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Character · ◇ Light

Yinxi

Guardian of the Pass · Guan Yin

minorattestedLegendary; c. 6th c. BCETaoism

The Guardian of the Pass — the keeper of the western gate of the kingdom who, seeing the old sage Laozi riding away from the world on an ox, refused to let him leave until he wrote his wisdom down. To this one official’s stubbornness the tradition owes the entire Tao Te Ching: the five thousand characters were the toll paid to pass through his gate.

Light77
Wisdom66
Grace66
Influence60
✦Signature powerThe UnknownA power not yet set down in the record.
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Its universe

The mythic order Yinxi belongs to, who comes before and after in the story of this world.

Voices & connections

Figures bound to Yinxi, family and rivals within the myth, and the thinkers and writers who shaped how we know them.

Laoziassociated with

Read the story

Illustrated chapters where Yinxi appears. Start reading in a click.

Illustrated storyThe Old Master and the GateEvery other story in this archive is a war of light against dark. This one is the tradition that refused the war. An old archivist, sick of a corrupt age, rides west on an ox to vanish from the world — and a gatekeeper will not let him pass until he writes down what he knows. The five thousand characters he leaves are the Tao Te Ching: the way of water, the empty hub, the dark and the light as one turning circle.Begin reading →