Pʾeng Lai

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Pʾeng Lai. Taoist ‘isle of the immortals’ (hsien), first referred to in Lieh-tzu. Many stories are told of expeditions to reach it and find the mushroom of immortality. All fail, because if the hazards of shipwreck, etc., are overcome, the island sinks as the sailors approach. The story becomes in later Taoism an allegory of the spiritual quest.