This dissertation examines the formation and transformation of the iconography of a Daoist immortal, Liu Haichan. Liu Haichan was a court official in the tenth century who became a famous Daoist immortal. He has been worshipped as the fourth patriarch of the Quanzhen School, one of the largest schools of religious Daoism since the 13th century. From the middle of the Ming period, he has been extraordinarily popular and gradually transformed into a folk symbol of good fortune. Many images of Liu Haichan have been produced in various formats, such as painting, prints, and craft works. In art, he is usually represented carrying an auspicious three-legged toad. The earliest extant picture of Liu Haichan is dated to the Yuan period, and his image was a popular subject matter from the Ming period onward. However, no textual descriptions explained his association with the three-legged toad until the late Ming period. This discrepancy between text and image has led to questions about the original identity of the "Toad Immortal." Sometimes other immortals are proposed to replace Liu Haichan. These candidates, however, do not qualify. Judging from fictions of the Song period, hagiographies of the Yuan period, and many other later records, Liu Haichan is still the most plausible person to be this immortal.
