Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Zhongli Quan
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Zhongli Quan, wood sculpture, 18th century; in the Musée Guimet, Paris.
Quizzes
Omar Ali Saifuddin mosque, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
World Religions & Traditions
Quick Facts
Wade-Giles romanization:
Chung-li Ch’üan
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Zhongli Quan, wood sculpture, 18th century; in the Musée Guimet, Paris.
Zhongli Quan, wood sculpture, 18th century; in the Musée Guimet, Paris.

Zhongli Quan

Chinese religious figure
Also known as: Chung-li Ch’üan, Han Zhongli
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Zhongli Quan, in Chinese religion, one of the Baxian, the Eight Immortals of Daoism. He is a wine-drinking recluse in quest of immortality and often depicted as a potbellied, bearded old man holding a fan with a tassel of horse hairs. Occasionally he is depicted as a military man and is credited with unusual knowledge of alchemy. His primacy among the Eight Immortals is challenged by a tradition that makes him an ascetic convert of Li Tieguai, another Immortal (xian). An alternate name, Han Zhongli, indicates that he probably lived during the Han dynasty (206 bce– 220 ce).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Matt Stefon.