YunYou 雲游

Life Is Like A Floating Cloud part 1

YunCongLong 雲從龍

The clouds flow the dragon

— YiJing 易經

Fig. 1 The cloudy dragon, by my daughter (she is 10)

I recently had the chance to make a trip back to China, my first visit since 2019, before the pandemic. The moment I had my bite of my favorite XiAn local dish, YouPoMian 油潑麵, oil-splashed noodles, a deliciousness I had not realized I had been missing for over 11 years (my last visit to XiAn was in 2014), I decided that I would write about my journey in order to share some of my wandering Daoist stories.

Descendants of Dragon

According to my tradition, we regard ourselves as descendants of ancient Long 龍. This belief system is rooted in the Chinese mythology of the birth story of FuXi 伏羲, the first shaman king of ancient China, who is credited for inventing many tools to help people live better and for discovering the BaGua and Yijing prediction system through his careful observation of nature. I wrote about FuXi in a previous article, ䷵ GuiMei 歸妹 - Returning Home part 2.

As with his father, the Thunder God (you may like to read my article, The Land of the Thunder God, GuZhe chapter 1, for details about the Thunder God), FuXi is always depicted with human head with dragon/snake body. In fact, according to Chinese mythology, the roles of the dragon and the Thunder God are same. For instance, both are master of the climate and rain makers, both hide in the clouds when performing their magic powers.

As descendants of dragon and as Daoist practitioners, we understand that life is just like a cloud, floating along, constantly changing, and quickly disappearing. Throughout history, there are countless of Daoist practitioners who have lived the YunYou 雲游 lifestyle. Yun means cloud and You means travel, wandering, swimming. Together, YunYou means wandering like a cloud. In this life style, one is never attached to a single place, no matter how wonderful it is. We move with the wind, observe clouds, nature, and people from different places in order to seek the truth of life, nature, and the universe. Karma has made me one of those YunYou practitioners.

Moving Clouds

Lately, a strong wind has been blowing me around. In March (2025), I flew into my old YunXiu 雲岫 , Portland, Oregon (USA) to see some old friends and to offer my teachings. YunXiu literally means a den of clouds, an old Chinese phrase used to describe a mountainous place where clouds are generated. I chose this phrase to refer a place in which I have previously belonged. My daughter was very happy when I returned to my current YunXiu (here Sweden) 10 days later, and drew a picture of a dragon in the clouds as welcome home gift to me. We were all disappointed that the wind carried me away again after only two nights, this time all the way to China.

The wind blew me further back in time to some of my older YunXiu, places in China with links to the origins of some my favorite cultivation practices, as well as to my birth place. As mentioned, this was my first visit to China since just a few months before the corona virus pandemic hit the world with full force. I was quite emotional to return to these special places, even though for decades I have been cultivating with detachment and have been living like a cloud.

After a 9 hour flight, I arrived in the new Beijing airport. It is very modern, very high tech, and very easy and quick to navigate. I sailed through customs. After about a two hour layover, I got on a connecting flight and arrived at the XiAn 西安 airport. My close friend and cultivation brother, “Dr. Xi,” who some of you may remember from chapter 7 of my book, Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change, sent his driver to pick me up. He could not make the trip himself as he was very, very busy, seeing 150 patients that day so that he could take 3 days off in order to keep me company during my time in and around XiAn. On the way into town, I asked the driver taking me to a small local restaurant so that I could have my favorite dish, YouPoMian. He took me to an authentic restaurant and took the picture for me, right before I savored my first, long awaited bite.

Fig. 2 - Enjoying my favorite YouPoMian dish in XiAn

The Land of Duke Liu

The next day, Dr. Xi drove me to LiuBa 留壩, the Land of Duke Liu, where the third Daoist Heavenly Cave is located.

