Sunday, October 5, 2008

Chun Kwan

Chun Kwan is a deity in China with surname Ng . At the reign of Emperor Lizong in South Sung Dynasty, Guangdong was frequently raided by pirates. The government's military having little success against the pirates, the people suffered. Ng led a force and annihilated the bands of pirates and returned peace to people.

After his death, his spirit performed good deeds in Lung Kong and the Emperor awarded him the title of Chun Kwan Tai Tai and built temples for him.

He has done various kind acts on Tsing Yi Island of Hong Kong and a memorial was inscribed in Chun Kwan Temple on the island.

Elder Zhang Guo

Elder Zhang Guo is one of the Eight Immortals. He is known as Master Comprehension-of-Profundity .

Elder Zhang Guo was a Taoist occultist- who lived on Mount Tiáo in the Heng Prefecture during the Tang Dynasty. By the time of Empress Wu, he claimed to be several hundred years old. He also declared that he had been Grand Minister to the Emperor during a previous incarnation. Zhang Guo Lao was known for wandering between the Fen River & Chin territories during his lifetime and was known to travel at least a thousand li per day.

Zhang Guo also had a love for wine and winemaking. He was known to make liquor from herbs and shrubs as a hobby. Other members of the Eight Immortals drank his wine, which they believed to have healing or medicinal properties. He was also known to be a master of Taoist or Qigong and could go without food for days, surviving on only a few sips of wine.

He was the most of the eight immortals, as one can see from the kung fu style that was dedicated to him — which includes moves such as delivering a kick during a back flip, or bending so far back that your shoulders touch the ground.

Legend



In the twenty-third year of the reign-period K'ai Yüan of the Emperor of the Tang dynasty, he was called to the city of Luoyang in Henan, then the Eastern Capital of Tang and was elected as a Chief of the , with the honourable title of "Very Perspicacious Teacher".

It was just at this time that the famous Taoist Yeh Fa-shan, thanks to his skill in magic and necromancy, was in great favour at Court. The Emperor asked him who this Chang Kuo Lao was. "I know," replied the magician; "but if I were to tell your Majesty I should fall dead at your feet, so I dare not to speak unless your Majesty will promise that you will go with bare feet and bare head to ask Chang Kuo to forgive you, in which case I should immediately revive." Hsüan Tsung having promised, Fa-shan then said: "Chang Kuo is a white spiritual bat which came out of primeval chaos." No sooner had he spoken than he dropped dead at the Emperor's feet.

Hsüan Tsung, with bald head and feet, went to Chang Kuo as he had promised, and begged forgiveness for his indiscretion. The latter then sprinkled water on Fa-shan's face and he revived. Before long Chang Kuo claimed to feel sick and asked to return back to the Tiáo Mountains in Hêng Chou and was reported to have died there. When his disciples opened his tomb, they found it empty...

Fei Lian

Fei Lian / Fie Lien is the of the wind. He is a winged dragon with the head of a stag and the tail of a snake. He carries wind with him in a bag and stirs up trouble. Fei Lian is kept in check by Houyi, the heavenly archer. In his human form he is known as Feng Bo.

Feng Bo

Feng Bo is the name for the human form of Fei Lian, the god of the wind. The Chinese "Earl of the Wind", or directly "Uncle Wind", "Elder of the Wind". He carried the wind in a goatskin.

This can also be a Chinese name for either male or female, however people agree it sounds more like a guy's name.

Fu Lu Shou

Fu Lu Shou refers to the concept of Good Fortune , Prosperity , and Longevity . This Taoist concept is thought to date back to the Ming Dynasty, when the Fu Star, Lu Star and Shou Star were considered deities of these attributes respectively. The term is commonly used in Chinese culture to denote the three attributes of a good life.

The Fu star refers to the planet Jupiter. According to legend, the Fu Star is associated with Yang Cheng a governor of Daozhou. Yang Cheng risked his life by writing a memorial to the emperor to save the people from suffering. After his death, the people built a temple to commemorate him, and over time he came to be considered the personification of good fortune.

The Lu star is the sixth star in the Wen chang cluster, and like the Fu star came to be personified. The Lu star is believed to be Zhang Xian who lived during the Later Shu dynasty. Zhang Xian could not only give high office and wealth , but also bestow children.

The Shou star is the star of the South Pole, and is believed to control the life spans of mortals. According to legend, he was carried in his mother's womb for ten year before being born, and was already an old man when delivered.

Han Xiang

One of the Eight Immortals, Philosopher Han Xiang or Han Xiang Zi, in Wade-Giles as Han Hsiang Tzu, was born Han Xiang during the Tang Dynasty, and his courtesy name is Qingfu . He is said to be the nephew or grandson of Han Yu, a prominent statesman of Tang Court. Han Xiang studied Daoism under Lü Dongbin. Once at a banquet by Han Yu, Han Xiang persuaded Han Yu to give up a life of officialdom and to study Dao with him. But Han Yu was adamant that Han Xiang should dedicate his life to Daoism instead of Confucianism, so Han Xiang demonstrated the power of the Dao by pouring out cup after cup of wine from the gourd without end.

Because his flute gives life, Han became a protector of flautists.

Iron-Crutch Li

Iron-crutch Li is sometimes said to be the most ancient of the Eight Immortals of the . He is sometimes described irascible and ill-tempered, but also benevolent to the poor, sick and the needy, whose suffering he alleviates with special medicine from his . He is often portrayed as an ugly old man with dirty face, scraggy beard, and messy hair held by a golden band, walking with the aid of an iron crutch.

He is also called Hollow-eyed Li or Li Ningyang .

Legend



The legend says that Iron-crutch Li was born during the period, and was originally named "Li Yüan". He studied with Lao Tzu and Goddess Hsi Wang Mu. He is said to have devoted 40 years to the practice of Taoist meditation, often forgetting to eat or sleep.

Before becoming an immortal, he was a very handsome man. However, on one occasion his spirit traveled to Heaven to meet with some other Immortals. He had told his apprentice to wait for seven days for his spirit to return; but after six days the student had to go home to attend to his sick mother, so the student the body of Li Yüan.

Upon returning, Li Yüan's spirit had to enter the only body available at the time, the corpse of a homeless beggar who had just died of starvation; who unfortunately had "a long and pointed head, blackened face, woolly and disheveled beard and hair, huge eyes, and a lame leg." Lao Tzu gave him a gold band to keep his hair in order, and turned the beggar's bamboo staff into an iron crutch to help his lame leg. Lao Tzu also advised him not to put too much emphasis on appearance.

Li Yüan then brought the apprentice's mother back to life using a magical potion. At night he makes himself so small that he can sleep inside his gourd bottle.

Iconography



His characteristic emblems are the gourd bottle, which identifies him as one of the Eight Immortals, and his iron crutch. A vapour cloud emanates from the gourd, and within it is the sage's ''hun'' ; which may be depicted as a formless shape, or as a miniature double of his bodily self. Sometimes the ''hun'' is replaced by a spherical object representing the "". He is sometimes shown riding on a qilin.

Lu Dongbin

Lǚ Dòngbīn is a deity/ revered by /Taoist. Lǚ Dòngbīn is the most widely known of the group of deities known as the Eight Immortals and hence considered by some to be the de facto .

Names


His name is Lü Yán, with Yán being the given name. Dòngbīn is his courtesy name. He is called Master Pure-Yang , and is also called Lü the Progenitor by some Daoist. He was born in Jingzhao Prefecture around 796 C.E. during the Tang Dynasty. He is depicted in art as being dressed as a scholar and he often bears a on his back that dispels evil spirits.

