Eccentricity is indeed one of the standard traits attributed to the protagonists of Taoist hagiography throughout the centuries, as indicates Stephen Eskildsen in his book "The Teachings and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters".
Not only many Daoist sages, magicians, diviners, alchemists, masters and disciples were well known for their eccentricity, but also the famous Eight Daoist Immortals excelled through their unconventionality, some even through their craziness. The most common forms of such behavior were conscious noncompliance with the usual social conventions; and hedonism, particularly, drinking.
Freedom from Social Conventions
Social conventions as such were considered as the greatest enemy of personal freedom and integrity, and they were replaced with authentic, spontaneous and also a symbolic existence. I would like to illustrate it with three amazing stories.
Wang Zhe, the founder of Daoist Quanzhen movement, for several years was living in the grave, which he built for himself. In one village he made a high mound of dirt under which he dug an underground chamber. On top of the mound he placed a sign that read, "Here rests Lunatic Wang". He referred to this place as the "Grave of the Living Dead Man" and most probably the hidden meaning of this action was to put to death his old, worldly self. Wang Zhe actually was famous also for his alcohol addiction, which he managed to overcome and his violent behavior towards his disciples.
Another story is about Zhang Guolao who is considered as one of the most eccentric Eight Immortals. He was usually riding on his white donkey seated backwards. Some have stated that he was sitting backwards, because he has discovered that going forward actually is moving backward. He was known to be also quite entertaining, often making himself invisible, drinking water from the petals of poisonous flowers, snatching birds in flight from the sky, as well as wilting flowers simply by pointing in their direction.
Not only many Daoist sages, magicians, diviners, alchemists, masters and disciples were well known for their eccentricity, but also the famous Eight Daoist Immortals excelled through their unconventionality, some even through their craziness. The most common forms of such behavior were conscious noncompliance with the usual social conventions; and hedonism, particularly, drinking.
Freedom from Social Conventions
Social conventions as such were considered as the greatest enemy of personal freedom and integrity, and they were replaced with authentic, spontaneous and also a symbolic existence. I would like to illustrate it with three amazing stories.
Wang Zhe, the founder of Daoist Quanzhen movement, for several years was living in the grave, which he built for himself. In one village he made a high mound of dirt under which he dug an underground chamber. On top of the mound he placed a sign that read, "Here rests Lunatic Wang". He referred to this place as the "Grave of the Living Dead Man" and most probably the hidden meaning of this action was to put to death his old, worldly self. Wang Zhe actually was famous also for his alcohol addiction, which he managed to overcome and his violent behavior towards his disciples.
Another story is about Zhang Guolao who is considered as one of the most eccentric Eight Immortals. He was usually riding on his white donkey seated backwards. Some have stated that he was sitting backwards, because he has discovered that going forward actually is moving backward. He was known to be also quite entertaining, often making himself invisible, drinking water from the petals of poisonous flowers, snatching birds in flight from the sky, as well as wilting flowers simply by pointing in their direction.
Finally, in order to become one of Immortals, unconventional gender and sexual orientation was not an obstacle. As written in the "Myths and Legends of China" by E.T.C. Werner:
Lan Ts'ai-ho is variously stated to have been a woman and a hermaphrodite. She is the strolling singer or mountebank of the Immortals. Usually she plays a flute or a pair of cymbals. ... She wandered abroad clad in a tattered blue gown held by a black wooden belt three inches wide, with one foot shoeless and the other shod, wearing in summer an undergarment of wadded material, and in winter sleeping on the snow, her breath rising in a brilliant cloud like the steam from a boiling cauldron.
...
One day she was found to have become intoxicated in an inn an Feng-yang Fu in Anhui, and while in that state disappeared on a cloud, having thrown down to earth her shoe, robe, belt, and castenets.
Hedonism and Alcohol
Daoism (particularly, philosophical one) and the enjoyment of alcohol are rather linked together. Many well-known Daoist sages and also artists and poets associated with Daoism are noted for their love of alcohol and inebriation.
The most illustrative example is the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. As it is noted in the "Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 12",
Daoism (particularly, philosophical one) and the enjoyment of alcohol are rather linked together. Many well-known Daoist sages and also artists and poets associated with Daoism are noted for their love of alcohol and inebriation.
The most illustrative example is the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. As it is noted in the "Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 12",
A group of disaffected man during a time of political turmoil, the Seven Sages delighted in eccentricity, conversation, and drunkenness. One of the seven, Liu Lung, wrote a poem "In Praise of the Virtue of Wine", in which he portrays himself as happily detached from the troubles of the world. ... For all those figures, alcohol and inebriation are symbols of the freedom from human convention and the spontaneous enjoyment of the moment - important themes of Daoism.
Finally, I would like to mention one of the most famous self-indulgent Daoist - Yang Zhu. Describing his carefree and pleasure-seeking attitude toward life, he wrote:
Half of [a man's life] is occupied with infancy and senility. Of the other half, almost half is wasted in sleep at night and naps in the day time. And almost half of the remainder is lost in pain, illness, sorrow, grief, death, and loss. ... Then what is the purpose of life? What is the joy of life? Life is only for beauty and wealth, and sound and color. ...Let us enjoy this life. Why be concerned with the hereafter?