  The Zhuangzi and other texts refer to the figure of the spirit person or shen ren 神人 as someone who has effectively transformed the physical body and the qi that constitutes it. The Zhuangzi describes spirit person of Guye, who concentrates his spirit (shen), avoids the five grains, rides the clouds, and, through the concentration of his shen protects others against sicknesses and epidemics and makes the harvest ripen (Zhuangzi 1, 28; cf. Graham, 1986a, 46). This passage suggests that a sage can have a nurturing effect on the world by acting at a distance, possibly as an unintended by-product of self-cultivation practices.