Fig. 3 - The third Daoist Heavenly Cave

Duke Liu, or Zhang Liang 張良 (ca. 251 BCE– 189 BCE), was a renowned Daoist prediction master and military strategist. After helping to establish the Han 漢Dynasty, he became a hermit and cultivated in this third Daoist Heavenly Cave. When I was 10 years old, I read a story about him which has continued to influence my life. It is the way I learned one must be humble in order to find a true teacher. I would like share the story here with you:

When young Zhang Liang was crossing Yi 𡉏 Bridge, an old man who was sitting on the bridge threw his own shoe under the bridge, and then yelled to Liang, "Hey boy, go down and fetch me my shoe!" Liang was furious and was going to shout back until he noticed that the person was just an old man. He silently obeyed and brought the shoe back to the old man . The old man then lifted his foot and ordered Zhang Liang to put the shoe back on his foot. Again, Zhang Liang controlled his temper and meekly obliged. The old man, full of praise exclaimed, "This child can be taught!", and told Zhang Liang to meet him at dawn, under the bridge, in five days’ time. Slightly confused, Zhang Liang agreed.

Five days later, Zhang Liang rushed to the bridge at the stroke of dawn to find that the old man was already waiting for him. The old man scolded him, "How can you be late for a meeting with an elderly man? Come back again in five days’ time!" Zhang Liang tried his best to arrive even earlier for the second meeting, but again found that the old man had arrived before him. He was scolded once again and told to return five days later. The third time, Zhang Liang went to the bridge at midnight and waited through the night until the old man appeared. This time, the old man was impressed with Zhang Liang, both his fortitude and humility, and presented Zhang with a book, saying, "You could become the tutor of a great ruler after reading this book. Within ten years, the world will become chaotic. At that time, you can use the knowledge you gain from this book to bring peace and prosperity to the world.” Legend has it that the old man was HuangShiGong 黃石公, "Yellow Rock Old Man," a semi-mythological figure and enlightened Daoist hermit.

In honor of Zhang Liang, I first visited LiuBa 留壩, the Land of Duke Liu, when traveling within China was still quite rough. While it took me 15 hours to get there by train and bus from XiAn then, with the new highway system and private car, it took Dr. Xi and I less than 3 hours. The place is still magical, rich with Qi and embraced by majestic mountains. Upon arrival, I immediately recalled the palpable spiritual connection I felt with ZhangLiang when I stood first stood on the temple ruins of his land. Thirty years later, although the area has been reconstructed, the Qi is still as strong.

Fig. 4 - LiuBa with newly reconstructed buildings

The purpose of our trip this time was not for Zhang Liang, but rather in homage to my Daoist brother, Master Feng 馮, who I also mentioned in chapter 7 of my Seeking the Book of Change. In 1996, I met and soon became close friends with Master Feng, the most intuitive, skillful, and intelligent person I have ever known regarding Yijing prediction and analyzing Daoist GanZhi astrology. I had last time spent time with him in October of 2019, drinking tea, playing Qin, and discussing the Dao together at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing, followed by a lovely lunch with him, my wife and my then 4 year old daughter. This visit, however, I was visiting Master Feng’s gravesite.

Shocking? Yes, many people were shocked by his sudden death in February of 2022. He had also been a very powerful and renowned healer, and had saved many lives and helped many people recover from very severe illness with his near-magical Daoist herbal remedies. If this was so, people wondered, why he could not save his own life? When we were both living in XiAn in the 1990s, he and I spent countless hours together discussing GanZhi astrology and how to interpret and make accurate predictions of an astrological chart. When I heard of his passing, I immediately experienced a flashback memory of him reading his own chart to me, way back when, and telling me then that he would likely take off from this world in 25 years. He turned out to be correct in his prediction.

From the Daoist viewpoint, immortality is not measured by how long you live in the physical world. ZhangLiang did not spend too much time on this world, and neither did Master Feng.

Fig. 5 - Master Feng’s grave

As I stood in front of his grave, my tears quietly burst through. Qin music, Yijing prediction, GanZhi astrology, internal alchemy, martial arts, temples, mountains, caves … images of our time together appeared randomly in my heart-mind. “My brother, while you stay here keeping company with ZhangLiang, I will float away like a single cloud. There is no one left in this world with whom I can deeply discuss the path of the Dao.“