Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- PART ONE: Traditions of Divine Transcendents and its context -- Opening -- The Problem of Nomenclature -- Why a Study and Translation of Traditions? -- Ge Hong and the Writing of Traditions of Divine Transcendents -- The Nature of the Religion Reflected in Ge Hong's Works -- The Pneumatic Idiom -- Dietetics -- Sexual Arts -- Alchemy and the Scriptures of Grand Purity -- "Allotted Life Span": The Bureaucratic Idiom of Life and Death -- The Adept's Armament -- Preferences and Persuasions -- Adepts and Society -- Traditions as Hagiography -- Against "Fiction" as a Category of Analysis -- On Hagiography in General -- Ge Hong's Compositional Method -- The Question of Reception -- Ge Hong's Uses of the Past -- Conclusion: Stories All the Way Down -- Text-Critical Matters -- The Problem of Authorship -- The Problem of Textual Versions -- The Problem of Textual Dating -- PART TWO: A critical, annotated translation and commentary -- Conventions -- Group A: Earliest-Attested Hagiographies -- A1 Bo He -- A2 Chen Anshi -- A3 Cheng Wei's Wife -- A4 Dong Feng -- A5 The Holy Mother of Dongling (Dongling shengmu) -- A6 Lady Fan (Fan furen) -- A7 Feng Gang -- A8 Feng Heng -- A9 Gan Shi -- A10 Ge Xuan -- A11 Guangchengzi -- A12 Hu gong (Sire Gourd) and Fei Changfang -- A13 Ji Liao -- A14 Jian Keng (Peng Zu) -- A15 Jiao Xian -- A16 Jie Xiang -- A17 Laozi -- A18 Li A -- A19 Li Babai -- A20 Li Gen -- A21 Li Shaojun -- A22 Li Yiqi -- A23 Li Zhongfu -- A24 Ling Shouguang -- A25 Liu An -- A26 Liu Gen -- A27 Liu Jing -- A28 Lü Gong -- A29 Luan Ba -- A30 Shen Xi -- A31 Wang Yuan and Ma gu -- A32 Wang Zhongdu -- A33 Wei Shuqing -- A34 Yin Changsheng -- A35 Zhao Qu -- A36 Zuo Ci -- Group A: Earliest-Attested Fragments -- Af1 Chao Fu and Xu You -- Af2 Gaoqiu gong.

Af3 Heixue gong -- Af4 Kangfeng zi -- Af5 Lilou gong -- Af6 Xian Men -- Af7 Xiumei gong -- Group B: Early-Attested Hagiographies -- B1 Baishi xiansheng -- B2 Ban Meng -- B3 Bao Jing -- B4 Bo Shanfu -- B5 Chen Chang -- B6 Chen Zihuang -- B7 Dai Meng (also known as Yan Ji) -- B8 Dong Jing -- B9 Dongguo Yan -- B10 Gan Ji -- B11 Ge Yue -- B12 Gui jun -- B13 Heshang gong -- B14 Hua Ziqi -- B15 Huang Chuping -- B16 Kong Anguo -- B17 Kong Yuanfang -- B18 Le Zichang -- B19 Li Changzai -- B20 Li Ming -- B21 Liu Ping -- B22 Liu Rong -- B23 Liu Zheng -- B24 Lu Nüsheng -- B25 Lu Quan -- B26 Maming sheng -- B27 Mao Ying -- B28 Mozi -- B29 Ruo shi -- B30 She Zheng -- B31 Shen Jian -- B32 Shen Wentai -- B33 Sun Bo -- B34 Sun Deng -- B35 Taishan laofu -- B36 Wang Lie -- B37 Wang Xing -- B38 Wang Yao -- B39 Wang Zhen -- B40 Wu Mu -- B41 Wu Yan -- B42 Yan Qing -- B43 Yin Gui -- B44 Zhang Ling -- B45 Zhu Yi -- Group B: Early-Attested Fragments -- Bf1 Feihuang zi -- Bf2 Liu Yuanfeng -- Bf3 Rong Cheng gong -- Group C: Later-Attested Hagiographies -- C1 Chen Yongbo -- C2 Cheng Wuding -- C3 Dong Zhong -- C4 Gong Song -- C5 Guo Pu -- C6 Huang Hua -- C7 Huang Jing -- C8 Li Xiu -- C9 Taixuan nü -- C10 Tianmenzi -- C11 Wang Cizhong -- C12 Wei Boyang -- C13 Yin Heng -- C14 Yin Si -- C15 Yuzi -- PART THREE: Text-Critical Notes -- On the Source Texts and the Temporal Di erentiation of Passages -- Earlier Sources -- Interlude: Principles for the Tripartite Division of Hagiographies (Groups A, B, C) and Temporal Marking () -- Later Sources -- Interlude: An Additional Principle of Temporal Marking ( { } ) -- Late Sources -- Conventions -- Group A: Sources of Earliest-Attested Hagiographies -- A1 Bo He -- A2 Chen Anshi -- A3 Cheng Wei's Wife -- A4 Dong Feng -- A5 The Holy Mother of Dongling (Dongling shengmu) -- A6 Lady Fan (Fan furen) -- A7 Feng Gang -- A8 Feng Heng -- A9 Gan Shi.