Birth and Early Life


When he was born, a fragrance allegedly filled the room. He was very intelligent since childhood. According to one story, still unmarried by the age of 20, Lü twice tried to take the top-level civil service exam to become an official, but did not succeed.

Yellow Millet Dream


One night when Lü Yan was in Chang'an or Handan , he dozed off as his yellow millet was cooking in a hotel. He dreamed that he took the imperial exam and excelled, and thus was awarded a prestigious office and soon promoted to the position of vice-minister . He then married the daughter of a prosperous household and had a son and a daughter. He was promoted again to be the prime minister. However, his success and luck attracted jealousy of others, so he was accused of crimes that caused him to lose his office. His wife then betrayed him, his children were killed by bandits, and he lost all his wealth. As he was dying on the street in the dream, he woke up.

Although in the dream, eighteen years had passed, the whole dream actually happened in the time it took his millet to cook. The characters from his dream were actually played by Zhongli Quan in order to make him realize that one should not put too much importance on transient glory and success. As a result, Lü went with Zhongli to discover and cultivate the /Tao. This dream is known as "Dream of the Yellow Millet" and is described in a writing compiled by Ma Zhiyuan in Yuan Dynasty.

In volume 82 of 's Li Fang 's ''Extensive Records of Taiping'' , an earlier version of the story, Lü Dongbin was replaced by Student Lu , and Zhongli Quan by Elder Lü .

The exact age of Lü Yan when this incident occurred varies in the tellings, from 20 years of age to 40.



Character


Lü Dongbin is usually portrayed as a scholarly, clever man with a genuine desire to help people obtain wisdom/enlightenment. However, he is often portrayed as having some character "flaws", not an uncommon theme for the colorful Taoist immortals, all of whom in general have various eccentricities:

*He is said to be a ladies man, even after becoming an immortal - and for this reason he is generally not invoked by people with romantic problems. This may also relate to some of the .

*He is portrayed as having bouts of drunkenness, which was not uncommon among the often fun-loving Eight Immortals. This also parallels several Taoist artists renown for their love of drinking.

*One story relates that early on after becoming immortal, he had a strong temper as a "young" Immortal, even deforming a riverbank in a bout of anger.

Lü Dongbin was once taught by his teacher Zhongli Quan an alchemy method that could turn ordinary stones to some kind of gold, which could be used as currency in ancient China. But this kind of gold will usually turn back to stone in about five hundred years. Lü didn't use this method because he felt it could be unfair to the person who gets the gold five hundred years later. This is usually seen as illustrating his understanding of the Tao and his ethics. Zhongli Quan is supposed to have expressed admiration for his student to come to such a conclusion.


Zhongli Quan


Lü's teacher Zhongli Quan became an immortal and was about to fly to heaven, while saying to Lü that if he kept practicing the Tao he would also be able to fly to heaven himself some day. Lü Dongbin replied to his teacher that he'll fly to heaven only after he enlightens all the sentient beings on earth. According to the book "The Eight Immortals Achieving the Tao ," in his previous incarnation, Lü Dongbin was the teacher of Zhongli Quan.

Stories and Legends


Since the Northern Song Dynasty, there have been many stories and legends that are connected to Lü Dongbin. The stories were usually about Lü helping others to learn the Tao. According to the official History of the Song Dynasty , Lü was seen several times visiting the house of Chen Tuan , who was believed to be the first person to present to the public the Taijitu.

The kindness of Lü Dongbin is demonstrated in the Chinese proverb "dog bites Lü Dongbin" , which means an inability to recognize goodness and repay kindness with vice. Some say that the original proverb should actually be "苟杳呂洞賓,不識好人心," stemming from a story about the friendship between Gou Miao and Lü Dongbin, who both did for the other great favors, each of which seemed like a disservice initially, signifying the importance of having faith in one's friends.

According to Richard Wilhelm, Lü was the founder of the School of the Golden Elixir of Life , and originator of the material presented in the book "Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi" , or The Secret of the Golden Flower.

Lü is also a very productive poet. His works were collected in the "Quan Tang Shi" .

According to the Taoist book "History of the Immortals" , Lü is the reincarnation of the ancient Sage-King "Huang-Tan-Shi" .

Na Tuk Kong

Na Tuk Kong are local guardian spirits in Malaysia. One derivation of the name unites Dato or Datuk from the local word for 'grandfather', which is used as an honorific, combined with Kong from the Malaysian Chinese, also used as an honorific. Another derivation of Na Tuk Kong is that they belong to the gods of Teh Choo Kong which originated from China.

Origins


One of the notable features of traditional Asian religions is nature worship. Na Tuks could be remnants of pre-Islamic Malay religion. Before Jabatan Agama Islam started to clearly define what Islam is and isn't, the worship of Datos and Keramats were widespread among Malays and Indian Muslims. In Malay pagan spirits are usually called ''fin kafir'' while guardian spirits are called ''penunggu''. ''Penunggu'' usually means watchman, guard or attendant.

Datos and Keramats were seen as an alternative power to help in spiritual healing and grant protection. Mediums '''' were engaged to enable communication between worshippers with the Datos and Keramats. The Datos and Keramats include spirits residing in trees, stones and even the spirits of well known local Muslim religious teachers .

The worship of Datos among Malays and Indian Muslims declined steadily after JAIS started clamping down on such activities. By that time, Dato worship have taken root in the local Chinese spiritual beliefs.

It is not clear why the Chinese, having their own Earth deity can easily accept the Dato into their religious pantheon. May be they need a local deity to gain more spiritual protection. Datos are known to grant winning numbers to worshippers. That could be one reason Datos were absorbed into the Chinese religious pantheon.

Malaysian Chinese's definition


To most Malaysian Chinese, the Na Tuk Kong is a local guardian spirit that resides in trees, ant hills, caves, riversides and in strange stone formations. A Na Tuk Kong worship usually begin after a person is granted vision of the Na Tok's spiritual form. Some common forms are a white tiger and the form of an old man dressed in white. A Na Tuk Kong can also be 'invited' to reside outside a family home for spiritual protection and luck. Some people build small shrines by the road for this deity.



Variants




There is one fierce guardian of villages called the Dato' Panglima Hitam. A Dato that resides in trees is called Dato' Hijau. Some Datos even have their own personal names, which are revealed to worshippers during trance session. Their identity can be ascertained by looking at the banner at the shrine. Usually, the Dato's name and the shrine's date of establishment would be stated there.

Worship


The Na Tuk can be worshipped on any day. The basic offerings are a pair of white candles, 3 joss sticks and burning gum Benjamin ''''. Na Tuk worshippers prepare special offerings for the Na Tuk on Thursday evenings. A set of betel nut leaves complete with lime '''', sliced betel nut '''', Javanese tobacco '''' and palm cigarette leaves '''' are offered together with fruits and the basic offerings.

Every Na Tuk has different individual feast days. In the Northern States , worshippers usually slaughter chickens, and sometimes goats to honour the Na Tuk on the feast day. The meat is later cooked in curry and offered to the Na Tuk together with turmeric rice''''. This offering is also done when worshippers get their wishes granted .

Offerings


Worshippers can place offerings of shredded tobacco, areca nut flakes, betel leaves with lime paste and fruits. Strictly no pork, beer, wine and alcoholic products .

Historical Natuks


Heroes can become Na Tuk Kongs, but not all defied heroes are Na Tuk Kong.

