Ge Xianweng was Ge Hong, a famous alchemist of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His courtesy name was Zhichuan and his pseudonym was Baopuzi. He was from Jurong, Danyang (present-day Jurong, Jiangsu). He was born in the fourth year of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty's Taikang period (280–283) (283) and died in the first year of Emperor Ai of the Jin Dynasty's Xingning period (363–366) (363), having lived for 81 years.
Ge Hong was a keen student from an early age. His family was poor, and he farmed the crops himself and chopped firewood to support the family, trading the produce for ink, paper and inkstones. In the evenings, he would read by the light of the oil lamp, reciting scriptures. He was well-known for his Confucianism. He was an introvert, not good at arguing, not
interested in glory and wealth, and not fond of socializing. However, he was not afraid to travel thousands of miles to seek books and friends. He was especially fond of the cultivation methods of immortals, and at the age of sixteen, he became a disciple of Zheng Yin, a disciple of his grandfather, and learned the secret art of alchemy. However, because he was still attached to worldly matters, he did not achieve much, except in the study of alchemy. In the first year of Emperor Xianhe's reign (326-335) (326 ),
 he was appointed as the chief clerk of the prefecture by the prime minister Wang, and later was elected as a member of the imperial court, in charge of major writing projects. Ge Hong declined the appointment, citing old age and his desire to practice alchemy. In his forties, Ge Hong bid farewell to his family and retired to Baoshi Mountain in Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang), where he built a thatched hut and devoted himself to cultivation. Baoshi Mountain was later renamed Ge Ling after his surname. While practicing on the ridge, he also collected herbs to cure people's illnesses, and built a trail through the mountains to make things easier for the people. People respected him as Ge Xianweng. Later, people built a shrine on the ridge to worship him, which is today's Ge Ling Baopu Taoist Temple.
In his later years, Ge Hong heard that there was realgar in Jiaozhi, so he asked to be the magistrate of Gouleu, took his son and nephew with him to Guangxi, and stayed in Luofu Mountain, refining medicine and gathering herbs, enjoying a carefree life, writing books and establishing theories, and creating the sacred place of Lingnan Taoism. Later generations built the famous Taoist temple Chongxu Ancient Temple where he built a hut to practice.
After Ge Hong's transformation, stories of him casting spells to exorcise demons spread among the people. Legend has it that one day, Ge Hong saw the people suffering from disasters, so he appeared on earth wearing a star-crowned headdress, a crane-feather cloak, holding a whisk made of Buddha's dust, wearing cloud-treading shoes, and carrying a magic gourd on his shoulder. At that time, there was a cold wind blowing, black mist filling the air, ghosts crying and wolves howling, the land barren and the mountains bald, the people unable to make ends meet and full of grievances. Ge Hong built a thatched cottage on Lingfeng Mountain in Ningbo, Zhejiang, named the “Hall of Dharma Performance”, to help the people suffering from floods and locust plagues. Soon Lingfeng Mountain was beautiful with mountains and water, green pines and cypresses, fragrant flowers and exotic plants. The people also turned misfortune into good fortune, and their lives became increasingly peaceful. This infuriated the four evil spirits who had been causing trouble – the Red Snake Spirit, the Crow Spirit, the Fly Spirit and the Locust Spirit. They met up at Ge Hong's Dharma Hall and pretended to be listening to the sutra. They were immediately spotted by Ge Hong, and the four demons drew their weapons and rushed towards Ge Hong. Ge Hong was unruffled, waved his whisk, and the weapons of the four demons fell to the ground. The demons panicked and fled from the Dharma Hall. Taiqiu Jushi revealed his true form and pounced on Ge Hong with a blood-filled mouth. Ge Hong threw the whisk into the air, muttered something, and the whisk turned into five golden dragons, which surrounded the snake spirit and soon defeated it. Seeing this, Wang'ao Shanren also revealed his true form, spitting out flames and attacking Ge Hong. Ge Hong hurriedly opened the gourd and a ray of golden light sucked the crow spirit in, which instantly turned into blood. Seeing the situation was not good, the monk Shuanshantu and the locust woman Changjiao fled. The next day, Ge Hong went to a distant mountain to collect herbs, and did not return because of the long journey. In the evening, the two demons returned and wreaked havoc on the mountain, causing the plague to spread again. On the third day, Ge Hong returned and, seeing the situation, quickly took out the holy water and sprinkled it all over the hillside. In a while, it returned to its original state and the plague was suddenly gone. In the evening, the two demons came to check on the situation again. They were surprised to see the beautiful scenery and became angry. They then turned into thousands of flies and swarmed around the hall where Ge Hong was performing the ritual. Ge Hong then threw a handful of rice into the air and recited a spell. The rice turned into thousands of bees, which flew up with their stingers raised and charged at the flies. In a short while, all the flies and locusts were killed.
