Fan Changsheng (范長生 fàn chángshēng) (died 318) was a

Taoist priest A daoshi (道士 "master of the Tao"), translated as Taoist priest, Taoist monk, Taoist master or Professional Taoist, is a priest in Taoism. Along with Han Chinese priests, there are also many practicing ethnic minority priests in China. Some o ...

and leader who was instrumental in the establishment of the

Cheng Han Cheng Han (; 303 or 304 – 347) was a Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic state of China listed as one of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese historiography. Ruled by the Di (Five Barbarians), Di people, its territory was based in what is modern- ...

state during the

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

era in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He led a Taoist community of over one thousand families on

Mount Qingcheng Mount Qingcheng () is a sacred Taoist mountain in Dujiangyan, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. It is considered one of the birthplaces of Taoism and one of the most important Taoist religious sites in China. In Taoist mythology, it was the site of the ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

. During a critical famine, Fan Changsheng provided

Li Xiong Li Xiong (李雄) (274–334), courtesy name Zhongjuan (仲雋), formally Emperor Wu of Cheng (Han) (成(漢)武帝), was the first emperor of the Di-led Chinese Cheng Han dynasty and commonly regarded as its founder (although some historians ...

's army with food from his community's bounty. With Fan's help, Li Xiong achieved victory over

Luo Shang Luo Shang (died 310), courtesy name Jingzhi, also called Luo Zhong, courtesy name Jingzhen, was a military general of the Jin dynasty (266–420). In 300, the Jin court appointed him the Inspector of Yizhou and sent him to quell the rebellion ...

's army during Li Xiong's siege of

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

. After Li Xiong's victory, he offered Fan the throne. Fan declined, claiming that the year 304 would be an auspicious date (''jiazi'') for someone from the

Li family Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political te ...

to take the throne. Fan Changsheng then served as the Chancellor of Cheng Han under

. Fan later helped to persuade

to take the title of emperor. After Fan's death, his son

Fan Ben Fan Ben (; died 349), was a politician and emperor of the Cheng Han, Cheng-Han dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms. He was the son of Fan Changsheng, and after the fall Cheng-Han to the Jin dynasty (266–420) in 347, he led a restoration of the ...

succeeded him as the Chancellor of Cheng Han. Fan was the author of the lost work, ''Shucai'' (蜀才), a ten volume commentary on the

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

. He was later considered to be one of the

Eight Immortals from Sichuan Eight Immortals from Sichuan ({{zh, c=蜀中八仙, p=Shǔ zhōng bāxiān) are eight Sichuanese who supposedly became '' xian'' ("immortals; transcendents; fairies"). The term is first used by Qiao Xiu (譙秀 qiáo xiù) in ''Record of Shu'' ...

References

* Kleeman, Terry F., ''Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom'', {{DEFAULTSORT:Fan Changsheng 318 deaths Cheng Han Taoists Jin dynasty (266–420) Taoists Taoist religious leaders Year of birth unknown Taoist immortals