Panglima Ah Chong


One Na Tuk Kong was originally a man of Hakka family, his name was So Ah Chong . He was the leader of Ghee Hin secret society that founded more than 16 tin mine settlements. The municipal government of Taiping named a road after him for his contribution in the economy. In June 1865 he was captured and sentenced to death by local chief of Matang during the Larut war among secret societies, and the Malay chief honored him by calling him ''Panglima Ah Chong'' . After his heroic death, it was said the godship of him was very effective for his worshippers and so peoples of Matang and coastal dwellers built shrines to worship him.

Dato Haji Keramat


The local Malay word 'Datuk Keramat' means deity of the shrine, translated to Chinese is Na Tuk Kong, where Kong is a respect. Dato Haji Keramat is a very powerful local earth deity that help many people who sincerely pray for him. He hates a lot about alcohol. There are various Na Tuk Kongs. In Chinese Taoist System, Na Tuk Kongs official title called 拿 督 尊王。

Datuk Zhang


In the chronicle, during the reign of emperor Wan Li 1573-1620 , a man known as Zhang who lived in Brunei, originally from Zhangzhou of Fujian province, was appointed 'Datuk' of . For certain injustice reason Datuk Zhang committed suicide, and so his countrymen wanted justice for him.

Pa-cha

Pa-cha in the late Chinese mythology the god who protects farmers against locusts by eliminating them. ''Pa-cha'' is depicted as a naked to the waist human with a beak-like nose. His body beneath the waist resembles a bell with big crawled bird paws underneath. Hair flocks on his head right behind the ears look similar to small corns. In one hand he carries a crook-neck pumpkin, where he puts the locust to in order to kill it. In the other hand he carries one of the following objects: a sword, golden nugget, wood-made hammer or a banner with an inscription on it: "I collect locusts and destroy them."
A ceremony to his honor is said to be held every year after harvesting.

Pangu

:''For the town in Nepal, see Pangu, Nepal''.

Pangu was the first living being and the creator of all in Chinese mythology.

The Pangu legend


In the beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos. However this chaos coalesced into a for 18,000 years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of Yin and Yang became balanced and Pangu emerged from the egg. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy with horns on his head and clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating the world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth and the Sky . To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took 18,000 years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by the four most prominent beasts, namely the Turtle, the Qilin, the , and the .
After the 18,000 years had elapsed, Pangu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind; his voice the thunder; left eye the sun and right eye the moon; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair the stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became the fish and animals throughout the land. Nugua the lady God than used the mud of the water bed to form out the shape of humans. These humans were very smart since they were individually crafted. Nugua than became bored of individually making every human so she started putting a rope in the water bed and than let the drops of mud coming down be new humans. These small drops became new humans not as smart as the previous.
The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms period.

Source documents



*Xu Zheng , in the book "Three Five Historic Records" , is the first to mention Pangu in the story "Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth".

*Ge Hong , in the book "Master of Preserving Simplicity Inner Writings" , describes Pangu .

*Ouyang Xun , in the book "Classified Anthology of Literary Works" , also refers to Pangu.

*Carus, Paul in the book "Chinese Astrology, Early Chinese Occultism" based on an earlier book by the same author "Chinese Thought", published in 1907.

Origin of this myth



Three main views emerge to describe the origin of the Pangu myth.

  1. The first is that the story is indigenous, and developed or was transmitted through time to Xu Zheng. The evidence for this is slender indeed. It can only be assumed from the following discussion:

    :Senior Scholar Wei Juxian states that the Pangu story is derived from Western Zhou Dynasty stories 1000 years earlier. He cites the story of Zhong and Li in the "Chuyu" section of the ancient classics . In it, the King Zhao of asked Guanshefu a question: "What did ancient classic "Zhou Shu" mean by the sentence that Zhong and Li caused the heaven and earth to disconnect from each other?" The "Zhou Shu" sentence he refers to is about an earlier person, Luu Xing, who is having a conversation with the King Mu of Zhou . King Mu's reign is much earlier and dates to about 1001 to 946 BC. In their conversation, they discuss the "disconnection" between heaven and earth.


  2. An indirect but possibly more substantive conclusion is that China is unique in not "creating" its creator. In this view, Xu Zheng perpetuates the Pangu myth from other cultural influences:

    :Professor Qin Naichang, head of the Guangxi Institute for Nationality Studies proposes the myth originated in Laibin city, Guangxi, in the center of the Valley. He believes that there are older stories of Pangu from this region and that they originally involved two people. He suggests China has no myth about the creation of the universe and that the Chinese mythology of Pangu had came from , , or Babylon. Apparently, this story mingled in with the origin stories of other cultures, eventually changing into the later narrative more popular today.

    :This is professor Qin's reconstruction of the true creation myth preceding the myth of Pangu. Note that it is not actually a creation myth:

    ::"A brother and his sister became the only survivors of the prehistoric Deluge by crouching in a gourd that floated on water. The two got married afterwards, and a mass of flesh in the shape of a whetstone was born. They chopped it and the pieces turned into large crowds of people, who began to reproduce again. The couple were named 'Pan' and 'Gou' in the Zhuang ethnic language, which stand for whetstone and gourd respectively."


  3. From Paul Carus, Chinese Astrology, Early Chinese Occultism, 1974, from an earlier book by the same author, Chinese Thought, 1907, Chapter on “Chinese Occultism.” Note: in 1907 the Wade-Giles system of transliteration was used.

    :“P’an-Ku: The basic idea of the yih philosophy was so convincing that it almost obliterated the Taoist cosmology of P’an-Ku who is said to have chiseled the world out of the rocks of eternity. Though the legend is not held in high honor by the literati, it contains some features of interest which have not as yet been pointed out and deserve at least an incidental comment.
    :“P’an-Ku is written in two ways: one means in literal translations, “basin ancient”, the other “basin solid”. Both are homophones, i.e., they are pronounced the same way; and the former may be preferred as the original and correct spelling. Obviously the name means “aboriginal abyss,” or in the terser German, Urgrund, and we have reason to believe it to be a translation of the Babylonian Tiamat, “the Deep.”
    :“The Chinese legend tells us that P’an-Ku’s bones changed to rocks; his flesh to earth; his marrow, teeth and nails to metals; his hair to herbs and trees; his veins to rivers; his breath to wind; and his four limbs became pillars marking the four corners of the world, -- which is a Chinese version not only of the Norse myth of the Giant Ymir, but also of the Babylonian story of Tiamat.
    :“Illustrations of P’an-Ku represent him in the company of supernatural animals that symbolize old age or immortality, viz., the tortoise and the crane; sometimes also the dragon, the emblem of power, and the phenix, the emblem of bliss.

    :“When the earth had thus been shaped from the body of P’an-Ku, we are told that three great rivers successively governed the world: first the celestial, then the terrestrial, and finally the human sovereign. They were followed by Yung-Ch’eng and Sui-Jen the later being the Chinese Prometheus, who brought the fire down from heaven and taught man its various uses.
    :“The Prometheus myth is not indigenous to Greece, where it received the artistically classical form under which it is best known to us. The name, which by an ingenious afterthought is explained as “the fore thinker,” is originally the sanskrit pramantha and means “twirler” or “fire-stick,” being the rod of hard wood which produced fire by rapid rotation in a piece of soft wood.
    :“We cannot deny that the myth must have been known also in Mesopotamia, the main center of civilization between India and Greece, and it becomes probable that the figure Sui-Jen has been derived from the same prototype as the Greek Prometheus.”


