Names and variants
- Simplified
- 李含光
- Traditional
- 李含光
- Other names
- Li Han Guang, Xuanjing Xiansheng
- Pinyin
- Lǐ hán guāng
- English
- Li Hanguang
Overview
The modern biographical accounts place Li's family in Jiangdu, Guangling, in present-day Yangzhou. He came from a family devoted to Daoism. They disagree over whether he was born in 682 or 683; both give 769 as his death year.
In 729 he studied with Sima Chengzhen at Mount Wangwu. After his teacher's death, an imperial command placed him at Yangtai Abbey as Sima's successor. He later sought to return to Mount Mao, where he worked on the Shangqing textual and religious tradition.
His relationship with Emperor Xuanzong included summons to the capital and a teaching role at court. The accounts record a summons in 745 and the emperor's reception of Shangqing registers in 748, when Li was honored as a transmission master and given the title Xuanjing Xiansheng. His court recognition and his place in Shangqing lineage memory are related but distinct aspects of his career.
References
- [1]Dictionary of Daoism