The legendary Daoist immortal known in tradition as the Master of the River Bank (Héshàng gōng 河上公) or the Old Man of the River Bank (Héshàng zhàngrén 河上丈人), attributed author of the foundational [[KR5c0065|Dàodé zhēn jīng zhù 道德真經註]] (DZ 682) — the single most influential commentary on the Dàodé jīng in the Chinese religious-Daoist tradition. Modern scholarship (Schipper 2004, Chan 1991, Robinet 1977) treats the Héshàng gōng as a legendary figure and the attributed commentary as an Eastern-Hàn (25–220 CE) composition.
Traditional biography. The legend is fullest in Gé Hóng’s 葛洪 Shén xiān zhuàn 神仙傳 (4th cent. CE) and partially in Liú Xiàng’s 劉向 earlier Lìè xiān zhuàn 列仙傳 (Western Hàn). Both versions tell the same basic story: a certain recluse, old and unnamed, was seen dwelling in a thatched hut (máo ān 茅庵) on the bank of a river in Shǎnzhōu 陝州 (near the Yellow River in present-day northwestern Henan). Hàn Wéndì 漢文帝 (r. 180–157 BCE) — in a version that places the encounter in the early Western Hàn — heard of the recluse and went to inquire about the Dàodé jīng. When the emperor, unable to part easily with his royal dignity, asked the recluse from his carriage rather than dismounting, the Héshàng gōng ascended into the clouds and rebuked him; repentant, Wéndì approached on foot and was granted the transmission of the commentary. The Héshàng gōng’s final words to the emperor — “The Tao is honoured, its virtue is venerated” (dào zūn, dé guì 道尊德貴) — became the governing slogan of the Hàn Daoist imperial-cultivation tradition.
Identification. In the mature Daoist hagiography (from the Táng onwards), the Héshàng gōng is identified as an early incarnation or self-manifestation of 老子 (Lǎozǐ / Tài shàng Lǎo jūn 太上老君). He is also associated with the Hé tú 河圖 (“River Chart”) revelatory tradition — hence one possible etymology of his name — and with the Bā shǐ 八史 (“Eight Archivists”) of the early Língbǎo 靈寶 corpus.
Attributed work. The commentary ascribed to him — Lǎozǐ Dàodé jīng Héshàng gōng zhāng jù 老子道德經河上公章句 (also transmitted as simply Dàodé zhēn jīng zhù 道德真經註) — establishes the 81-chapter division of the received Dàodé jīng, gives each chapter its three-character title (Tǐ dào 體道, Yǎng shēn 養身, Ān mín 安民, etc.), and reads the scripture through a distinctive zhì shēn–yǎng shēng 治身養生 framework. Modern consensus places the composition in the Eastern Hàn period, probably in the 1st–2nd centuries CE. See the main work note at KR5c0065.
Cult and continuing influence. The Héshàng gōng figure is venerated in the mature Daoist pantheon, especially within the Zhèngyī 正一 tradition. A shrine at the legendary encounter-site in Shǎnzhōu was maintained through the Hàn, Táng, and Sòng; the Jiù Táng shū 舊唐書 records Tàng-era imperial visits. In the Shàngqīng 上清 tradition, the Héshàng gōng is regularly listed among the revelations transmitted through the lineage from Lǎozǐ.
No CBDB record (pre-historic / legendary figure).