Other Chinese creation myths


This myth appears to have been preceded in ancient Chinese literature by the existence of Shangdi or Taiyi. Other Chinese myths, such as those of , or the Jade Emperor, try to explain how people were created; and do not necessarily represent "world creation" myths. It is important to note there are many variations of these myths.

Other Pangu myth


Pangu is also honored as the creator of the world in Buyei legend, but in addition, he is also honored as the ancestor of Buyei people. According to the Buyei legend, Pangu became an expert in rice farming after creating the world, and subsequently married the daughter of Dragon King, and that was the beginning of Buyei people. The daughter of Dragon King and Pangu had a son named Xinheng but later, the son disrespected his mother, and the angry mother returned to heaven and never came down, despite the repeated pleas of her husband and son. Pangu was forced to remarry and eventually died on the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar and Xinheng's nightmare had begun. The stepmother treated Xinheng badly and almost killed him, and the angry Xinheng threatened to destroy the rice harvest of his stepmother. Realizing her mistake, the stepmother made peace with Xinheng and since then, on every sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, they paid their respect to Pangu. The day became an important traditional Buyei holiday for ancestral worship. This legend of creation is one of the main characteristics that distinguishes Buyei from Zhuang.

Pangu worship


Pangu is worshipped at a number of shrines in contemporary China. However, most if not all of these are modern creations built since the 1970s. In these shrines, Pangu is usually depicted in stereotypical "caveman" regalia, with leopard-skin tunics and long hair. symbols, such as the , are associated with Pangu in these shrines.

Zhongli Quan

Zhongli Quan is one of the most ancient of the Eight Immortals and the of the group. He is also known as Zhongli of Han because he was born in the Han Dynasty. He possesses a which has the magical ability of reviving the dead.

Life


Born in Yantai , Zhongli Quan was once a general serving the Han Dynasty. According to legends, bright beams of light filled the labour room during his . After birth he did not stop crying until seven full days had passed.

In Daoism, he is known as "正陽祖師" , literally the True-Yang First-Master. He is also called "Master of the Cloud-Chamber" in accounts describing his encounter with Lü Dongbin before achieving immortality.

He has a rare two-character , Zhongli .

Depiction


Usually depicted with his chest and belly bare and holding a fan.

Yuchi Jingde

Yuchi Jingde , formal name Yuchi Gong but went by the courtesy name of Jingde, formally Duke Zhongwu of E , was a general of the dynasty Tang Dynasty whose bravery later caused him to be incorporated into Chinese folk religion as a door god, along with Qin Shubao, Yuchi' ancestor was the .

During Sui Dynasty


Yuchi Jingde was born in 585, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui. His surname was of Xianbei origin, and he was from Shuo Province . When agrarian rebels rose against Sui rule near the end of the reign of Emperor Wen's son , Yuchi initially served in the governmental militia fighting agrarian rebels, and was known and awarded for his bravery.

Service Under Liu Wuzhou


When Liu Wuzhou rose against Sui rule in spring 617 at Mayi , declaring himself Dingyang Khan, Yuchi Jingde joined LIu and was made a general. In 619, he served under Liu's major general Song Jin'gang in attacking Tang Dynasty territory to the south. Around the new year 620, Yuchi and another general under Song, Xun Xiang , engaged the Tang general Li Xiaoji the Prince of Yong'an , defeating Li Xiaoji and capturing not only him, but several other key Tang officials, including Emperor Gaozu's cousin Dugu Huai'en , Yu Yun , Tang Jian , and Liu Shirang . However, when Yuchi and Xun then engaged the forces under the major Tang general the Prince of Qin , they were defeated first by Yin Kaishan and Qin Shubao, and then Li Shimin himself, escaping just with their lives. Subsequently, at the suggestion of the captured Tang Jian, Yuchi released Liu Shirang in order to negotiate peace with Tang, but those negotiations appeared to go nowhere at the moment. In summer 620, after Li Shimin achieved further victories against Song, forcing Liu Wuzhou to flee, Li Shimin sent his cousin Li Daozong the Prince of Rencheng and Yuwen Shiji to persuaded Yuchi and Xun to surrender, and they did. Li Shimin, who was impressed by Yuchi's battle prowess, was happy about this development and put Yuchi, as well as the 8,000 soldiers who surrendered with him, directly under his own command, against the misgivings of the general Qutu Tong , who feared that Yuchi was not truly submitting.

During Emperor Gaozu's reign


In 620, Yuchi Jingde was serving under Li Shimin in Li Shimin's campaigns against a major enemy for Tang, Wang Shichong the Emperor of Zheng. During the campaign, many of Yuchi's former confederates who served under Liu Wuzhou, including Xun Xiang, defected to Zheng. Li Shimin's subordinates thus suspected Yuchi as well and put him under house arrest. Qutu Tong and Yin Kaishan suggested that Yuchi be executed. Li Shimin pointed out that if Yuchi really wanted to defect, he would not have waited to do so after Xun's defection. Instead, he released Yuchi and took Yuchi into his own tent, stating, while giving him gold:

:''We are kindred spirits, and I hope you would not take this minor understanding to heart. I will not believe false, defamatory accusations to kill those who are good and faithful. You should understand my heart. If you really want to leave, this gold will serve as your traveling expenses, as a gift from the time that we served together.''

Later that day, when Li Shimin was examining the battlefield, Zheng forces suddenly arrived and surrounded Li Shimin. The Zheng general Dan Xiongxin directly attacked Li Shimin himself, trying to hit him with a spear, when Yuchi arrived and hit Dan with a spear, knocking Dan off his horse. Yuchi then escorted Li Shimin out of danger. Tang forces commanded by Qutu then counterattacked as well, defeating Zheng forces. Li Shimin awarded him a box of gold and silver and told him, "How does your repayment come so quickly!" Thereafter, he trusted Yuchi further. Meanwhile, Li Shimin's younger brother Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi, who was himself a ferocious warrior, heard that Yuchi had the particular skill of disarming opponents' lances, and requested a combat demonstration with Yuchi. Li Shimin ordered that they remove the sharp edges from their lances, but Yuchi responded, "I will obey the order and do so, but the Prince does not need to." Once they were into combat, Yuchi disarmed Li Yuanji three times. Li Yuanji was impressed but also angry from being humiliated. Meanwhile, Li Shimin selected some 1,000 elite soldiers, clad in black uniform and black armor, commanded by Li Shimin himself, to serve as the forward advance corps, with Yuchi, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie , and Zhai Zhangsun as his assistants. This corps subsequently accomplished much during the campaign against Wang and Dou Jiande the Prince of Xia, who came to Wang's aid. In engagement with Xia forward troops in spring 621, Yuchi was serving directly next to Li Shimin himself, and after they defeated Dou's forward troops, Li Shimin wrote to Dou, trying to dissuade him from aiding Zheng, but Dou did not relent.

In summer 621, the Tang and Xia forces, commanded by Li Shimin and Dou respectively, engaged at the Battle of Hulao. During the early stages of the battle, Wang Shichong's nephew Wang Wan the Prince of Dai, whom Wang Shichong had sent to Xia to request aid, was on the battlefield showing off his handsome horse. Li Shimin made the comment, "What an impressive horse!" Yuchi requested that he be allowed to capture it for Li Shimin, but Li Shimin disallowed it, stating, "How can I lose a great warrior for a horse?" Yuchi did not relent, however, and he took Gao Zengsheng and Liang Jianfang with him; the three of them made a surprise attack into the Xia frontline and seized Wang Wan, capturing him back along with his horse. Later, in the main engagement, Li Shimin defeated and captured Dou, and Wang Shichong, distressed, surrendered. Zheng and Xia territory were seized by Tang.

