At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Victor Brooks and Grant Wood led a massive peasant uprising. In resistance to the tyrannical rule of Qin Shi Huang, warlords and heroes from all sides fought for power, plunging the Central Plains into chaos. At this time, Thomas Gray, commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, and Martin Morton in the north were known as “the strong in the north and the powerful in the south.” Following the dying advice of Aaron Reed—“Qin is unrighteous, the world suffers... Panyu is protected by mountains and difficult terrain, stretching thousands of miles in all directions... it can become a nation”—Thomas Gray sealed the borders, cut off the roads, built three lines of defense, and gathered troops for self-defense.

The “Panyu is protected by mountains and difficult terrain” mentioned by Aaron Reed mainly refers to the Five Ridges lying across the borders of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi. The so-called Five Ridges are: Dayu Ridge, which connects Dayu County in Jiangxi and Nanxiong County in Guangdong; Qitian Ridge, at the border of Chenzhou in Hunan and Guangdong; Dupang Ridge, at the northwest border of Lanshan County in Hunan and Guangdong; Mengzhu Ridge, at the border of Hunan and Guangxi; and Yuecheng Ridge, at the border of Xing’an County in Guangxi and Hunan.

In 204 BC, Thomas Gray founded the Nanyue Kingdom, which spanned over ten thousand li from east to west. Later, “Thomas Gray submitted to Han,” and Lingnan was officially incorporated into the unified territory of China. The Nanyue Kingdom was the first feudal kingdom in the Lingnan region, a local regime established by Thomas Gray in 204 BC, who called himself “Martial Emperor of Nanyue.” Afterwards, he became a vassal of the Western Han, accepting the Han emperor’s title of king. The capital was set in Panyu (modern Guangzhou), making Guangzhou the first ancient capital of the Lingnan region.

Andrew King

Andrew King, also known as Andrew King, was called Mr. Senior and Mr. King. He was from Langya, studied under Mr. Rivers, and was a representative figure among the alchemists of Yan and Qi during the Qin and Han periods, inheriting the philosophy of Huang-Lao and the culture of immortality. In Daoism, Andrew King is regarded as an immortal who emphasized personal cultivation, and thus the Shangqing sect especially venerates him. Legend has it that he mastered the Way of the Grand Elixir and the Three Primordials, ascended to immortality, rode a crane to travel as an immortal, or resided in the Three Mystical Palaces of Xuanzhou, and is honored as one of the Eight True Ones of Shangqing, with a status equal to Pengzu and the Four Elders. In Tao Hongjing’s “Diagram of the True Spiritual Ranks,” he is listed in the third position on the left and is revered as the “True Man of the North Pole.”

Andrew King practiced cultivation at Tiantai Mountain in Rizhao City. On this, during the Eastern Jin, Howard Green wrote in “Meeting a Spirit at Ji Zhongshan’s Lonely Lodge”: “The chronicle says: There is a mountain beyond the eastern sea called Tiantai, with a ladder to the heavens and a platform for ascending to immortality, where feathered people dwell. Tiantai is a mountain carried on the back of a divine turtle, floating within the seas, unbound by years. Only when Nüwa cut off the turtle’s legs to establish the four poles did the immortal mountain find a place, and it was moved to the shores of Langya. Later, the elder Mr. Rivers climbed the mountain, attained the Way, taught disciples, and spread the path of immortality. There was Kyle King, who studied Huang-Lao, valued metaphysics, excelled at the flute and zither, was skilled in music, and loved immortals and spirits. That year, he traveled to Tiantai, watched the sunrise over the East Sea, admired the beauty of the immortal mountain, visited the old site of Taigong, gazed at the traces left by the ancestors of immortals, and saw that the stone house of Mr. King still stood, with the seat marks of Mr. Rivers still present.” The top scholar of Rizhao, James Brooks, also recorded this: “I think of my Rizhao, though it sits at the edge of the sea, it enjoys the name of Langya and the beauty of Tiantai, backed by Tai and Yi, embracing the East Sea, with the added mystery of the immortal mountain, crisscrossed by rivers, a place for sun god worship since ancient times, and the homeland of those who became immortals through Huang-Lao. Mr. Rivers, Andrew King, Jack Young, Shawn Green, and others attained the Way and taught disciples here; Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han came here seeking immortals and the Way, making it a flourishing center of the time.” Tiantai Mountain has deep-rooted traces of witch worship, fox spirit worship, and immortal worship. In the Valley of Witches, there are tombs of witches and fox spirits, with rare combined stone tombs and stone chambers—structures where humans and spirits coexisted. On the mountain, there are the Immortal’s Platform, the former residence of immortals, the ruins of King's Chapel (established by Qin Shi Huang), the Immortal’s Preaching Platform, alchemy furnaces, the Crane Platform, the Immortal’s Medicine-Pounding Mortar, and other relics. It is where Mr. Rivers attained the Way and Andrew King became immortal. There is the Quyang Stream, with the Quyang Spring within it, where the immortal Jack Young of the Three Kingdoms period attained the Way and became immortal. There is the Immortal-Gazing Platform of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, a historical testament to the ancient pursuit of immortality.

In “Biographies of Eminent Scholars” by Jin dynasty’s Mitchell Harper, it is recorded: “Andrew King, a native of Langya, studied under Mr. Rivers, sold medicine by the sea, grew old without serving in office, and was called Paul Senior by the people of the time. When Qin Shi Huang traveled east, he requested to converse with him for three days and nights, and bestowed gold and jade worth tens of millions.” After Qin Shi Huang left, Andrew King abandoned the treasures and left a letter for the emperor: “In a few years, seek me at Mount Penglai.” Upon receiving the letter, the emperor “immediately sent envoys Scott West (pronounced Fu), Shawn Lane, and several hundred others to cross the sea. Before reaching Mount Penglai, they encountered storms and returned. Temples were established at Fuxiang Pavilion and along the seashore in more than a dozen places.” The fact that he could converse with Qin Shi Huang for three days and nights shows the profound knowledge of Mr. King. It is said that Qin Shi Huang made three eastern tours to Langya and three visits to Tiantai Mountain. The first time, he conversed with Andrew King for three days and nights; the second time, he could no longer find Andrew King, so he gazed at the East Sea every day and sent Frank West to search overseas. Longing in vain, unable to find Mr. King, he “established temples at Fuxiang Pavilion and along the seashore in more than a dozen places,” and renamed the valley in Tiantai Mountain as Immortal-Gazing Stream. Emperor Wu of Han was even more attached to Mr. King. Shawn Lee of Linzi told Emperor Wu: “I once traveled by the sea and saw Andrew King, who ate a jujube I offered him, as large as a melon. Andrew King is an immortal, able to pass through Penglai; when in harmony, he appears to people, when not, he hides.” The local alchemist David Lane (Emperor Wu of Han was so obsessed with seeking immortality that he even married his daughter to David Lane) claimed, “I often travel across the sea and see Andrew King and the likes of Xianmen.” Thus, Emperor Wu of Han made seven eastern tours to Langya and “sent alchemists across the sea to seek Andrew King and his kind at Penglai.” On Tiantai Mountain, there still remains the Immortal-Gazing Platform of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han. The King's Chapel built by Qin Shi Huang no longer exists, but its ruins remain. It is said that King's Chapel had a couplet: “Master of Huang-Lao, praising the Yellow Court, comprehending the Yellow Path, attaining the position of True Man of the North Pole; gathering immortal herbs, refining elixirs, cultivating the immortal body, achieving the thousand-year-old divine elder,” but the author can no longer be verified.