Temple of the Eight Immortals (continuation)

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#5: T'IEH-KUAI LI     A beggar with a crutch.  He is said to have been a disciple of Lao-Tzu, who summoned him to Heaven, instructing him to leave his body in the care of a pupil.  During his absence the pupil was summoned to the bedside of his dying mother, and the body in his charge, being considered dead, was consigned to the flames.  Li T'ieh-Kuai, on returning, found only a heap of ashes, so he entered the body of a beggar who had just died and in this continued his life.  His symbols are a pilgrims's gourd, containing magical medicines with which he healed the sick, and a crab.  He is sometimes represented as accompanied by a deer.  He is the patron saint of Apothecaries.

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