The legend of Su Xian
2023-08-04 14:45:58
Su Xian (which means an immortal surnamed Su), was named Su Dan, a native of ancient Guiyang County. As the legend goes, during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty, Miss Pan conceived a baby when washing clothes by the river and then gave birth to Su Dan. He grew up with the protection of a crane and the milk of a deer. Besides, he showed filial piety to his mother and was taught immortal skills as well as medical knowledge by someone unusual.
One year, during the epidemic, he, along with his mother, boiled soup day and night to treat patients with orange leaves, orange roots, well spring water, and other herbs. They were revered by people, and later rose to an immortal. Liu Xiang from the Han Dynasty and Ge Hong from the Jin Dynasty both collected the legend in their writings.
In the 19th year of the Kaiyuan era in the Tang Dynasty, the Suxian Temple was built on Maling Mountain in Chenzhou, which is known as the “Suxian Ridge”.
The legend of Su Xian has a profound influence, deriving many allusions and Taoist places of interest, such as Laihe Tower, Orange Well Temple, the Temple of Su’s Mother, the Tomb of Su’s Mother, Suxian Bridge.
In 2006, the legend of Su Xian was included in the representative list of the first batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage. In 2014, it was added to the representative list of the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage.
