T'ang Kuang-chen
(Also, in pinyin, Tang Guangzhen) A Chinese wizard, scholar and poet whose mortal lifespan transpired during the Sung dynasty (960-1279 CE).
Little is known about the wizard's early life, except for fragmented traditions that suggest she left home to study the Tao after having a mysterious dream. We do know that as a teenager she was wandering in the forest seeking enlightenment -- presumably while on Ordeal, though there is no concrete evidence of this -- when she met the woman- Immortal Ho Hsien-ku, (or He Xiangu / 何仙姑 ), patron of female Taoist cultivation and one of the Eight Great Immortals. Over the ensuing months, Hsien-ku mentored Kuang-chen in her early study of wizardry, also teaching her the "arts of immortality". Kuang-chen was later to write several volumes of poetry documenting these experiences; these writings are considered some of the finest expositions on the branch of Taoist learning that deals specifically with the different ways in which the human genders tend to perceive the Universe. She also seems to have become something of a specialist in those branches of wizardry that deal specifically with animal life and its relationship with humanity. During the middle of the Chunxi reign period (1174 - 1189) she was summoned to court and granted the title of zhen-ren, "Realized Person".
Much later in an active life of wizardly practice, Kuang-chen was having dinner with friends when she heard someone outside the house call her name. She excused herself and went outside, and was astonished to look up and see three old men standing on a cloud and gazing down at her. She immediately summoned a giant toad, stepped onto its back, and flew to meet the three Immortals. They took her on a tour of the famous mountains and lakes of the area; and as they flew over the K'un-lun Mountains, one of the Immortals said to T'ang Kuang-chen, "Would you like to transcend the mundane and enter the sacred -- shed your shell and become an Immortal? Or would you rather keep your body and remain in the mortal realm?"
Kuang-chen accepted their offer and took the Pill of Immortality she was given. From that time on, she was immune to heat, cold, hunger, and thirst. She returned to her village to care for her aging mother and went on living what appeared to be a normal life (at least, for a wizard). After her mother passed away, in response to an invitation from the Powers that Be, T'ang Kuang-chen once more summoned the giant toad, got onto its back, and vanished into the sky, never to be seen again.
One of her poems says:
"When you have neither anger nor joy,
Your energy is harmonious;
Responding to events, according to situations,
Wind follows the clouds.
Tiger subdued, the dragon tamed,
Mind is naturally quiet;
The bright moon in the azure sky
Is a white as white can be...
Though the mystic mechanism is right before us,
We need to look for it;
Only when you set eyes on it do you know
The depths of the ultimate design."
(See also: Immortals (Chinese))