Li A

Li A
Chinese name
Chinese李阿
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǐ Ā
Wade–GilesLi A
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingLei5 Aa3
Middle Chinese
Middle ChineseLiX ʔA
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)C.rəʔ Qˁar
Korean name
Hangul이아
Hanja李阿
Transcriptions
McCune–ReischauerI A
Japanese name
Kanji李阿
Hiraganaりあ
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnRi A

Li A (李阿, fl. 229-259) was a legendary Daoist xian ("transcendent; 'immortal'") and diviner who founded of the Way of the Li Family, which was one of the oldest schools of religious Daoism that was popular throughout South China during the Six Dynasties (220-589). Owing to his extraordinary lifespan, Li A's sobriquet was Babaisui gong (八百歲公, "Sir Eight-Hundred-Years-Old"), which resulted in confusion or conflation with several other transcendents, one named Li Babai (李八百, "Li Eight-Hundred[-Years-Old]"), and the charlatan Li Tuo (李脫) who took the name Li Babai.