Maming Sheng

Maming Sheng (馬鳴生, "Master Horse-neigh", fl. c. 100 CE) was a legendary Han dynasty Daoist alchemist and xian ("transcendent; immortal"). He was a disciple of the transcendent and fangshi ("master of methods") Anqi Sheng, who transmitted a secret waidan external alchemical scripture to him. Maming refined this elixir of immortality, but rather than take a full dose and immediately ascend to heaven, he only took half and lived for over 500 years as a secret dìxiān (地仙, "earthbound transcendent"). Master Horse-neigh was a key figure in the Daoist Taiqing (太清, Grand Purity) alchemical tradition. Furthermore, in Chinese Buddhism, Maming (馬鳴, "Horse-neigh") translates the name of the 2nd-century CE Indian Buddhist monk and polymath Aśvaghoṣa (from Sanskrit áśva अश्व, "horse" and ghoṣa घोष, "cry; sound"), so-called because when teaching the Dharma his words were intelligible even to animals.