The Comprehensive Mirror of Perfect Immortals Who Embodied the Dao

The Comprehensive Mirror of Perfect Immortals Who Embodied the Dao ( 《曆世真仙體道鑒》 Lishi Zhenxian Tidao Tongjian ) or simply Mirror of the Immortals, compiled by Zhao Daoyi of the Yuan, contains 53 volumes, preceded by the author's preface, a memorial to the emperor, and an introduction. It records 745 immortals from the Yellow Emperor to the Song Dynasty. The introduction says: the biographies were compiled after searching various books, namely, the classics, historic books and previous biographies of immortals. The book adopted the chronicle style, as seen in the Historic Records about the Emperor of Original Chaos ( 《混元實錄》 Hunyuan Shilu ). So the book, actually a complete concert of all previous immortal biographies, is very valuable for the study of immortals and Daoist figures. The book is collected in the Subsection of Biographies, Pervasive Perfection Section of the Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era. In addition, Supplementary Mirror of the Immortals ( 《仙鑒續編》 Xianjian Xubian ) records thirty-four Daoists living between the Jin and Yuan dynasties, such as the seven perfect patriarchs of the Northern Lineage of the Golden Elixir ( 北七真 Bei Qizhen ). The Later Collection of the Mirror of Immortals ( 《仙鑒後集》 Xianjian Houji ) records over 100 female immortals in six volumes.