Elder Zhang Guo - Life

Life

Elder Zhang Guo was a Taoist fangshi (方士 "occultist-alchemist") who lived as a hermit in the Zhongtiao Shan in Heng Prefecture (恒州 Héngzhōu) during the Tang Dynasty. By the time of Empress Wu, he claimed to be several hundred years old. A strong believer in the magic of necromancy, he also declared that he had been Grand Minister to the Emperor Yao during a previous incarnation. Zhang Guo Lao also had a love for wine and winemaking. He was known to make liquor from herbs and shrubs as a hobby. Other members of the Eight Immortals drank his wine, which they believed to have healing or medicinal properties. He was also known to be a master of Taoist Breath or Qigong and could go without food for days, surviving on only a few sips of wine.

He was the most eccentric of the Eight Immortals, seen clearly in the kung fu style dedicated to his memory. The style includes moves such as delivering a kick during a back flip or bending so far back that your shoulders touch the ground. He was known to be quite entertaining, often making himself invisible, drinking water from the petals of poisonous flowers, snatching birds in flight from the sky, as well as wilting flowers simply by pointing in their direction.