Xian (taoizam)

**Xian** () je kineska riječ za prosvijetljenu osobu, koja se može prevesti kao:
* "duhovni besmrtnik; transcendent; natčovjek; nebesko biće (u taoističkoj filozofiji i kozmologiji)
* fizički besmrtnik; besmrtna osoba; besmrtnik; svetac (u taoističkoj religiji i panteonu)
* alkemičar; onaj koji traži eliksir života; onaj koji prakticira tehnike za produženje života ili (alkemijske, dijetne, qigong) metode za postizanje nesmrtnosti (u kineskoj alkemiji)
* čarobnjak; šaman (u kineskoj mitologiji)
* duh; vilenjak; vila; nimfa" (u popularnoj kineskoj književnosti, 仙境 xian jing je "vilinska zemlja")
* mudrac koji živi u planinama; planinski čovjek; pustinjak; samotnjak (narodna etimologija za slovo 仙)
* besmrtnik (talent); nadarena osoba; nebeski ljepotan ili ljepotica; izuzetna osoba (metafora)

*Xian* se semantički razvio od koncepta duhovne besmrtnosti ("prosvjetljenje") do koncepta fizičke besmrtnosti ("dugovječnost") kroz metode kao što su alkemija, meditacija, vježbe disanja i T'ai chi ch'uan, što je dovelo do pojave legendarnih "besmrtnika".

## Reference

* Akahori, Akira. 1989. "Drug Taking and Immortality", in *Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques*, ed. Livia Kohn. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, pp.&nbsp;73–98. .
* Blofeld, John. 1978. *Taoism: The Road to Immortality*. Boston: Shambhala. .
* Campany, Robert Ford. 2002. *To Live As Long As Heaven and Earth: Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents*. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp.&nbsp;18–31, 52–60 and 75–78. .
* DeWoskin, Kenneth. 1990. "*Xian* Descended: Narrating *Xian* among Mortals." *Taoist Resources* 1.2:21–27.
* Fox, Alan. ''Zhuangzi'', in *Great Thinkers of the Eastern World*, Ian P. McGreal ed., HarperCollins Publishers, 1995, 99–103.
* Hawkes, David, tr. 1985. *The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets*. Penguin Books. .
* Hsi, Lai. 2001. *The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress: Secrets of the Female Taoist Masters*. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, pp.&nbsp;48. .
* Hsi, Lai. 2002. *The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon: Taoist Methods for Male Sexual Revitalization*. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books. pp.&nbsp;99–100. .
* Kohn, Livia. 1993. *The Taoist Experience: an anthology*. Albany: State University of New York Press. .
* Komjathy, Louis. 2004. Daoist Texts in Translation .
* Mair, Victor H. 1994. *Wandering on the Way: early Taoist tales and parables of Chuang Tzu*. New York: Bantam. .
* Needham, Joseph and Wang Ling. 1954. *Science and Civilisation in China*, vol. 2. Cambridge University Press.
* Paper, Jordan D. 1995. *The Spirits Are Drunk: Comparative Approaches to Chinese Religion*. State University of New York Press.
* Robinet, Isabel. 1986. "The Taoist Immortal: Jesters of Light and Shadow, Heaven and Earth" . *Journal of Chinese Religions* 13/14:87–106.
* Schipper, Kristofer. 1993. *The Taoist Body*. Berkeley: University of California. .
* Schuessler, Axel. 2007. *ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese*. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. .
* Watson, Burton, tr. 1968. *The Complete works of Chuang Tzu*. New York: Columbia University Press. .
* Welch, Holmes. 1957. *Taoism: The Parting of the Way*. Boston: Beacon Press. .
* Wong, Eva. 2000. *The Tao of Health, Longevity, and Immortality: The Teachings of Immortals Chung and Lü.* Boston: Shambhala.
* Wu Lu-ch’iang and Tenney L. Davis. 1935. "An Ancient Chinese Alchemical Classic. Ko Hung on the Gold Medicine and on the Yellow and the White]", *Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences* 70:221-84.

## Vanjske veze

* "Transcendence and Immortality" , Russell Kirkland, The Encyclopedia of Taoism
* Chapter Seven: Later Daoism , Gregory Smits, Topics in Premodern Chinese History
* Immortals and Immortalism , Taoist Culture & Information Centre
* Xian, Encyclopedia of Religion