The Eight Immortals of Huainan are the eight immortals in Taoist mythology, and are said to be related to Liu An, Prince of Huainan. It is said that during the Western Han Dynasty, Liu An, Prince of Huainan, was fond of immortals and Taoism, and recruited talented guests and alchemists from all over the world to write a book together, which became the “Huainan Honglie” (also known as “Huainanzi”). According to Gao You's “Xu Mu” (A Catalogue of Books), the eight authors of this book were Su Fei, Mu Shang, Zuo Wu, Tian You, Lei Bei, Mao Bei, Wu Bei, and Jin Chang, and they were known as the “Eight Immortals”. Later, the “Legend of Immortals” and “Record of the Supernatural” evolved them into eight immortals, and since then the legend of the “Eight Immortals of Huainan” has been widely circulated. According to Ge Hong's “Legend of Immortals”, there were eight old men, with white beards and hair, and in a decrepit state. They heard that the King of Huainan was fond of Daoist techniques, and went to his door to seek an audience. The gatekeeper did not report this. The Eight Immortals then straightened up and changed their appearance, becoming young boys with horned hair and green hair, with faces as rosy as peach blossoms. When the King of Huainan heard about this, he was shocked and went out to meet him, taking him to the Sishan Pavilion. He worshipped him as a teacher and asked about his magical powers and his name. He said his name was Wenchang, Wude, Baiying, Qianling, Wanchun, Jiu'ao, Santian and Yifeng. Each has their own magical skills, with boundless magical powers, able to blow wind and rain, shake thunder and lightning, shake the heavens and earth, return the wind and stop the flow, control ghosts and gods, whip ghosts and demons, enter and exit fire and water, easily change the shape of mountains and rivers, and are capable of anything that changes. They then passed on the thousand transformations of the King of Huainan skills, and was given the 36 volumes of the “Jade Pill Classic”. He diligently practiced according to the instructions in the book, and after three years, the pills were ready. The minister Lei offended the King of Huainan through negligence, and was worried that he would be killed. He therefore wrote to Emperor Wu, falsely accusing Liu An of treason. Emperor Wu immediately sent the Grand Prefect to investigate. Before the Grand Prefect arrived, Bagong cooked medicine in a cauldron for the King of Huainan, and made him and nearly 300 of his relatives take it. On the same day, the clouds rose to the sky like immortals, and after the chickens and dogs licked the remains, they also flew up together. The place where the medicine was cooked is on a mountain to the north of Feishui and south of Huaihe. This mountain was then called “Bagongshan”. The footprints of Bagong and the King of Huainan when they flew up together are still on the rocks today. There is a stone on the mountain called “Bagong's Resting Stone”.

 淮南八公为道教神迹仙话中的八位仙人，盖与淮南王刘安有关。相传西汉时，淮南王刘安好幕仙道，广招天下贤客方士，共同著书立说，集为《淮南鸿烈》,亦称《淮南子》。据高诱《叙目》记载，此书的八位作者为：苏飞、目尚、左吴、田由、雷被、毛被、伍被、晋昌，世称“八公”。后来《神仙传》和《灵异录》将他们衍化为八位仙人，自此“淮南八公”的传说广泛流传开来。据葛洪《神仙传》记载，有八位老人，须眉皓白，老态龙钟，闻淮南王好道术，诣门求见。门吏不为通报。八公遂振元整容，变化为童子，角髻青丝，面若桃花。淮南王闻后大惊，出门相迎，接至思仙台。拜为师，问其道术、姓名，自称其名为文五常、武七德、枝百英、寿千令、叶万椿、鸣九皋、修三田、岑一峰。各有道术，法力无边，能吹嘘风雨，震动雷电，倾天骇地，回风驻流，役使鬼神，鞭挞鬼魅，出入水火，穆易山川，变化之事无所不能，遂传淮南王千变万化之术，并授以《玉丹经》三十六卷，使其依丹经所示，勤苦修炼，历经三年，丹药炼成之际，臣子雷被因过失触犯淮南王，担心被杀，遂上书武帝，诬告刘安谋反。武帝即遣大宗正前去稽查。大宗正未到时，八公为淮南王取鼎煮药，使与亲属近三百人服之，同日仙云升天，鸡犬舐后，亦同飞升。煮药之处在淝水之北，淮水之南的一座山上，此山遂被称为“八公山”，八公与淮南王飞升时的足迹至今仍留在岩石上，山上有石名为“八公憩石”。