Jiang She

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Jiang She (江涉) 1
Alias(es)	Young Master Jiang; Master Jiang; Mr. Jiang 16 31
Species/Race	Immortal 16
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Li Bai's Dao companion 21
Occupation/Role	Immortal cultivator and wandering traveler 17 37
Status	Active 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1: “Seeking Immortals”

Background

Jiang She crossed into the Tang Dynasty ten years before the story begins. After spending much of that time in seclusion, he travels to Lumen Mountain to investigate whether historical records of Pang Degong's immortal encounter are true. He presents himself as a mountain dweller from Shu and initially keeps his extraordinary nature understated. 1 2 10 20

At Lumen Mountain, Jiang She confirms the existence of the Lumen Mountain Deity, learns that Pang Degong lived to 120 rather than ascending, and extends the Old Deer Mountain God's life by ten years with a stick of incense. He declines an eight-hundred-year ginseng spirit offered as thanks, accepting only “one year of spring” from the mountain god. 3 4

Appearance

Jiang She usually appears as a young, refined man of roughly Li Bai's age. He often dresses plainly enough to be mistaken for an ordinary recluse, but his calm bearing makes that disguise difficult to sustain. 3 10

• Wears blue robes, including a worn old blue robe while concealing his status. 10 20
• Has clear, handsome features and an elusive bearing compared to drifting clouds. 10
• His clothes remain dry and spotless even while walking through heavy rain. 1 3
• Frequently carries paper, brushes, books, and a handmade journal. 20 30 38

Personality

Jiang She is gentle in speech, calm under provocation, and openly curious about the mortal world. Having spent ten years largely removed from society, he finds everyday people, local tales, spirits, and changing eras more compelling than his earlier seclusion. 10 20

He is detached from wealth, political favor, and public reverence. He refuses valuable gifts, declines official recommendation, and does not wish to be worshipped as a distant idol. Yet this detachment does not make him indifferent: he intervenes against frauds, advises vulnerable families, and gives spirits and mortals alike opportunities to change. 3 17 24 37

Jiang She does not readily accept disciples. He considers cultivation dependent on fate and personal nature, refusing Li Bai and Lu Pei as formal students while still offering guidance where appropriate. 5 12 21

Abilities & Skills

Immortal Presence and Concealment

Jiang She can avoid dust and rain, conceal his presence, and move or affect others with unseen force. His methods regularly exceed the understanding of local Daoists, gods, and officials. 1 10 17

• Keeps his robes dry in heavy rain. 1 3
• Dried a porter's soaked basket of medicinal herbs with a casual touch, restoring the herbs' freshness. 1
• Concealed both his and Li Bai's forms and auras so completely that no one in the Lu household detected them. 10
• Lifted Zhang Zhenmei and his disciples to their feet with an invisible force. 17
• Can use the vitality of heaven and earth to affect even a City God. 47

Blessings, Fate, and Dream Arts

Jiang She can bestow karmic opportunities and create experiences that reshape a person's understanding of life, status, and mortality. 3 12 14

• Extended the Old Deer Mountain God's lifespan by ten years with a stick of incense. 3 4
• Granted the Lu household and its guests a “thread of fate,” with the Old Deer Mountain God guarding their path. 12
• Oversaw the Ancient Locust Kingdom dream, in which nineteen people lived entire lives over seven days in the mortal world. 14 17
• Treats such feats as minor tricks rather than displays meant to impress others. 14

Spiritual Sight and Divine Communication

Jiang She freely interacts with mountain gods, Earth Deities, ghosts, spirits, and City Gods. He can also grant others temporary access to the hidden spiritual world. 3 21 47

• Opened Li Bai's Heavenly Eye, allowing him to see ghosts and spirits. 21
• Warned that constantly seeing ghosts and gods can be harmful, and intended to retract the art after Li Bai had adapted. 21
• Summons regional deities directly, including the Lumen Mountain Deity and the City God of Ru Prefecture. 22 47
• Can speak to and instruct spirits without treating their origins as inherently inferior. 28

Transformations and Crafted Magic

Jiang She studies and improves techniques rather than dismissing lesser arts outright. He takes particular interest in the potential behind Zhang Zhenmei's Eye-Obscuring Technique. 20

• Transformed a writing brush into a small cat-shaped wooden carving. 20
• Rearranged ink strokes on paper through Daoist art. 20
• Animated a paper donkey with a drop of medicine, giving it to village children. 41
• Considers ordinary Eye-Obscuring Techniques inadequate against cultivators, though he believes they can be improved into something more useful. 20

Alchemy

Although Jiang She initially states that he knows nothing of conventional pill refinement, he develops his own approach after observing Daoist alchemy and considering its principles. 30 34

• Uses heaven as a tripod and earth as a furnace, gathering the azure qi of heaven and earth and harmonizing yin and yang. 34
• Successfully refined pills and spiritual liquid at Pure Void Temple. 34
• His alchemical attempt caused a surge of vitality that benefited spirits, ghosts, mortals, and the surrounding land. 35
• Carries three bottles containing nine pills and six vials of spiritual liquid after leaving Xiangyang. 38

Teaching the Dao

Jiang She teaches through conversation, example, and direct instruction rather than formal discipleship. 21 28

• Accepted Li Bai as a Dao companion rather than a disciple. 21
• Explained to gathered spirits that awakening wisdom and striving toward the Great Way gives every being value. 28
• Encouraged the Earth Deity and other spirits not to belittle themselves because of their origins. 28
• Defines freedom and naturalness, rather than mere mastery of magic, as central to a worthwhile life. 32

