Back জিয়ান (তাওবাদ) Bengali/Bangla Xianren Catalan Nesmrtelnost (taoismus) Czech Xian (Mythologie) German Seres Iluminados (taoísmo) Spanish سن نین Persian Immortel taoïste French Xian (Taoisme) ID Xian Italian 仙人 Japanese

Xian (Taoism)

This article is about entities in Taoist religion. For other uses, see Xian (disambiguation).

"The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea"[1]
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Chinese folk religion
Stylisation of the 禄 lù or 子 zi grapheme, respectively meaning "prosperity", "furthering", "welfare" and "son", "offspring". 字 zì, meaning "word" and "symbol", is a cognate of 子 zi and represents a "son" enshrined under a "roof". The symbol is ultimately a representation of the north celestial pole (Běijí 北极) and its spinning constellations, and as such it is equivalent to the Eurasian symbol of the swastika, 卍 wàn.
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Zhenkong, "Void of Truth".
Zhenkong, "Void of Truth".

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A xian (Chinese: 仙/僊; pinyin: xiān; Wade–Giles: hsien) is any manner of immortal, mythical being within the Taoist pantheon or Chinese folklore. Xian has often been translated into English as "immortal".

Traditionally, xian refers to entities who have attained immortality and supernatural or magical abilities later in life, with a connection to the heavenly realms inaccessible to mortals. This is often achieved through spiritual self-cultivation, alchemy, or worship by others.[2] This is different from the gods in Chinese mythology and Taoism, who were inherently supernatural.

Xian is also used as a descriptor to refer to often benevolent figures of great historical, spiritual and cultural significance. The Quanzhen School of Daoism had a variety of definitions about what xian means during its history, including a metaphorical meaning where the term simply means a good, principled person.[3]

Xian have been venerated from ancient times to the modern day in a variety of ways across different cultures and religious sects in China.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Werner1922 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Palmer, Martin (1999). The Elements of Taoism. United States: Barnes & Noble Books. p. 89. ISBN 0-7607-1078-3.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Wilson, Andrew, ed. (1995). World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (1st paperback ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House Publishers. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-55778-723-1.
  6. ^ Stevenson, Jay (2000). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eastern Philosophy. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. pp. 13, 224, 352. ISBN 978-0-02-863820-1.

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