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 ...

and leader who was instrumental in the establishment of the

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

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. 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 th ...

. 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's army during Li Xiong's siege of

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...

. 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 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 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 Zh ...

. 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