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Beginning
The writing of mythology is as old as the Wei and Jin
Dynasties (220-420). Then writers were influenced by ideas and superstitions of
Buddhists and Taoists. These included tales of ghosts. The writing continued
over time up to modern day. Some
current myths are based on these tales and they have sprung others.
CH'ENG-HUANG:
<"font size="2">Ch’eng-Huang
was the god of moats and walls. All the villages had its own Ch’eng-Huang. The
god usually was a person who was important and then when he died they called him
a god. Ch'eng-Huang protects the villages from attacks and makes sure that the
King of the Dead does not take any souls from his jurisdiction without proper
authority. Ch'eng-Huang exposes evildoers in the village and usually does it by
dreams. He has two assistants are Mr. Ba Lao-ye and Mr. Hei Lao-ye which means
Mr. Day watchman and Mr. Night watchman.
CHU JUNG
Chu Jung is the god of fire. Chu Jung penalizes those who
break the laws of heaven.
KUAN TI
Kuan Ti was the god of war. He is a judge that protects the
people from evil and other spirits. He is a red-faced god and is always dressed
in green. He is an oracle. Kuan Ti was a historical figure and a general of the
Han Dynasty known for his skill as a warrior and his fairness as a ruler. There
were about 1600 temples dedicated for Kuan Ti.
KWAN YIN
Kwan Yin is the goddess
of mercy and compassion. She is a lady dressed in white seated on a lotus and is
holding an infant. Her father murdered her and when she was in hell she recited
the holy books. Then the ruler of the Underworld could not make the dead souls
suffer. Then he sent her back to the world of the living where Kwan Yin attained
great spiritual insight and was reworded with immortality by the Buddha. Kwan
Yin’s temple was filled with a bunch of pilgrims shaking rattles.
LEI KUN:
Lei Kung is the god of thunder. Lei Kung has the head of a
bird, wings, claws and blue skin, and his chariot is drawn by six boys. Lei Kung
makes his thunder with his hammer and his wife makes thunder with her mirror.
Lei Kung chases away evil spirits and punishes criminals who have done crimes
without the people who get robbed not knowing who did.
PA HSIEN
PA HSIEN is the eight
immortals of the Taoist tradition. These people are ordinary men who go through
good lives and work. They then got reworded by the queen mother Wang by giving
them the peaches of everlasting life to eat. These eight immortals are:
TIEH-KUAI Li
Tieh-Kuai Li is of the Iron Crutch. A healer, Tieh-Kuai Li
sits in the market place as a beggar and selling wondrous drugs and some of them
can revive the dead.
CHUNG-LI CH'UAN
Chung Li Chuan is a smiling old men always full with joy,
he was rewarded with immortality for his severe life in the mountains.
LAN TS'AI-HO
Lan ts’ai-ho is a young flute-player and a wandering
minstrel who carries a basket full with fruit. His soul-searching songs caused a
stork to take him away to the heavens.
LU TUNG-PIN
CHANG-KUO LAO
Chang-Kuo Lao is an aged hermit with astonishing abilities.
Chang had an incredible donkey that could travel at incredible speed.
HAN HSIANG-TZU
Han Hsiang-Tzu is a great scholar who chose to study magic
instead of to prepare for the civil service. When his uncle disciplined him for
studying magic, Han Hsiang-Tzu materialized two flowers with poems written on
the leaves.
TS'AO KUO-CHIU
Ts'ao Kuo-Chiu tried to reform his brother who is a corrupt
emperor and he did that by reminding him that the laws of heaven are
unavoidable.
HO HSIEN-KU
Ho Hsien-Ku was the Immortal Maiden. A Cantonese girl who
dreamed that she could become immortal by eating a powder made of
mother-of-pearl. She appears only to men of great virtue.
SHI-TIEN YEN-WANG
These are rulers of the
underworld.They are tough to tell
apart because they look and dress alike.They
rule courts like judges who decide if someone is sentenced to the underworld or
not. Each soul receives a different
sentence. Corrupt government
officials might get a cruel punishment in addition to their sentence.
Murders and sex offenders might get the longest sentences.
TI-TSANG WANG
This God bestows mercy
on people. He can also save a soul
from Hell from Shi-Tien and Yen-Wang. In
order to do this he wanders throughout hell looking for souls he can save.
He is a Buddhist priest and specializes in rebirth of souls.
T'SHAI-SHEN:
God is the God of
wealth and dresses beautifully. He
has a lot of followers even among atheists. Those that adore riches adore him.
TSAO WANG
God of the hearth.
Every household has its own Tsao Wang. Every year the hearth god reports on the
family to the Jade Emperor, and the family has good or bad luck during the
coming year according to his report. The hearth god's wife records every word
spoken by every member of the family. A paper image represents the hearth god
and his wife, and incense is burned to them daily. When the time came to make
his report to the Jade Emperor, sweetmeats were placed in his mouth, the paper
was burned, and firecrackers were lit to speed him on his way.
TU-TI
These are local gods of
town’s people. They help the
common folk with daily tasks. They
look like local folk as well.
YENG-WANG-YEH
Lord Yama King -
Greatest of the Lords of Death. Yeng-Wang-Yeh judges all souls newly arrived to
the land of the dead and decides whether to send them to a special court for
punishment or put them back on the Wheel of Transmigration.
YU-HUANG-SHANG-TI
Father Heaven - e
August Supreme Emperor of Jade, whose court is in the highest level of heaven,
originally a sky god. The Jade Emperor made men from clay. His court in heaven
judges souls and sends them on. His
court is like our courts and has clerks and an army to enforce judgments.
This court rewards good and punishes wrongdoing.
The Jade Emperor sees and hears all.
Then he can administer justice.
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