The legend of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao was first described in the zhiguai anthology Youming lu (), whose authorship is attributed to Liu Yiqing (403-444). It is recollected in the Taiping Yulan. In the fifth year of the Yongping Emperor, Shengzhou natives Liu Chen (劉晨) and Ruan Zhao () head to Tiantai Mountain to procure medicinal herbs, whereupon they encounter a couple of beautiful maidens in a valley of peach blossoms. They cohabit with them but begin to feel homesick after half a year. However, Liu and Ruan return home discover that hundreds of years have elapsed after meeting their seventh-generation grandchildren. In the eighth year of the Taiyuan reign of the Jin dynasty, Liu and Ruan disappear again, this time apparently forever.