Archive for September, 2010

Red Boy Captures Sanzang

Red Boy, the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fans son, had cultivated his physical and mental capacities and pollessed magic abilities. With powerful magics he always had the idea of eating the meat of Sanzang, the Tang Priest (whose meat could make creatures live longer) to lengthen his life. One day while he was watching in the sky, he saw Sanzang and his disciples coming from afar. He knew that the disciples had excellent fighting skills, so he planned to capture Sanzang by making use of the priest”s kindness and muddled mind, rather than use force. At a spot just ahead of where Sanzang and his group were, Red Boy turned himself into a boy of seven and hung himself on the top of a tree with his hands and feet tied with a rope and cried for help. The Tang Priest heard the boy”s cries and asked Monkey to release him. Monkey, seeing that the boy was actually a demon in disguise, told his master not to bother. Sanzang got angry, and he asked Pig to bring the boy down from the tree; he ordered Monkey to carry he boy on his back. As they started to go , Red Boy jumped into mid-air, leaving behind a false Red Boy for Monkey to carry. To kidnap Sanzang, Red Boy hurled a whirl of wind at him. Sanzang disappeared.
  Monkey knew this was done by the demon and he asked Pig and Friar Sandto look after the luggage and he hurried to the Huofang Cave in the Withered Pine Valley to look for his master. A fierce battle ensued between Monkey and Red Boy. Knowing it is impossible to defeat Monkey, Red Boy Spurted three types of flames which were so powerful even the Dragon King could not put out. Monkey, knowing he could not win, jumped out of the sea of fire and went to the South Sea to ask the Goddess Guanyin for help. The goddess vanquished Red Boy and brought him to the South Sea. Monkey saved Sanzang and Sanzang and his disciples continued their journey to the West in search of Buddhist scriptures.

Monkey Makes Three Attempts to Borrow the Plantain Fan

the Tang Priest and his three disciples, Monkey (Wukong), Pig and Friar Sand, were heading towards the Western Heaven. Gradually they began to feel hotter and hotter in the warm air. It was very strange, because it was autumn. Later they learnt that the Fiery Mountains were just ahead of them. The mountains had a circumference of 800 li, on which not a blade of grass could grow. A young man selling cakes told them that it was not possible to cross the mountains without a special plantain fan which could only be borrowed from Princess Iron Fan. After having made arrangements for his master, Monkey left for the Plantain Cave to see Princess Iron Fan. The princess was the wife of the Bull Demon King and the Red Boy”s mother. Some time ago, Red Boy had tried to eat the Tang Priest and Monkey had subdued him. Hence Princess Iron Fan hated Monkey and refused to lend the fan to him. Instead she blew Monkey right out of sight with a single wave of her plantain fan. Bodhisattva Lingji heard about this and gave Monkey a Wind-Fixing Pill. Monkey came to borrow the magic fan for the second time. With the Wind-Fixing Pill in his mouth, Monkey could not be moved no matter how hard the princess waved the fan. The princess hurried back to the cave and had the doors closed tightly. However, Monkey turned himself into an insect and got into the princess‘ belly when she was drinking tea. The princess could not stand the pain, so that she aGREed to lend the fan to Monkey, but she actually gave him a false one. The third time Monkey came for the fan he decided to turn himself into the Bull Demon King. He got the fan. Upon hearing of this trickery, the Bull Demon King came hurriedly chasing after Monkey. They engaged in a fierce struggle. Soon Pig and Friar Sand came to Monkey”s help and forced the Bull Demon King to show his true colors. With the plantain fan, Monkey put out the fire. The master and his three disciples continued their journey to the West to fetch scriptures.

Handan Branch weeks with a disability

Zhenyuan yearsHave a week called the Office of Han Read the rest of this entry »

Mid-Autumn Legend-the moon fairylady

Many years ago, there was a king in China. He was a brave man who did lots of belifits to the people. He admired a beautiful girl and made her stay in the palace so that he could see her whenever he wanted. But, the girl did not like the frightful figure of the king. She seldomly spoke a word in the palace. Each time the king went to her place, he used to show her some treasures and brought some gifts to the girl in order to make her smile and speak.

On every full moon, the girl would burned incenses and wax candles to worship the moon. People believed that there was a god lived in the moon that made the moon shine. Girls who wanted to be a beauty and have a handsome husband should worship the moon.

One day, the full moon of the eighth month, the king brought three herbs pills to show her.

 

“This is from the priest of the palace. If I eat them up, I can live forever.” He exclaimed.

This was the first time the girl stuffs he brought.

He continued,”If you and I both take one, we will both live forever. No one can take you away from me!”

 

Because the king afraid of the pills would have side effects. He forced the girl to take the pill first. If nothing wrong with her after taking the pill, he would take it immediately. However, the girl recognized that if she took all three of them, the king would left her eventually. Therefore, the first time, she spoke to the king,”Let me have a look of the pills first. Otherwise, I will not try at all.”

 

The king surprisingly the girl talked to him. So, he handed the pills to the girl. She did not say anything but eat all of them. The king was extremely angry. He wanted to kill her.

At this moment, the girl started to fly. She could fly because of the intake of the pills. The king could not catch her, but watched her flew toward the moon and disappeared.

 

After that, people believed that there was a beautiful girl stay in the moon with a little old man and a bunny. The old man was believed to be the god inside the moon and the bunny was his pet. Day after day, Chinese believed that there were people lived in the moon. Their movement made the dark spot when we looked up to the moon. People used to worship the girl to glorify her chastity. So, on every full moon of the mid-Autumn became a festival in order to memorize her.
Moon in Chinese Celestial Cosmology

The choice of the festival’s theme — celebrating the glories and mysteries of the moon — was a natural. Along with the sun, the moon has long been an object of human curiosity and worship. “It is probable that sun and moon were early held to be deities and that they were the first visible objects of worship,” according to the book “Sketches of the History of Man.” To the most ancient ancestors of the Chinese, the sun and the moon were considered the “chief objects of veneration,” according to records dating to the Han dynasty emperor Wu Di (157-87 B.C.).

In ancient Asian mythology, there is a strong relationship between the moon and water. The moon is said to regulate reservoirs and supplies of water. There is a suggestion that the moon produces fertility and freshness in the soil. The moon’s role in bountiful harvests is widely recognized during autumns around the world.

In Chinese celestial cosmology, the moon represents the female principle, or yin. During ancient autumn Moon Festivals, women took center stage because the moon is considered feminine. Only women took part in Moon Festival rituals on the night of the full moon. Altars would be set up in households, and when the full moon appeared, women would make offerings of incense, candles, fruit, flowers, and mooncakes.

The enduring legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang O (Chang-E in other transliterations), reflects the feminine principle of yin, as opposed to the masculine principle of yang, which is symbolized by the sun.