Equipment / Items

• Handmade journal — A carefully bound booklet that later records events seemingly on its own, including Jiang She's encounter with the hunters. 30 36
• Map of the Ten Circuits — A map of Great Tang given by Magistrate Cheng Zhi, which Jiang She uses to plan his journey toward Mount Tai. 24 37
• Pills and spiritual liquid — Products of his Pure Void Temple alchemy. 34 38
• Writing tools and books — He regularly writes observations, studies texts, and carries paper and brushes while traveling. 20 24 38
• Ink-colored cat — A young black cat Jiang She formally takes in through a written “engagement” contract, promising dried fish, shelter, and lifelong care. 38 40

Relationships

• Li Bai — Initially accompanies Jiang She up Lumen Mountain in search of immortals. Jiang She refuses to take him as a disciple but accepts him as a Dao companion; Li Bai later travels with him toward Mount Tai. 3 5 21 39
• Old Deer Mountain God / Lumen Mountain Deity — A long-lived mountain god whose life Jiang She extends by ten years. The deity respects Jiang She deeply and often accompanies or assists him. 3 17 40
• Yuan Danqiu — Fellow traveler and Daoist associate. Jiang She shares Li Bai's courtyard with him, discusses alchemy with him, and later travels alongside him. 20 30 40
• Meng Haoran — One of Li Bai's close friends and a witness to Jiang She's spiritual arts; he joins the group at various points but does not continue on the early journey from Xiangyang. 1 16 40
• Cheng Zhi — Xiangyang County Magistrate who becomes respectfully curious about the Dao after witnessing Jiang She's intervention in the Lu family's case. He gives Jiang She a regional map and reports information about Daoist Mirror Dust. 17 24 25
• Lu Family Grand Matriarch — Jiang She helps recover her family's stolen wealth and warns her to prepare against future fraud. 24
• Earth Deity Mountain Demon — A mountain-born Earth Deity who reveres Jiang She and seeks his cultivation guidance. 26 27 28
• Ink-colored Cat — Jiang She's adopted traveling companion, acquired through an unusually formal written contract. 38 40

Story Role / Major Arcs

Lumen Mountain and the Lu Family

Jiang She arrives at Lumen Mountain to investigate an old immortal legend, meets Li Bai, Yuan Danqiu, and Meng Haoran, and reveals enough of his ability to confirm Li Bai's suspicions. His encounter with the Old Deer Mountain God leads him to the troubled Lu family. 1 3 4

At the Lu residence, Jiang She exposes Zhang Zhenmei's fraudulent “immortal master” group, gives nineteen people the Ancient Locust Kingdom dream, and ensures the swindlers repay their victims and chant scriptures for ten years. 12 14 17 24

Xiangyang and the Feast of Ghosts and Gods

While living in Li Bai's courtyard, Jiang She begins engaging more closely with human life, studying illusion arts, caring for animals, and opening Li Bai's Heavenly Eye. 20 21

He attends the Earth Deity's feast, where gods, ghosts, spirits, and demon beasts recognize him as an immortal. He uses the gathering to teach that all beings who awaken wisdom may cultivate toward the Great Way. 26 27 28

Pure Void Temple and Alchemy

Jiang She visits Pure Void Temple with Yuan Danqiu, warns scholars against carelessly attracting trouble through their words, and investigates rumors surrounding Daoist Mirror Dust. 30 31 33

Inspired by the temple's alchemical practices, he refines pills and spiritual liquid by drawing directly on heaven and earth. The event spreads vitality through Xiang Prefecture and earns further reverence from the Old Deer Mountain God and local Daoists. 34 35

Departure from Xiangyang

Jiang She declines involvement with official prestige and prepares to travel slowly toward Mount Tai. Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu arrange supplies and accompany him, while the Old Deer Mountain God sees him off. 37 39 40

Before leaving, Jiang She adopts an ink-colored cat through a written contract. Local officials and residents later build a shrine and monument in his honor, but he chooses not to appear before them. 40

Journey and Ru Prefecture

On the road toward Luoyang, Jiang She continues to help where he encounters trouble, including resolving a vengeful ghost incident at a haunted post station. 41 45

In Ru Prefecture, he summons the local City God to investigate Daoist Mirror Dust and confronts the Fourth Young Master Temple over its heretical offerings. He later finds and reads Master Golden Origin's Cultivation Notes, the journal of the temple's former master, Zhou Ling. 47 48 50

Notable Quotes

“Though there is no fate of master and disciple… I will grant you all a thread of fate.” 12

“As a cultivator, it is my duty to extinguish heretical paths and uphold the true Dao.” 25

“What life seeks is not depth of Dao or magic, but freedom—naturalness.” 32

“A whim brought me here; when the whim fades, I shall scatter.” 35

Trivia

• Jiang She finds it uncomfortable to be excessively revered as an “Immortal” and prefers others call him by name or simply “Master.” 16
• He is interested in historical texts despite personally being an immortal figure; Magistrate Cheng catches him reading Traditions of Immortals for amusement. 24
• He cooks while traveling and has learned practical skills that people of earlier eras would not necessarily possess. 18
• His cat adoption contract promises the animal “dried fish shall be plentiful,” warm felt in winter, cool bamboo mats in summer, and the status of a “family treasure.” 40