Biographies of the Pervasive Immortals

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The 10-volumed Biographies of the Pervasive Immortals ( 《洞仙傳》 Dongxian Zhuan ) was recorded in the Record of Books found in the History of the Sui dynasty. The Record of Books in the History of the Sui, the Record of Arts and Literature in the New History of the Tang, the Record of Arts and Literature in the History of the Song, Brief Record of Arts and Literature in the Common History all record that the book was written by Jiansu Zi. The Catalogue of Books Missing in the Daoist Canon in the Daoist Books category of the General Catalogue of Chongwen records nine volumes of the book without the author's name. Therefore, the original book was already missing. The present copy in vol. 110 of Seven Slips of Cloudy Satchels was the original. The copy collected By Wang Ruli in Zhejiang recorded in the Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of the Four Repositories is similar to the former. Completed by the Sui, the book of biographies of seventy-seven immortals and Daoists from the Primeval Sovereign ( 元君 Yuanjun ) to Jiang Bozhen is reference material for the study of the Daoist system of immortals and various figures.