By fall 621, however, Dou's general Liu Heita had risen against Tang rule and regained most of former Xia territory. At that point, Yuchi was not under Li Shimin's command, as he was fighting invading Eastern Tujue forces at Yuan Prefecture . In 622, when Li Shimin went to fight Liu Heita, however, Yuchi was again under his command, and once, when Li Shimin tried to aid another Tang general, Li Shiji, Liu had him surrounded. Li Shimin was saved only after Yuchi fought his way in to rescue him. Li Shimin was later able to defeat Liu Heita, forcing him to flee to Eastern Tujue. Yuchi also then followed Li Shimin in his campaign against Liu Heita's ally Xu Yuanlang. In 623, he was again fighting invading Tujue forces, this time at Shuo Prefecture, and then in 624 at Long Prefecture .

Involvement at the Incident at Xuanwu Gate



By this point, Li Shimin was locked in an intense rivalry with Li Jiancheng, who was supported by Li Yuanji. Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, because they saw that Li Shimin had many fierce officers under him, wanted to try to tempt them to leave Li Shimin and follow Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng sent large sums of gold and silver to Yuchi to try to persuade him to join Li Jiancheng. Yuchi wrote back, declining the gift, and pointed out that he needed to be faithful to Li Shimin. Li Jiancheng, in anger, cut off his relations with Yuchi, and soon sent assassins against Yuchi. Yuchi took precautions, however, and the assassination was not successful. Li Yuanji then falsely accused Yuchi of crimes, and Emperor Gaozu arrested Yuchi and wanted to execute him; Yuchi was only saved after intercession by Li Shimin.

In summer 626, Li Shimin, fearing that Li jiancheng would kill him, was considering acting against Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji preemptively but was hesitating. Yuchi, in particular, was a major advocate for preemptive action, and when rumor was reported to Li Shimin that Li Yuanji was planning to first kill Yuchi, Cheng, Duan Zhixuan , and Qin, Yuchi stated:

:''All humans fear death. However, we are now willing to support Your Royal Highness with our lives, and this is the will of Heaven. Great disaster is about to come, and Your Royal Highness believes that there is nothing to worry. Even if you do not think of yourself, what about the future of the empire and the imperial temples? If Your Royal Highness does not accept my suggestion, I will flee your mansion and roam the wilderness. I cannot remain here, waiting to have my hands be bound and to be executed!"

With particular advocacy from Yuchi and Zhangsun Wuji, Li Shimin decided to take action. Li Shimin tried to summon his strategists Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, who had been demoted out of his mansion based on accusations by Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and when Fang and Du initially resisted , Li Shimin sent Yuchi to summon them, with the direction that if they refused, that they be killed. Yuchi was able to persuade Fang and Du that Li Shimin was about to take action and that they should not fear, and then divided up with Fang and Du, arriving at Li Shimin's mansion separately.

Meanwhile, Li Shimin submitted a secret accusation to Emperor Gaozu that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were committing adultery with Emperor Gaozu's concubines and were planning to kill Li Shimin, and then laid an ambush for Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji at Xuanwu Gate, at the entrance of Emperor Gaozu's palace. As Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were approaching Emperor Gaozu's palace, ready to answer the charges against them, they sensed that something was unusual, and tried to turn back. By this point, though, Li Shimin had them in a trap, and he killed Li Jiancheng with an arrow. Subsequently, Yuchi arrived with 70 men, and they killed Li Yuanji's horse, causing Li Yuanji to fall off his horse. Meanwhile, however, Li Shimin's horse was spooked and ran into a forest. Li Shimin fell off his horse, and Li Yuanji tried to strangle him with a bow. Yuchi then arrived, and Li Yuanji fled, trying to get back to his own palace Wude Palace . Yuchi chased him and killed him with an arrow.

Subsequently, Li Shimin ordered Yuchi to lead his men into Emperor Gaozu's palace, ostensibly to protect Emperor Gaozu. Yuchi entered in full armor and wielding his lance -- considered usually to be a highly improper action -- into Emperor Gaozu's presence, as Emperor Gaozu was attended by the high level officials Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and Chen Shuda. Emperor Gaozu was shocked and asked, "Who is committing treason? What are you doing here?" Yuchi stated to Emperor Gaozu:

:''The Crown Prince and Prince of Qi have committed treason. The Prince of Qi mobilized his troops and executed them. As he feared that Your Imperial Majesty would be shocked, he sent me here to protect you."

Emperor Gaozu, realizing the situation was serious, requested opinions from Pei, Xiao, and Chen. Xiao and Chen suggested that he create Li Shimin crown prince, and he agreed to do so. As Li Jiancheng's and Li Yuanji's forces were then engaging Li Shimin's forces, Yuchi requested that Emperor Gaozu order that the battling stop and that all armies fall under Li Shimin's command. Emperor Gaozu agreed. When Li Shimin's subordinates wanted to massacre Li Jiancheng's and Li Yuanji's associates and confiscate their wealth, Yuchi earnestly opposed, stating that this would lead to more turmoil,a nd Li Shimin agreed. Subsequently, Li Shimin awarded Li Yuanji's treasures to Yuchi and promoted him to a major general title.

During Emperor Taizong's reign


Two months after the Incident at Xuanwu Gate, Emperor Gaozu yielded the throne to Li Shimin, who took the throne as Emperor Taizong. Later that year, when Eastern Tujue's Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi launched a major attack against Tang, Yuchi was one of the generals sent to resist Eastern Tujue; he was able to defeat and kill an Eastern Tujue general that he faced. Late in 626, Emperor Taizong created Yuchi Jingde the Duke of Wu and gave him, Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui the largest fiefs among his supporters.

Meanwhile, Yuchi, who was known for being blunt, was proud of his achievements. Whenever he disagreed with Zhangsun, Fang, and Du , he would argue with them bitterly, and thus had poor relationships with them. In 629, Yuchi was made the commandant at Xiang Prefecture . In 634, he was made the prefect of Tong Prefecture , a nominal demotion but considered a promotion as it was close to Chang'an. On one occasion, when he attended a feast held by Emperor Taizong at Qingshan Palace , another person, probably Yuwen Shiji, was seated above him, and Yuchi angrily stated, "What achievement do you have that you get to be seated above me?" Li Daozong, who was seated under Yuchi, tried to intercede, and Yuchi, in anger, punched Li Daozong, almost blinding him. Emperor Taizong was displeased and ended the feast early, and thereafter warned yuchi:

:''I greatly hated Emperor Gao of Han for his massacre of those with achievements, and I wanted to maintain my honor and glory with you and your descendants for generals. But you, even though you are a governmental official, continue to commit crimes, and I now see that it was not Emperor Gao's fault that Han Xin and Peng Yue had their flesh ground into bits. The order of the state is mainained by awards and punishments. My grace toward you cannot be perpetual. You need to examine yourself and change yourself before it is too late.''

