“Chang the Immortal”. In popular Chinese belief, Zhang Xian bestows male offspring. As a rule, he is accompanied by his son who carries in his arm the boy-child whom Zhang Xian bestows on those who believe in him. Sometimes Song-zi niang-niang can be found in his company too. The Hound of Heaven (Tian-gou), against whom [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
A Chinese sea god and god of the ocean winds. As the god of the sea he assumes the shape of a fish and he rides on two dragons; as the god of the wind he has the body of a bird and a human face.
The name given to the supreme Taoist god during the Song Dynasty. The name is sometimes abbreviated to Yu-di (see Yu-huang).
Chinese hermaphrodite deity who made the earth suitable for life. He/she created the passes in the mountains by plowing a way through in the shape of a bear. As a snake, Yu led the waters of the Flood (the Yellow River) to the abyss. Yu’s symbol is a double snake.
