Tao Hongjing is known as the "Prime Minister of the Mountains". Tao Hongjing (456-536), named Tongming, named Huayang Seclusion, posthumously named Mr. Zhenbai, was a native of Moling, Danyang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu). He was a Taoist scholar, alchemist and medical expert during the Qi and Liang Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties.
He was born into a noble family in the Southern Dynasties. At the age of 10, he read "The Legend of Immortals" and had the ambition to maintain good health. At the age of 15, he wrote "The Chronicles of Mountain Search" and admired the reclusive life. When he was 20 years old, Emperor Gao of Qi introduced him as an attendant to the kings, and later became the general of Zuowei Palace. When he was about 30 years old, he became a disciple of the Taoist priest Sun Youyue. He received talismans, scriptures, and edicts, and then traveled to famous mountains in search of the true scriptures of elixirs. In the sixth year of Yongming in the Southern Qi Dynasty, the authentic handwriting of Yang Xi and Xu Mi was obtained in Maoshan. In the eighth year of Yongming's reign, he traveled eastward and visited lay people and Dharma masters from various places. In the tenth year of Yongming's reign, he resigned from the imperial court and lived in seclusion in Juqushan, Jurong (today's Maoshan, Jiangsu Province). He passed on the Qing Dynasty Great Cave Sutra and founded the Maoshan Sect of Taoism.
After Emperor Wu of Liang came to the throne, he sent envoys many times to offer invitations, but he refused to leave the mountain. Whenever there were important matters in the imperial court, he often consulted him and exchanged letters frequently. At that time, people called him "the prime minister in the mountains". Tao Hongjing inherited Lao Zhuang's philosophy and Ge Hong's thoughts on immortality, combined the concepts of Taoism and Buddhism, and advocated the integration of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. He believed that "a hundred dharmas are mixed together, and there is no way to transcend the realm of the three religions." Following Lu Xiujing, he made further contributions to the compilation of Taoist scriptures. The "True Spirit Position and Industry Map" was compiled, which arranged the hierarchical world of gods and immortals including gods, earth, humans and ghosts, and all immortals. He also compiled the "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", added new medicines used by famous doctors in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and compiled the seven-volume "Compendium of Materia Medica", which contains more than 700 kinds of medicines. (The original book has been lost, and now only the Dunhuang fragments remain. ). He has many works. In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are also "Zhen Gao", "Deng Zhen Yin Jue", "Yang Xing Yan Ming Lu", "Collection of Jin Dan Huang Bai Fang", "Yao Zong Jue", "Huayang Tao Yin Ju Ji" "wait. He is good at calligraphy and painting, and is proficient in medical skills. His calligraphy skills are based on Cao Li, and his paintings are pure. His calligraphy and paintings include "Two Niu Picture", "Mountain Dwelling Picture", "痗 Crane Inscription" and so on.