Xu Mi

Xu came from Jurong in Danyang, in present-day Jiangsu. Also named Mu, he used the courtesy name Sixuan. His government career included appointments in local administration, the imperial academy and the court. The designation Xu Changshi recalls one of his official posts rather than a separate religious name.

His official career did not exclude a sustained interest in Daoism. The biographical accounts connect his retreat to Mount Mao with receiving Shangqing teachings from Yang Xi. These relationships place him in the early history of Shangqing, while the title of third patriarch expresses the lineage's later recognition of his place in it.

Later religious memory honored Xu as an immortal and associated shrines with him and his former residence. An imperial honor followed during the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song, centuries after his lifetime. These later forms of commemoration should be distinguished from his Eastern Jin offices and his relationship with Yang Xi.