the Xuxianzhuan make it a valuable addition to other historiographical sources on the history of thought and religion in the 10th century.
The Xuxianzhuan is included in the Daoist encyclopedia Yunji qiqian 雲笈七籤, the Daoist Canon Daozang 道藏 and the Siku quanshu 四庫全書.
Sources:
Gu Cunyun 古存云 (1988). "Shenxian zhuanji 神仙傳記", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zongjiao 宗教, pp. 350-351. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰 (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 2, p. 2310. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.
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Chinese literature according to the four-category system
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