| | Yin Gui was a native of Taiyuan, courtesy name Gongdu. He was well-versed in the Five Classics and especially proficient in astronomy, geomantic principles, the He Luo divination texts, and prophetic literature; there was nothing he did not understand thoroughly. Later in life, he devoted himself to Daoism and often consumed huangjing (yellow essence), taking three doses a day. He lived for several hundred years while maintaining the appearance of youth and beauty. He often heard about his distant ancestor Yin Xi, who lived during the reigns of King Kangwang and King Zhaowang of Zhou. He lived in Caolou and encountered the Old Lord (Laojun), who expounded scriptures to him. Later, King Muwang of Zhou renovated the Louguan building again to await sages with virtue; Gongdu then resided at Louguan. He claimed: "Yi Xi often comes to visit me and teaches me the essentials of Dao." Therefore, he was able to sit in meditation or stand motionless for long periods, and could perform transformations and miraculous feats. The ancestors of the Su Bingzhou family often served him with reverence, and for generations his descendants saw him; his appearance always resembled that of a man in his fifties. He traveled among the people, or went into the mountains, and would be seen again after one or two years. He had no wife or children. His predictions about the times of prosperity and decline, order and chaos in the world, as well as where safety, danger, good fortune, or misfortune lay, were never inaccurate. In the first year of Yongkang reign period of the Jin dynasty, on the twelfth month, Gongdu went to a house west of Luoyang city and asked for lodging. The host did not want to let him stay because he was preparing sacrifices for the Wax Festival. After some time, Gongdu told his name, and upon hearing it, the host opened the door and welcomed him in, having already prepared wine and food beforehand. He also gave several hu of grain to the green donkey that Gongdu rode. However, Gongdu neither drank nor ate anything, and the donkey did not eat the grain either. The next morning when he left, he said to the host: "You are merely a person who does not act in times of urgency. Although you initially refused me lodging, later you showed great kindness toward both myself and my donkey. Though I did not consume what you provided, I expected this gesture as a token of appreciation." He then gave the host one pill of divine medicine, saying: "Carry this with you. Next year, there will be corpses from warfare lying everywhere on the ground; this medicine can preserve your body and save your life." The next year in Luozhong, there was indeed a rebellion by Zhao Wang Lun, resulting in numerous deaths. All members of the family who had joined the military did not return, and those remaining at home were all killed in robberies; only he, who had received the medicine, survived.
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| | Gongdu carried dozens of lacquered bamboo tubes at his waist; each contained medicine that could save a life as soon as it was taken into the mouth. During a great epidemic in the land, anyone who obtained medicine resembling an apricot kernel and applied it to their door would ensure that no one in the household fell ill; those already sick recovered immediately. Another disciple, Huang Li, lived in Luhun Mountain and suffered from tigers causing havoc. Gongdu instructed him to cut down a large tree for pillars, placing one pillar at each of the four directions—each one li away from his home—and then Gongdu stamped them with an imprint; after that, the tigers disappeared completely. There was also a strange bird perching on his roof; Huang Li told Gongdu about it, and Gongdu wrote an imperial talisman and placed it at the spot where the bird had called. By evening, the bird lay dead beneath the talisman, and thus it was eradicated. A man who had suffered a great loss found himself destitute and unable to afford food for the year. Gongdu saw this and sighed in sympathy. The filial son described his loneliness and hardship, prompting Gongdu to say sorrowfully: "Can you obtain several jin of lead?" The filial son said; "I can get it." He then prepared several dozen jin of lead, and Gongdu took it to a small house in the mountains. He melted the lead in a furnace fire, added some divine medicine about the size of an apricot kernel into the boiling lead, stirred it, and it all turned into silver. He gave it to him and said: "I feel pity for your poverty and inability to support yourself, so I give this to you; be careful not to speak of it." Another man, originally a son of an aristocratic family, encountered an official matter involving unclear records and was sentenced to pay one million qian in compensation. He sold his farmland, house, carts, and oxen but could not find buyers, and he was soon arrested. Gongdu said to a wealthy acquaintance he knew: "You can temporarily lend me one million qian; I want to save him. I will repay you entirely within twenty days." The wealthy man immediately gave Gongdu one million qian, and Gongdu passed it on to the unfortunate man. He then told him: "You should present one hundred liang of tin." The man immediately bought tin and gave it to Gongdu, who melted the tin in a furnace and added one square cun of divine medicine into the boiling tin. It turned into yellow gold, which was then weighed and sold for one million qian to repay the lender. Later, Gongdu went to Taihe Mountain in Nanyang and ascended to immortality there.
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