A10 Ge Xuan -- A11 Guangchengzi -- A12 Hu gong (Sire Gourd) and Fei Changfang -- A13 Ji Liao -- A14 Jian Keng (Peng Zu) -- A15 Jiao Xian -- A16 Jie Xiang -- A17 Laozi -- A18 Li A -- A19 Li Babai -- A20 Li Gen -- A21 Li Shaojun -- A22 Li Yiqi -- A23 Li Zhongfu -- A24 Ling Shouguang -- A25 Liu An -- A26 Liu Gen -- A27 Liu Jing -- A28 Lü Gong -- A29 Luan Ba -- A30 Shen Xi -- A31 Wang Yuan and Ma gu -- A32 Wang Zhongdu -- A33 Wei Shuqing -- A34 Yin Changsheng -- A35 Zhao Qu -- A36 Zuo Ci -- Group A: Sources of Earliest-Attested Fragments -- Af1 Chao Fu and Xu You -- Af2 Gaoqiu gong -- Af3 Heixue gong -- Af4 Kangfeng zi -- Af5 Lilou gong -- Af6 Xian Men -- Af7 Xiumei gong -- Group B: Sources of Early-Attested Hagiographies -- B1 Baishi xiansheng -- B2 Ban Meng -- B3 Bao Jing -- B4 Bo Shanfu -- B5 Chen Chang -- B6 Chen Zihuang -- B7 Dai Meng -- B8 Dong Jing -- B9 Dongguo Yan -- B10 Gan Ji -- B11 Ge Yue -- B12 Gui jun -- B13 Heshang gong -- B14 Hua Ziqi -- B15 Huang Chuping -- B16 Kong Anguo -- B17 Kong Yuanfang -- B18 Le Zichang -- B19 Li Changzai -- B20 Li Ming -- B21 Liu Ping -- B22 Liu Rong -- B23 Liu Zheng -- B24 Lu Nüsheng -- B25 Lu Quan -- B26 Maming sheng -- B27 Mao Ying -- B28 Mozi -- B29 Ruo shi -- B30 She Zheng -- B31 Shen Jian -- B32 Shen Wentai -- B33 Sun Bo -- B34 Sun Deng -- B35 Taishan laofu -- B36 Wang Lie -- B37 Wang Xing -- B38 Wang Yao -- B39 Wang Zhen -- B40 Wu Mu -- B41 Wu Yan -- B42 Yan Qing -- B43 Yin Gui -- B44 Zhang Ling -- B45 Zhu Yi -- Group B: Sources of Early-Attested Fragments -- Bf1 Feihuang zi -- Bf2 Liu Yuanfeng -- Bf3 Rong Cheng gong -- Group C: Sources of Later-Attested Hagiographies -- C1 Chen Yongbo -- C2 Cheng Wuding -- C3 Dong Zhong -- C4 Gong Song -- C5 Guo Pu -- C6 Huang Hua -- C7 Huang Jing -- C8 Li Xiu -- C9 Taixuan nü -- C10 Tianmenzi -- C11 Wang Cizhong -- C12 Wei Boyang -- C13 Yin Heng -- C14 Yin Si -- C15 Yuzi.

Items Attributed to Shenxian zhuan Excluded from This Translation -- 1 Fan Mo -- 2 Huang Ziyang -- 3 Liu Shang -- 4 Ping Zhong jie -- 5 Qing Pingji -- 6 Su xiangong -- 7 Taizhen furen -- 8 Wang Bao -- 9 Xiao Jingzhi -- 10 Xiao Shi -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z.