In Chinese mythology, Dongfang is considered a Daoist xian ("transcendent; immortal") and the spirit of Venus who incarnated as a series of ancient ministers including Laozi.

Dongfang Shuo was a native of Yanci (厭次) in Pingyuan (平原), present-day Ling County in Shandong, where his tomb and a shrine are located.

"[3] In 138 BCE, Emperor Wu called for recommendations of individuals who were "honest and upright, worthy and good, or noted for scholarly or literary talents or unusual strength", offering to assign them official posts.

At nineteen I studied the works on military science by Masters Sun and Wu, the equipment pertaining to battle and encampment, and the regulations concerning drum and gong.

], have eyes like pendant pearls, teeth like ranged shells, and am as brave as Meng Ben, nimble as Qingji, scrupulous as Bao Zhu, and loyal as Wei Sheng.

[4]Based on these egregiously conceited words, the emperor concluded that Dongfang Shuo was extraordinary and "ordered him to await the imperial command in the office of public carriage."

Dongfang drew his sword, cut off a piece of meat, put it into the breast of his robe, and said to his fellow officials, "In these hot days one ought to go home early.

On the next day at court, Dongfang Shuo apologized for his violation of etiquette to the emperor, who commanded, "Stand up, sir, and confess your faults."

[7] his two finest writings are the Da ke nan (答客難 "Replies to a Guest's Objections", oldest example of the shelun 設論 "hypothetical discourse" literary form),[8] and Feiyou xiansheng lun (非有先生論 "An Essay by Elder Nobody".

[9] It further states that Book of Han bibliography (chapter 30, 藝文志 "Treatise on Literature") lists all of Dongfang's genuine writings, "but the other pieces that are passed around these days are completely spurious".

[1] He was supposedly an embodiment of Sui (歲 "Jupiter") or Taibai (太白 "Venus"), had a miraculous birth, possessed supernatural powers, and went through numerous reincarnations, including Laozi and Fan Li.

At beginning of Emperor Xuan of Han's reign (91 BCE), Dongfang resigned from his position, left his official residence, and went "drifting off to wherever chance might take him.

The (c. 195 CE) Fengsu tongyi ("Comprehensive Accounts of Popular Customs"),[14] which repeats Dongfang's conceited self-recommendation, says he was "commonly said to be the spirit of the planet Venus, and to have passed through a number of incarnations."

The Queen Mother recognized Dongfang as a courtier of hers at Mount Kunlun and told the Emperor he was "an incarnation of the planet Jupiter who has been temporarily banished to earth for stealing her peaches of immortality".

[16] The (c. 335–349) Soushenji ("Records of an Inquest into the Sacred") tells a story about Emperor Wu encountering a monster blocking Hangu Pass,[15] "Thirty or forty feet in length, its body resembled in shape that of a buffalo or an elephant.

He explained to the emperor, "This may be called the product of an atmosphere of sorrow and suffering," the site of either a Qin dynasty dungeon or corvée labor by criminals.

The (c. 6th century) Han Wudi neizhuan ("Outer Biography of Emperor Wu") tells of Dongfang leaving the world in a typically xian fashion.