According to the “Jin Shu Ge Hong Zhuan” and “Bao Pu Zi Zi Shu,” Ge Hong was a prolific writer throughout his life, with major works including “Bao Pu Zi Nei Wai Pian,” “Jin Kui Yao Fang,” “Shen Xian Zhuan,” and “Xi Jing Za Ji.” However, his most influential work is undoubtedly the Baopuzi Nei Wai Pian. The Nei Pian is a 20-volume work that focuses on immortals' prescriptions, monsters and transformations, health preservation and longevity, and immortality theories for warding off disasters. The Wai Pian is a 50-volume work that focuses on the ups and downs of life and the ways to rule a country. Most notably, Ge Hong proposed in his book the theory of immortality that “immortals do exist and immortality can be attained”, which further strengthened the world's confidence in learning the Dao and cultivating immortality.

葛仙翁为东晋道教著名炼丹家葛洪，字稚川，号抱朴子，丹阳句容(今江苏句窖)人。生于晋武帝太康(280-283年)四年(283年)，羽化于晋哀帝兴宁(363-366年)元年(363年)，世行八十一年。
葛洪从小好学，家境贫寒，自己耕作庄稼，并砍柴养家糊口，交换笔墨纸砚。晚上他挑灯夜读，诵念经文，以儒学知名。其性格内向，不善言辩，不好
荣利，不喜交游。然其寻书问友，则不畏千里。尤好神仙导养之法，十六岁便师从祖父之徒郑隐，学习炼丹秘术。 但自于俗情未了，所得不多，仅在丹学。晋成帝咸和(326-335年)元年(326 
年)在司徒王那里补为州主簿，后选为散骑常恃，领大著作，洪固辞不就，以年老欲炼丹为由。四十多岁时，葛洪辞别家人，隐修于临安(今浙江杭州)宝石山，宝石山风光旖旎，盛产红色碧丹，为静心修炼的绝佳场所，葛洪便在此修筑茅庐，潜心修道，后来人们便以其姓改称宝石山为葛岭。他在岭上一边修炼，一边采药为民治病，并修通山道，方便民众，人们都尊之为葛仙翁。后来人们在岭上修建祠堂来祀奉他，即今天的葛岭抱朴道院。
葛洪晚年听说交趾出丹砂，于是求为勾漏令，携子侄行至广卅，停留于罗浮山中，炼丹采药，优游闹养，著书立说，开创了岭南道教圣地。后人在他结庐修炼的地方修建了著名道观冲虚古观。
葛洪羽化以后，民间还流传着他施法除妖的故事。相传一天，葛洪见民间百姓受灾，于是头戴星冠，身披鹤氅，手执佛尘，足踏云履，肩背宝葫芦，阵临人间。于当时阴风飒飒，黑雾迷漫，鬼哭狼嚎，地荒山秃，民不聊生，怨气冲天的浙江宁波灵峰山修筑了一个草庐，名曰“演法堂”，接济水患蝗灾的百姓。不久灵峰山便山情水秀，松柏青青，奇花吐芳，异草飘香，百姓亦逢凶化吉，生括日趋祥和。这下可气恼了为非作歹的四个妖怪——太丘居士赤练蛇精、网岙山人乌鸦精、算山头陀苍蝇精、长脚皇姑蝗虫精。他们相约来到葛洪的演法堂，假装听经，立即被葛洪识破，四妖连拔出武器冲向葛洪，葛洪不慌不忙，手挥拂尘，四妖武器尽落，慌忙逃出演法堂。太丘居士现出原形，张开血盆大口，扑向葛洪，葛洪将拂尘抛向空中，口中念念有词，拂尘连变成五条金龙，团团围住蛇精，一会便将蛇精击毕。网岙山人见状，亦现出原形，口吐烈焰，向葛洪袭来，葛洪急忙打开宝葫芦，一道金光便将乌鸦精吸了进去，顷刻化为血水。算山头陀和长脚蝗姑见势不妙，逃之天天。第二天，葛洪便去远山采药，因路途遥远未归。晚上二妖返目，在山上大肆作恶，使瘟疫再次流行。第三天，葛洪回来后见状，赶紧取出法水，遍洒山坡，一会又恢复了原来的状态，瘟疫顿除。晚上二妖又来探视情况，见山清水秀，吃惊之余又上恼怒，遂化为成千上万蝇蝗，团团围住演法堂，葛洪遂将饭粒抛向空中，口念咒语，米粒即到变成成千上万只蜜蜂，端起枪刺，冲向蝇蝗，一会便将所有蝇妖、蝗妖全部蛟死。
据《晋书·葛洪传》、《抱朴子·自叙》记载，葛洪一生著述颇丰，主要有《抱朴子内外篇》、《金匮药方》、《神仙传》、《西京杂记》等。然其最具影响的当数《抱朴子内外篇》了，《内篇》二十卷，主讲神仙方药，鬼怪变化，养生延年，禳耶祛灾的仙道学说；《外篇》五十卷，主讲人间得失，世事臧否的理国治世之方。最值得一提的是，葛洪在书中提出了“神仙实有，仙学可得”的仙道理论，进一步坚定了世人学道修仙的信心。