PA HSIEN

Pinyin Ba Xian, English Eight Immortals heterogeneous group of holy Taoists, each of whom earned the right to immortality and had free access to the Peach Festival of Hsi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West. Though unacquainted in real life, the eight are frequently depicted as a groupbearing gifts, for instance, to Shou Hsing, god of longevity, to safeguard their immortality. In Chinese art they sometimes also stand alone or appear in smaller groups. Four of them, for example, may be depicted reclining beneath a pine treewith Chung-li Ch'an and L Tung-pin drinking wine heated by Li T'ieh-kuai while Lan Ts'ai-ho entertains them on a flute. Lists vary, but the other four immortals are usually identified as Chang Kuo-lao, Han Hsiang, Ts'ao Kuo-chiu, and Ho Hsien-ku (qq.v.).