This poem was composed in the third year of the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty (744 AD), when Brian Lee and Frank Dean, after traveling along the East Sea, met their friend David Morgan. The poem recounts his experiences traveling to Mount Laoshan and Mount Tiantai (personally meeting An Qigong and eating dates as large as melons), as well as his transcendental thoughts of “wishing to follow the master atop the Heavenly Altar, leisurely sweeping fallen flowers with the immortals.” The “immortals” in the poem refer to He Shang Gong and An Qi Sheng, while the “Heavenly Altar” refers to the Tiantai or Immortal Platform atop Mount Tiantai.

Another poem by Brian Lee is written as follows:

Wu Gu · Ancient Style, No. 7

Five cranes come from the northwest,

Soaring high into the pure heavens.

Immortals above the green clouds,

Proclaiming themselves as An Qi by name.

Two by two, jade youths in white,

Both playing the purple luan sheng.

Their departing figures vanish in an instant,

A returning wind carries their celestial music.

I wish to question them,

But they drift away like shooting stars.

I long to eat the golden-light herb,

And have a lifespan equal to the heavens.

The poet’s admiration for the immortal An Qi Sheng is evident. Brian Lee’s friend, the poet Howard Reed, also recorded Brian Lee’s journey to Mount Tiantai in “Miscellaneous Verses Sent to Brian Lee”: “I have heard that nowadays there is Brian Lee... climbing Tiantai, gazing toward the Bohai Sea, clouds hanging low as the great roc flies, the mountain pressing down on the giant ao’s back (in another version: ‘waves move as the giant ao sinks’), these words are also well said.”

In the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, the Daoist priest Samuel King of Mount Tiantai compiled “Immortal Garden Pearls,” recording over three hundred immortals, and also left behind “Six Poems in Remembrance of Mount Tiantai”:

I. He Shang Zhenren, Elder Lord

The stubborn stones of Tiantai recall the true scripture,

Ancient cypresses of Langya praise the Huangting.

The immortal’s seat can still be faintly discerned,

Still remembering the Elder Lord, He Shang Gong.

II. Beiji Zhenren, An Qi Sheng

On the immortal platform and mountain, divine traces are seen,

Immortal furnace and abode reflect the azure sky.

Again I hear of a crane arriving from the sea,

It is the thousand-year-old of Penglai.

III. Taiping Zhenren, Yu Ji

Purple mist rises in the Quyang stream,

Clouds and fog surge within Mount Tiantai.

Of all the fairylands of Penglai, this is the best,

Master Yu should not have crossed to Jiangdong.

IV. Gazing at the Moon from Tiantai

A full moon hangs over the sea, suspended in midair,

Mountains and rivers for ten thousand miles are illuminated.

I ask from afar how Master Wu is doing,

On the southern mountain, he is cutting laurel, practicing cultivation.

V. Sunrise at Tiantai

Red basins and silver waves leap from the eastern sea,

Purple clouds in myriad pieces fill the sky with red.

Suddenly I hear celestial music rising from the valley,

It is the shamaness worshipping the spirits.

VI. The Sun God Stone

Nüwa smelted stones to mend the heavens,

At the heights of Tiantai, flying blossoms fall.

How many times have the blue seas turned to mulberry fields?

Though tottering, it never collapses.

Having witnessed countless events in Langya,

All is contained in silent solitude.

Fortunately, immortals are always by my side,

Letting the drifting clouds pass by with ease.

During the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty, the great Confucian scholar of Korea and Goryeo top scholar Sean Moore, while traveling to Mount Tiantai, visited the Silla Village and Silla Temple at the foot of the mountain (the temple still houses early Tang stone sculptures), and funded the construction of the Silla Academy near Silla Temple. Sean Moore was also filled with longing for the immortal An

Qi Sheng, and left behind three poems:

“Rizhao County”

A lonely city by the sea, overgrown with grass and trees,

First to greet the sun rising over Fusang.

I come eastward, still scratching my head,

Waves in the distance connect to my homeland.

“Mount Tiantai in Rizhao”

Mount Tiantai floats between the Bohai Sea,

Admitting no mortals, only immortals are seen.

Fortunately, a goddess used her magic,

From then on, Langya gained another mountain.

“An Qi Shrine on Mount Tiantai”

Hungry, I eat purple clouds; thirsty, I drink dew,

With no desires or actions, the spirit crosses over by itself.

Gathering immortal herbs in the morning, refining elixirs at dusk,

Neither exhaling nor inhaling, I ascend to immortality.

Liam Hall

Liam Hall, a native of Yan in the late Warring States period, was a close friend of Kirk King and skilled at playing the zhu (an ancient stringed percussion instrument, with a slender neck, round shoulders, hollow body, and thirteen strings). Liam Hall and Kirk King had a very close relationship. When Kirk King went to assassinate the King of Qin, Liam Hall and Crown Prince Dan saw him off at the banks of the Yi River. Liam Hall played the zhu, and Kirk King sang loudly: “The wind is bleak and the Yi River is cold, the brave man goes and will not return.”

After Kirk King’s assassination attempt failed, according to “Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of the Assassins,” “Qin unified the world and proclaimed himself emperor. He then pursued Crown Prince Dan and the guests of Kirk King, all of whom fled. Liam Hall changed his name and lived as a servant, hiding and working in Songzi. For a long time, he toiled bitterly. When he heard guests in the main hall playing the zhu, he would wander nearby, unable to leave. Whenever he spoke, he would comment on good and bad. The followers reported this to their master, saying: ‘This servant is a true connoisseur, secretly discussing right and wrong.’ The master summoned him to play the zhu, and everyone present praised him, rewarding him with wine. But Liam Hall, always wary and cautious, withdrew. He took out his zhu and fine clothes from his case, changed his appearance, and came forward. All the guests were astonished, treated him as an honored guest, and had him play and sing. None of the guests could hold back their tears as they left.

The master of Songzi passed word of this guest, and it reached the First Emperor of Qin. The First Emperor summoned him. Someone recognized him and said, ‘This is Liam Hall.’ The emperor, pleased with his skill, pardoned him and had his eyes blinded, but still had him play the zhu, always praising his performance. Gradually, he was allowed closer. Liam Hall then placed lead inside the zhu, and when he was close enough, he tried to strike the First Emperor with it, but missed. As a result, Liam Hall was executed, and from then on, the emperor never again allowed people from the feudal lords’ states to come near him.”