Only thereafter did Yuchi began to fear Emperor Taizong and start to modify his behavior. In 637, as part of Emperor Taizong's scheme to bestow prefectures on his relatives and great generals and officials as their permanent domains, Yuchi's title was changed to Duke of E, and he was given the post of prefect of Xuan Prefecture , to be inherited by his heirs. Soon, however, with many objections to the system, the strongest of which came from Zhangsun Wuji, Emperor Taizong cancelled the scheme, although Yuchi's title remained Duke of E. He subsequently served two different terms as commandant. In 643, he offered to retire, and the retirement was granted, but Emperor Taizong still requested that Yuchi attend imperial gatherings once every five days. Later that year, when Emperor Taizong commissioned the Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion to commemorate the 24 great contributors to Tang rule, Yuchi's was one of the portraits commissioned.

In 645, when Emperor Taizong wanted to personally attack Goguryeo, Yuchi submitted a petition opposing it, arguing that he should just send generals and not go himself, lest that someone rises against Emperor Taizong's crown prince . Emperor Taizong did not agree, and instead had Yuchi follow him on the campaign, apparently as a consultant. After the end of the campaign, Yuchi returned to retirement.

It was said that late in his life, starting from around 642, Yuchi became an adherent to Taoist alchemy, and regularly consumed mica. He also lived luxuriously within his mansion but did not take in visitors, instead spending time enjoying Qingshang , a musical style said to originate from Cao Cao.

During Emperor Gaozong's reign


In 649, Emperor Taizong died and was succeeded by Li Zhi . In 658, Emperor Gaozong, in recognition of Yuchi Jingde's accomplishments, posthumously honored Yuchi's father as a commandant. Yuchi Jingde died later that year, and Emperor Gaozong ordered that all mid-level and above officials attend the wake. He buried Yuchi with great honors, near Emperor Taizong's tomb.

Youchao

Youchao , is the inventor of house and building, according to China's ancient mythology. It is said he is one of in remote ancient China.

Royal Uncle Cao

The newest of the Eight Immortals, Royal Uncle Cao or Cao Guojiu or Wade-Giles, Ts'ao Kuo-ch'iu, is named one of the following:
* Cao Yi
* Cao Jing
* Cao Jingxiu
* Cao You .
He was said to be the uncle of the of the Song Empire, being the younger brother of Empress Dowager Cao .

In historic records, there were several Emperor-consorts Caos in the Song Empire, but only one became empress: Cishengguangxian Empress , the wife of the fourth Song emperor, , none of whose children became an emperor.

However, this therefore does not render the historical existence of the "Royal Uncle Cao" impossible as in pre-modern China, the address "uncle" also meant "brother-in-law". Sometimes specified as "Wife-uncle" or as a respect, "Little Uncle" . Císhèngguāngxiàn Empress did have a younger brother named Cao Yi in historical record. But the given name of Royal Uncle Cao being Yi as well could be a ''post hoc''.

Cao Guojiu's younger brother Cao Jingzhi was a bully, but no one dared to prosecute him because of his powerful connections, not even after he killed a person. Royal Uncle Cao was so overwhelmed by sadness and shame on his brother that he resigned his office and left home.

Depiction



He is shown in the official's court dress with a jade tablet. Sometimes he holds castanets.

His jade tablet can purify the environment.

Shangdi

Shangdi is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese people , a term used from the second millennium BC to the present day, as pronounced according the modern Mandarin dialect. Literally the term means "Above Emperor" or "Above Sovereign", which is taken to mean "Lord On High", "Highest Lord", "the God above", "the Supreme God", "Above ", or "Celestial Lord". Its meaning is similar to the term "dyeus" used by . Another title of Shangdi is simply Di . Shangdi is chiefly associated with Heaven. From the earliest times of Chinese history, and especially from the Zhou Dynasty onwards, another name, Tian , is also used to refer to the Supreme God of the Chinese people . Tian is a word with multiple meanings in the ancient Chinese language; it can either mean the physical sky or the presiding God of Heaven. When Tian is used in the latter sense, it has the same meaning as Shangdi. By the time of the Han dynasty, the influential Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan declared that "Shangdi is another name for Tian". Shangdi is also the name given for God in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible. Shen 神 was also adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God. Shangdi is never represented with images or idols in Chinese tradition.

First mention


The earliest references to Shangdi are found in Oracle Bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty . Shangdi is first mentioned in Chinese Literature in the Five Classics, allegedly compiled by Confucius in the 6th century BC. The Wujing was a collection of five books that represented the pinnacle of Chinese culture at that time. The oldest parts of the Wujing were first written around 1000 BC, apparently relying on older texts. All of the five classics include references to Shangdi:









Occurrences of Shangdi in Wujing
char pinyin English occurrence
書經 Shujing Classic of History 32 times
詩經 Shijing Classic of Poetry 24 times
禮記 Liji Classic of Rites 20 times
春秋 Chunqiu Spring and Autumn Annals 8 times
易經 Yijing Classic of Changes 2 times


This is just a sampling alternate translations and compilations will yield slightly different numbers. The total for the Wujing collection alone totals over 85 references.

Other classics mention Shangdi as well . Another "Classic" collection, the Four Books , mentions Shangdi also, but it is a later compilation and the references are much more sparse and abstract. The highest amount of occurrences appear to be in the earliest references; and this may reflect the cultural development towards ShangDi as a whole over time.

One of the five books in the Wujing is the Classic of History, , aka Book of History, aka Esteemed Book . The Shujing is possibly the earliest narrative of China, and may predate the European historian Herodotus as a history by many centuries. This implies that Shangdi is the oldest deity directly referenced in China by any Chinese narrative literature. The Shujing itself is also divided into 5 parts, and those parts were actually considered books as well. However, the number of books or "documents" is a division that varies largely on the version or compilation; thus quoted references may not match unless you use the same compilation.

The 2nd of the 5 "books" inside the Shujing is called the "Book of Yu" . Yu, in this title, is a location, not the popular hero 禹 Yu. This "book" has 4 "chapters"; and the 1st "chapter" is called the "Canon of Shun" . Emperor Shun was the predecessor to the heroic Da Yu , or Great Yu, the first emperor of the Xia Dynasty. About the third sentence is the first mention of ShangDi. And, as it was mentioned in the previous section how yearly sacrifices to ShangDi were made by Emperor Shun, it appears that, according to Confucius, the Chinese belief in ShangDi predates the Xia Dynasty.

Meaning & Use of Name


Shangdi is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese people, a term used from the second millennium BC to the present day, as pronounced according the modern dialect. Literally, the term means "Above Emperor", which is taken to mean "Lord On High", "Highest Lord", or "Celestial Lord". Its meaning is similar to the term dyeus used by Indo-European peoples, but apparently without the linguistic connection. Another title of Shangdi is simply Di .

Shangdi is chiefly associated with Heaven. From the earliest times of Chinese history, and especially from the Zhou Dynasty onwards, another name, Tian , is also used to refer to the Supreme God of the Chinese people. Tian is a word with multiple meanings in the ancient Chinese language, it could either mean the physical sky or the presiding God of Heaven. When Tian is used in the latter sense, it has the same meaning as Shangdi. By the time of the Han dynasty, the influential Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan declared that "Shangdi is another name for Tian".

Attributes


Uniquely, Chinese traditions do not appear to have a narrative for Shangdi in the earliest texts; nor are there physical representations of him. However, the many references to Shangdi do assign attributes to his character, including: maleness, emotion, compassion, intellect, judgement, mastery, and greatness. A few examples follow below; please note quoted references vary due to the variety of compilations:

* The Shujing , the earliest of Chinese narratives , represents Shangdi as a good god who punishes evil and rewards goodness. "Shangdi is not invariant . On the good-doer He sends down blessings, and on the evil-doer He sends down miseries."

