Archive for January 1st, 2009

Zhang Guo-lao

  • Written by MythER
  • Posted January 1, 2009 at 11:38 pm
One of the Ba Xian. He was a Taoist who lived during the Tang Dynasty. He held a high official post and had attracted the curiosity of the emperor who had questioned a famous Taoist master about him. This master told him that if he were to reveal Zhang’s true identity he would fall dead to the ground. However, if the emperor in person were to go barefoot and bareheaded to ask Zhang forgiveness for such betrayal, Zhang could bring him back to life. The emperor promised to do so, and the Taoist master told him that Zhang was an incarnation of the primordial chaos. The master immediately fell dead to the ground. The emperor kept his promise and begged forgiveness of Zhang. He then sprinkled water over the dead body and the master was brought back to life. Soon after, Zhang became ill and withdrew to the mountains where he died somewhere between 742 and 746 CE. When his pupils opened his grave they found it empty.Legend has it that Zhang owned a magical white donkey which was capable of travelling a thousand miles a day. This donkey could be folded like a handkerchief and carried in one’s pocket. To revive it, all one had to do was sprinkle a handful of water over the handkerchief. Zhang’s symbol is a fish-drum, an instrument capable of raising a loud noise.
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Zhang Fei

  • Written by MythER
  • Posted at 11:37 pm
One of the gods of butchers in Chinese mythology. Originally, he was a butcher to Guan Gong, with whom he got into a fight, and to Liu Bei, who separated them. The date of the oath of friendship and brotherhood taken by these three is given as 191 CE. Because these three military heroes swore allegiance in an effort to unify their land, they are often referred to as the Three Musketeers of China.Later Zhang Fei became again a meat-seller. But in the temple of Guan Gong he is numbered among the 254 assessors of that deity, one of the 24 heroes deserving gratitude for service to their country. He is a composite god (i.e. represented by parts of two animals into which he was transformed) and is eight feet tall with a panther’s head, a swallow’s chin, and voice of thunder.
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Zao-jun

  • Written by MythER
  • Posted at 11:36 pm

The “Lord of the Hearth”, an immensely popular hearth and kitchen deity in Chinese folk religion. He is also the protector of the family. An image or picture of him is fixed above the hearth and from this position he notes everything that happens in the house. This he reports to Yu-huang on each New Year’s Day. In order to make him submit a favorable to the Jade Emperor, people smear honey around his mouth on New Year’s Eve. He is usually shown surrounded by a host of children, and is venerated by the whole family.

His veneration dates back from before the 2nd century BCE and, according to popular legend, this is how it began:
Once there was a man called Zhang Lang, who was married to a very virtuous woman. She brought good fortune and blessing upon his house. The man, however, fell in love with a young woman and left his wife. Rejected, she returned home to her ancestral house. From that day on, Zhang Lang was plagued with bad luck. The girl turned from him, he became blind, lost his wealth and had to resort to begging to support himself. As fate would have it, his search for alms brought him one day to the house of his former wife. Being blind, he did not recognize her, but she did. She invited him in and served him his favorite dish. This reminded Zhang of his lost happiness, and with tears running from his face, he related to her his sad tale. She ordered him to open his eyes, and as if by miracle, he regained his eyesight and recognized her. He was deeply ashamed of how he had treated her and was unable to remain in her presence, so he jumped into the hearth, not realizing it was lit. His wife attempted to save him, but only managed to salvage one of his legs 1. She mourned for him greatly, fixed a small plague above the hearth where he lost his life and made sacrifices to him. That was the beginning of his veneration as a hearth deity.

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Yuan-shi tian-zong

  • Written by MythER
  • Posted at 11:36 pm
The “Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning”, one of the highest deities of religious Taoism. He is one of the pure ones, the so-called San-qing and resides in the Heaven of Jade Purity. It is believed that he came to being at the beginning of the universe as a result of the merging of pure breaths. He then created Heaven and Earth.Originally, he headed the administration of Heaven but — like a wise ruler — entrusted that task to his assistant Yu-huang. The importance of Yu-huang later came to exceed that of Yuan-shi tian-zong. At the beginning of each age or aeon he transmits the Ling-pao ching, the Scriptures of the Magic Jewel, to subordinate deities. Those in turn instruct mankind in the teachings of the Tao. Yuan-shi tian-zong is also believed to rescue souls caught in the various hells and sets them free.


Yuan-shi tian-zong is said to be without beginning and the most supreme of all beings, in fact, representative of the principle of all being. From him all things arose. He is eternal, limitless, and invisible.

Yuan-shi tian-zong is also known as Tian-bao-jun, Lord of the Heavenly Jewel.

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Yu-ren

  • Written by MythER
  • Posted at 11:35 pm
Literally “feather men”. In ancient times, the feather men were flying immortals (see Xian), whose bodies were covered with a coat of feathers. Now it is an alternative designation for a Taoist priest.
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