A pair of three-legged toads

About this artwork

The magic toad, which represents the “essence” (zhenjing) in internal elixir (neidan) practices, was believed to appear whenever Daoist immortal Liu swung a string of coins. The coins signify Liu’s enlightenment by an immortal who stacked ten eggs on one coin by way of alluding to the precariousness of human existence. In the late Qing period (1644– 1911), a three-legged toad was also used to pray for beneficial rain.