* The Shijing , the earliest of Chinese poetries, attributes speech to him in poem 241. Other significant portrayals include poems 245, 236, 300; as well as poems 192, 224, 235, 254, 255, 258, 274, 276, & 304.

* The Wujing , and the official sacrificial rituals show people praying to Shangdi .

These portrayals appear to predate Daoist or Buddhist interpretations by anywhere from 500 to 2000 years.

Creator



Shangdi is considered by some to be the Creator of the universe. If this is true, he would predate the later Daoist creation myth of Pangu around 200 AD by at least 500 years, as shown below. Note the "depersonalization" of Shangdi that appears to occur after the Warring States period with the ascension of Daoism. Oddly, later Daoism appears to restore personality traits to Heaven around 900 AD:

* Warring States Mohist philosopher Mozi , in the philosophical text 'Mozi', explicitly mentions Shangdi 26 times; as shown in 2:12, 4:16, 5:15, 6:25ab, 7:26ab, 27, 28ab, 8:31, 32, 9, 35ab, 36, 37, 12:47.

::The quote below shows Mozi describing a benevolent creator, but here he is translated as using the agent of "Heaven". It is possible he is referring to Shangdi in the same way Westerners use "Heaven" to indirectly refer to God.



::Note that the word "ordered" here appears to mean more than "guided".

* East Han Dynasty scholar Ma Rong , in one of his works , claimed Shangdi is the personification of "the Supreme Ultimate" , which is the Ultimate Origin and Ground of Being for all existence. See also Taiyi Shengshui.

* East Han Dynasty Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan , in one of his works , said: "Shangdi is the parent of all peoples" in his annotations of the Shangshu , he says: "Everyone is a child of Heaven" .

* The Song Dynasty begins reintroducing personality traits to Heaven in various Daoist incarnations as the Yu Huang , Pure August Jade Emperor , and Yuanshi Tianzun .

* The Ming Dynasty records in the Statutes of the Ming Dynasty regulations during this time. This includes the words spoken to Shangdi by Ming Emperor in the Temple of Heaven. The specific words are recorded in the Text of the Border Sacrifice, depicting the 1538 AD Annual Sacrifice Ritual. They describe Shangdi as a creator:



Worship


From the earliest eras of Chinese history, Shangdi was officially worshipped through sacrificial rituals. Shangdi is believed to rule over natural and ancestral spirits, who act as His ministers. Shangdi is thought to be the Supreme Guide of both the natural order and the human order. The ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty would perform annual sacrificial rituals to Shangdi at the great Temple of Heaven in the imperial capital. During the ritual a completely healthy bull would be slaughtered and presented as an animal sacrifice to Shangdi. It is important to note that Shangdi is never represented with either images or idols. Instead, in the center building of the Temple of Heaven, in a structure called the "Imperial Vault of Heaven", a "spirit tablet" inscribed with the name of God is stored on the throne. That name is "Supreme Sovereign God of Heaven" . During an annual sacrifice, the emperor would carry these tablets to the north part of the Temple of Heaven, a place called the "Prayer Hall For Good Harvests", and place them on that throne.

Chinese Christianity


Shangdi is also one of the main names used by Chinese Christians for the Christian God. It is first used in the southern China edition of the Chinese Union Version, a Mandarin Chinese translation of the Christian Bible. 19th century British Protestant missionaries in China, such as James Legge, used the name Shangdi to refer to the Christian God, while American Protestant missionaries in northern China in the early 20th century preferred the alternative , and another edition was printed reflecting this usage. By contrast, historically, Chinese Catholics have predominantly used the term "Tian Zhu" to address God. Chinese philosophers of religion also use the name Shangdi to refer to the philosophical God. Newer versions of Chinese bibles that uses "Shen" add a space known as nuo tai before the character to preserve formatting of the "Shangdi" editions. Some scholars like Matteo Ricci and James Legge assert that Shangdi is same as the Christian God after studying the Chinese Classics.

Suiren

Suiren , is the discoverer of Fire, according to China's ancient mythology. It is said he is one of in remote ancient China.

Superstitions of Malaysian Chinese

Superstitions of Malaysian Chinese refers to traditional superstitious beliefs of Malaysian Chinese.

Examples of superstitions


* Car number plates of 8888, 888, 88, 8, 168, 668 are a sign of good fortune (The Cantonese pronunciation for 8 is "patt" which sounds similar to "fatt" which means prosperity.
* Numbers 4444, 444, 44, 4 and 9413 are extremely bad.
* The number "4" is actually unlucky and it means death.
* Red and yellow are the color of good fortune accepted by all.
* Black is a color of bad luck.
* Pineapple is a sign of good fortune.

‘Sacred’ stone attraction


On September 2008, large crowds of people, many of whom are four digit punters, have been flocking to an open area at the Bukit Minyak Industrial area near Bukit Mertajam, seeking good luck from a “sacred” granite stone. Nearby residents claimed the stone was “worshipped” for several years before it was abandoned at the open area where it is found now. The number of people visiting the area increased as word started to spread. Some came from as far as Kuala Lumpur. Locals residents have erected temporary stalls selling praying paraphernalia, flowers, fruits and “holy water” to bath the stone. Ah Poh, 60, from Chai Leng Park near Butterworth said he saw four numbers on the stone when he washed it with water he bought at the stall for RM1. B. Kala, 38, a mother of three children said she won RM1,400 in Wednesday’s four-digit draw.

Way of the chopsticks


Jane F. Ragavan wrote that many Asian superstitions revolve around chopsticks. An uneven pair of chopsticks, for example, will miss a boat or plane, while dropping chopsticks will bring bad luck, as will laying them across each other. The Chinese have a marriage-related tale: the position in which a girl holds her chopsticks can show how far she will have to travel to find her betrothed. If chopsticks are held at the top, the girl’s future husband will live far away, but if she holds them very close to the bottom, the girl may marry the boy next door. She may have messy fingers at every meal because they’re so close to the food, but if the neighbour boy doesn’t mind, then who are we to stand in the way of destiny?

Three Star Gods

The Three Star Gods, Traditional Chinese: 福祿壽, Simplified Chinese: 福禄寿, , are the gods of happiness, rank and longevity respectively. These gods are no longer worshipped in the traditional sense, but they are considered auspicious by Chinese around the world.



Fuk , the happiness and wealth god, sometimes called Fu-Hsing, stands one head taller than the other two Star Gods when being represented artistically, and is always placed in the center. Favors are asked of him on the twentieth day of the seventh lunar month. He holds a gold ingot.

Luk is the god of rank and affluence. He is often depicted as holding a child or a sceptre of power. He symbolizes one's ability to better oneself and reap high rewards.

Sau is the god of health and longevity. He is recognized by his high, domed forehead and the peach which he carries as a symbol of immortality.

These gods are often seen as a set in many Chinese homes. Depictions of them are used widely in feng shui.

They are also called gods of Longevity, Prosperity, and Fortune, often seen in following order: God of Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity , in painting and statues.

We can see the God of Fortune sometime holding a child, or surrounded by children, because having many children is considered a blessing by Chinese.

The God of Prosperity can be considered representing rich, and rank as well.

The starting of the worship of the Gods is said to be from Ming dynasty.

They are also called Shou Xing, Fu Xing and Lu Xing, which means Star of Longevity, Prosperity and Fortune, they have their correspondences in ancient Chinese astronomy.

