Zixu Yuanyun is also known as “Madam of the Southern Peak”, “Madam Wei” and “Nan Zhen”. Her surname was Wei, her given name Huacun and her style name Xian'an. She was from Rencheng (present-day Jining, Shandong). According to the “Biography of Madam Wei of the Southern Peak”, Madam Wei was the daughter of Kang Gongshu, the Chancellor of Jin. She was fond of Taoism from a young age and was quiet and respectful. She read the “Zhuangzi”, “Laozi” and “Liezi” and all the classics and works of hundreds of schools, She aspired to immortality, was fascinated by the mysterious, and wanted to ascend to the heavens. She often took Huoma powdered with Fu Ling (Poria) pills, breathed in and out of air and liquid, and cultivated tranquility. She was indifferent to the comings and goings of relatives. She often wanted to live in a noisy place, but her parents would not allow it. At the age of 24, she was forced to marry Liu Wenzi Youyan, a junior official from Nanyang. They had two sons, the elder named Ripu and the younger Xi. Youyan later became magistrate of Xiuwu (in present-day Henan Province). The wife's expectations were so high that her devotion became even more intense. After the two sons had grown up, they were separated and put to sleep in separate rooms. Later, the multitude of true men came down from the heavens, and the true man Wang Jun (Wang Bo), the true master of the Qingxu, became their teacher, and taught them the “Taishang Baowen”, “Baso Yinshu”, “Dadao Zhenjing”, “Lingshu Ziwener”, “Badao Zidu Yan Guang”, “Shijing Yuma”, “Shenzhen Humen”, “Gao Xian Yu Xuan” and other scriptures, totaling 31 volumes. According to the “Taiping Guangji Wei Fu Ren Zhuan” (Biographies of Eminent Persons from the Taiping Era), Jinglin Zhenren then taught him the “Huangting Neijing Jing” (The Inner Scrolls of the Yellow Court), and the immortal maidens played the zither and sang, filling the room with celestial music, unbeknownst to Liu Wen, who lived next door. Later, after Liu Wen died, Hua Cun knew that chaos was coming to the Central Plains, so he took his two sons and crossed the river. Pu became the Sima of Yu Liang and then the Sima of Wen Taizhen, and later became the prefect of Ancheng. Hua Cun's younger brother Hua Zhen became a general in the army of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Hua Cun then devoted himself to meditation and cultivation, and his Daoist practice grew day by day. In the ninth year (334) of Emperor Xianhe's reign (326-335), the Daoist immortals bestowed two medicinal formulas upon Hua Cun. Hua Cun took the formulas and, seven days later, brandishing his sword, he transformed and departed, ascending to immortality as the Purple Void Primordial Lord Supreme Commander Lady of the Southern Peak, also known as the Southern True. She governed Tiantai Dafo Mountain and later descended to Mount Mao many times. She also passed on the teachings to Yang Xi of Wangshen, Langya, and bestowed upon him the Shangqing Jing. During the Song and Yuan dynasties (1086–1094), she was additionally given the title of Gaoyuan Zhenzhao Zixu Yuandao Yunjun, and Taoism reveres her as the first-generation patriarch of the Shangqing school. He is the author of the “Yuan Shi Da Dong Yu Jing” (three volumes), “Yuan Shi Da Dong Yu Jing Shu Yao Shi Shi Er Yi” (one volume), “Da Dong Yu Jing Tan Yi” (one volume), and “Zong Lun” (one volume), which are still in circulation.
The temples that generally worship Zi Xu Yuan Jun are called Huang Ting Guan, the most famous of which is the Huang Ting Guan at the foot of Jixian Peak on Hengshan in Nanyue.
 

 紫虚元君又称“南岳夫人”、“魏夫人”，亦称南真。姓魏名华存字贤安，晋任城(今山东济宁)人。据《南岳魏夫人传》载：魏夫人者，晋司徒剧阳父康公舒之女。幼而好道，静默恭谨。读《庄》、《老》、《列》三传，五经百氏，无不涉览。志幕神仙，味真耽玄，欲求冲举，常服胡麻散茯苓丸，吐纳气液，摄生夷静，亲戚往来，一无关见。常欲别居闹处，父母不许。年二十四，强适太保掾南阳刘文字幼彦，生二子，长日璞，次日瑕。幼彦后为修武(今河南境内)令。夫人心期幽灵，精诚弥笃。二子粗立，乃离隔宇室，斋于别寝。后众真下阵，而清虚真人王君(王褒)为之师，授以《太上宝文》、《八素隐书》、《大洞真经》、《灵书紫文》、《八道紫度炎光》、《石精玉马》、《神真虎文》、《高仙羽玄》等经，合三十一卷。又据《太平广记·魏夫人传》记载，随后景林真人又授其《黄庭内景经》诸真命玉女抚琴歌唱，一时仙乐缭绕，室居隔壁的刘文全然不知。其后，刘文去世后，华存知中原将乱，遂携二子渡江，璞为庾亮司马，又为温太真司马，后至安城太守。瑕为陶太尉侃从事中郎将。其后，华存冥心斋静，潜心修道，道行与日俱增。晋成帝咸和(326-335年)九年(334年)，诸真授华存成药二剂。华存服之，七日后抚剑化形而去，升仙为紫虚元君上真司命南岳夫人，亦称南真。治天台大霍山，后多次降仙茅山。并传法于琅琊王舍人杨羲，授以《上清经》宋元(1086-1094年)年间，加封为高元宸照紫虚元道元君，道教尊其为上清派第一代宗师。著有《元始大洞玉经》三卷《元始大洞玉经疏要十二义》一卷《大洞玉经坛仪》一卷，《总论》一卷行于世。
一般祀奉紫虚元君的庙称为黄庭观，其中最为著名的就是南岳衡山集贤峰下的黄庭观。