黃大仙考

A Study of Huang Ta-hsien (The Great Immortal Huang)

黃兆漢(S. H. Wong)

《中國文化研究所學報》 16卷 (1985/01) Pp. 223-240

https://doi.org/10.29708/JCS.CUHK.198501_16.0014

並列摘要

The Great Immortal Huang is called Huang Ch'u-p'ing 黃初平 (or 皇初平, 328-?). He was born in Lan Ch'I 蘭溪 District of Chekiang Province in the Eastern Chin dynasty (317-420). The earliest extant biographical account of him can be found in Ko Hung's 葛洪 (288-343) Shen-hsien Ch'uan 神仙傳 written in the fourth century. He is said to have lived as a hermit for most of his life in Mount Chin Hua 金華山 near Lan Ch'i. Legends about this immortal were known in Kuangtung Province towards the mid-Ming dynasty (1368-1644), i.e. the sixteenth century. Evidence from various sources indicates that as from the Ming dynasty Huang Ta-hsien was one of the many popular gods worshipped in many places in the coastal provinces, including Kuangtung and Kiangsu. But it was only in the early twentieth century that the people of Hong Kong came to know of this god and started to worship him. Nowadays this god is so popular in Hong Kong that there is hardly anyone to whom the name of Huang Ta-hsien is totally unknown. It has become a habit for many Hong Kong residents to visit the temple honouring this god during major Chinese festivals. He has even become an object of worship overseas. A temple was built for him by overseas Chinese in New York in 1983. The worship of the Great Immortal Huang started as early as in the Eastern Chin dynasty, immediately after his death. Enthusiastic worshippers came from all walks of life, they included emperors, intellectuals and common people. Temples and altars were specially built for him. Legends about this god have been gradually accumulated, multiplied and no doubt exaggerated with the passage of time. Many people in ancient times liked to choose Mount Red Pine 赤松山 in Chin Hua to cultivate the tao 道, probably because Mount Red Pine was the place where the immortal Huang Ta-hsien acquired tao and achieved immortality. Taoist devotees regarded as sacred all places the immortal had visited and every object he had used during his life time. Such places and objects have become the themes for poets since the Period of Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589). Poems on this immortal can be found in local histories and records of travels written by well-known writers.