The Star of Longevity is actually , sometimes called the Star of the Old, or Star of South Pole.
The Star of Prosperity is .
The Star of Fortune is Jupiter.

Tu Er Shen

Tu Er Shen is a deity who manages the love and sex between homosexual men. His name literally means "rabbit deity".

According to ''Zi Bu Yu'' , a book written by Yuan Mei , Tu Er Shen was a man called Hu Tian Bao . Hu loved an officer and was killed by him. After Hu died, he become a deity of homosexuality.

In Chinese folklore, Hu Tianbao was a god to whom men in the city of Fuzhou, Fujian province, prayed when they had fallen in love with a male youth and wanted to win his affections. If their prayers were answered they would come to the god's temple, known as "The Small Official Temple", and smear pig intestines mixed with sugar on the god's mouth.

According to ''"the Tale of the Rabbit God"'', which appears in the Zibuyu, Hu Tianbao was originally a man who fell in love with a handsome young imperial inspector of the Fujian Province. One day Hu Tianbao was caught peeping on the inspector, at which point he confessed his reluctant affections for the other man. The imperial inspector had Hu Tianbao sentenced to death by beating. Since his crime was one of love, underworld officials decided to right the injustice by delegating Hu Tianbao as the god and safeguarder of homosexual affections.

The practice was documented by Zhu Gui , grain tax circuit intendant of Fujian in 1765, in his "Prohibition of Licentious Cults". In it he describes a statue in the temple, "The image is of two men embracing one another; the face of one is somewhat hoary with age, the other tender and pale." He goes on to describe the practice: "All those debauched and shameless rascals who, on seeing youths or young men, desire to have illicit intercourse with them pray for assistance from the plaster idol. Then they make plans to entice and obtain the object of their desire. This is known as the secret assistance of Hu Tian Bao." The statue and a wooden tablet found with it were destroyed by Zhu Gui in an attempt to "improve the morals" of the locals.

In order to cater to the needs of modern homosexuals, the religion has been resuscitated in Taiwan. The present temple, in Yonghe City was founded by Lu Wei-ming , a Taoist priest, who is also homosexual.

Yama (Buddhism and Chinese mythology)

Yama is the name of the dharmapala and judge of the dead, who presides over the Buddhist , "Hells" or "Purgatories". Although ultimately based on the god Yama of the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Yama has developed different myths and different functions from the deity. He has also spread far more widely, and is known in every country where Buddhism is practiced, including , and .

Yama in Theravāda Buddhism



Yama was understood by Buddhists as a , supervising the various Buddhist "hells". His exact role is vague in canonical texts, but is clearer in extra-canonical texts and popular beliefs, which are not always consistent with Buddhist philosophy.

In the Pali canon, the Buddha states that a person who has ill-treated their parents, ascetics, holy persons and elders is taken upon his death to Yama. Yama then asks the ignoble person if he ever considered his own ill conduct in light of birth, aging, sickness, worldly retribution and death. In response to Yama's questions, such an ignoble person repeatedly answers that he failed to consider the consequences of his reprehensible actions and as a result is sent to a brutal hell "so long as that evil action has not exhausted its result."

In , the great Theravāda scholar, Buddhaghosa, described Yama as a vimānapeta, a being in a mixed state, sometimes enjoying celestial comforts and at other times receiving the more unpleasant of his ; however, as a king, his rule is considered just.

In popular belief in Theravādin Buddhist countries, Yama sends old age, disease, punishments and other calamities among humans as warnings to behave well. When they die, they are summoned before Yama, who examines their character and dispatches them to their appropriate , whether as a human, to a heaven, or to one of the hells that Yama presides over. Sometimes there are thought to be several Yamas, each presiding over a distinct Hell. sources sometimes speak of two Yamas or four Yamas.

Yama in Chinese and Japanese mythology



In Chinese mythology, Yan Wang , also called Yanluo , is the and the ruler of Di Yu . The name Yanluo is a shortened Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit term Yama Rājā "King Yama". In Japan Yanluo is referred to as Emma , or Emma-ō .

Yanluo is not only the ruler but also the judge of the underworld and passes judgment on all the dead. He always appears in a male form, and his minions include a judge who holds in his hands a brush and a book listing every soul and the allotted death date for every life. Ox-Head and Horse-Face, the fearsome guardians of hell, bring the newly dead, one by one, before Yanluo for judgement. Men or women with merit will be rewarded good future lives, or even revival in their previous life. Men or women who committed misdeeds will be sentenced to torture and/or miserable future lives.

The spirits of the dead, on being judged by Yanluo, are supposed to either pass through a term of enjoyment in a region midway between the earth and the heaven of the gods, or to undergo their measure of punishment in , the nether world, situated somewhere in the southern region. After this time they may return to Earth in new bodies.

Yanluo is considered to be an office or bureaucratic post, rather than an individual god. There were said to be cases in which an honest mortal was rewarded the post of Yanluo, and served as the judge and ruler of the underworld.

In his capacity as judge, Yanluo is normally depicted wearing a Chinese judge's cap in Chinese and Japanese art. Yanluo sometimes appears on Chinese Hell Bank Notes.

Yama in Tibetan Buddhism



In Tibet, Yama was both regarded with horror as the prime mover of , and revered as a guardian of spiritual practice. In the popular mandala of the Bhavacakra, all of the realms of life are depicted between the jaws, or in the arms of a monstrous Yama. Yama is sometimes shown with a consort, Yami.

Another elaboration of the concept of Yama in Tibetan Buddhism was as – i.e. Yama-Antaka, meaning Yama-Death or "Death's Death".

The following story describes the relationship between Yama and Yamāntaka:

::A holy man was told that if he meditated for the next 50 years, he would achieve enlightenment. The holy man meditated in a cave for 49 years, 11 months and 29 days, until he was interrupted by two thieves who broke in with a stolen bull. After beheading the bull in front of the hermit, they ignored his requests to be spared for but a few minutes, and beheaded him as well. In his near-enlightened fury, this holy man became Yama, the god of Death, took the bull's head for his own, and killed the two thieves, drinking their blood from cups made of their skulls. Still enraged, Yama decided to kill everyone in Tibet. The people of Tibet, fearing for their lives, prayed to the bodhisattva , who took up their cause. He transformed himself into Yamāntaka, similar to Yama but ten times more powerful and horrific. In their battle, everywhere Yama turned, he found infinite versions of himself. Ma?ju?rī as Yamāntaka defeated Yama, and turned him into a protector of Buddhism. He is generally considered a wrathful deity.

Yama in popular culture



* For many popular uses of characters loosely based on the Japanese version of Yama, see Enma.
* A Japanese ''kotowaza'' states "When borrowing, the face of Jizō, when paying back a loan, the face of Enma". Jizō is typically portrayed with a serene, happy expression whereas Enma is typically portrayed with a thunderous, furious expression. The ''kotowaza'' hence alludes to changes in people's behaviour for selfish reasons depending on their circumstances.
* Yama, identified as a "Chinese spirit of the underworld", appears played by Todd Newton in the episode "" of the television series ''Charmed''.
* In Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, Yanluo is mentioned as ''Yan Lo''.
* Yen-lo-Wang is the name of Kai Allard-Liao's ''battlemech'' - a specially altered ''Centurion'' - in the Battletech universe.
* Yim Lau Wong is the final boss character in the Playstation game Fear Effect, made by Kronos Digital Entertainment. He refers to himself as "The King of Hell."
*King Yama appears as a "ruler of the afterlife" in several popular anime, including Dragonball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho.