#Taishang laojun

[journeytothewestresearch]

Is depicting the diamond snare/cutter as an iced (diamond paved) silvertone curb chain (technically of steel) acceptable? What, if any, symbols could be depicted as charms/pendants attached to it, such as an old-style padlock (in snare use, as a reference to longevity locks and locking things in place)?

The diamond cutter is not historically associated with Laozi in traditional Daoism or Chinese folk religion. So, as a fictional object, you can depict it however you want, including adding charms or pendants of your choice.

[by13x]

西遊記-

96- Daode Tianzun 道德天尊/ Taishang Laojun 太上老君

[angstandhappiness]

NICE PERSPECTIVE

Another AP art piece! Honestly I wasn’t really feeling this one but it’s turned in already so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[jedineedlove]

Legend VS LMK Characters:

Kui Mulang (LMK):

[Kaui Mulang, Guard of the Celestial Court, Mansion of the White Tiger, Devourer of Earthly Souls]

Korean: Gyumokrang Mandarin: The Wood Wolf of Legs

Former Celestial Guard turned Yellow-Robed Demon.

After Falling in Love with Jade Maiden and having their love rejected by the Celestial Realm. He gave up their immortality and he awaited for her to reincarnate. As he waits to make sure he will be there to see her he consumes mortal lives to longavit his own.

The 28 Mansions mentioned by him are part of the Chinese constellation system as to why there is so much star imagery is in his castle.

Kui Mulang (Ledgend):

Kui Mulang originated from the ancient Chinese worship of the constellations, a spiritual practice that combines Chinese mythology and astronomy. He is considered to be one of the 28 Mansions, which are Chinese constellations. These are the same as those studied in Western astrology. He appears in Chinese mythology literate notably the JTTW & Fengshen Yanyi.

He is linked to a historical figure called Ma Wu, a general who hailed from the town of Huyang in Tanghe, located in the Henan province.

Kui Mulang is associated with the constellation Andromeda, which appears in the sky in the middle of November. In this constellation is Kui Xiu, described as the "four-legged fish palace" of Heshansu (和善宿) because its shape is similar to a fish. Another constellation, the White Tiger, is also associated with this cluster of stars.

According to the novel Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi), Kui Mulang was originally named Li Xiong. After he died in the Battle of the Ten Thousand Immortals, Jiang Ziya deified him as the Wood Wolf of Legs, one of the twenty-eight stars.

In JTTW

Kui Mulang appears as a demon named Yellow Robe Demon . He lives the Moon Waves Cave on Bowl Mountain in the Kingdom of Baoxiang. In his past, the Yellow Robe Demon falls in love with the Jade Maiden in Heaven and decides to elope with her. He becomes a demon lord and the maiden is reincarnated from a goddess to a human who is named Baihuaxiu . She is the third princess of the Kingdom of Baoxiang. The demon then kidnaps the princess, though she has no memory of her existence as a Jade Maiden. He marries her and the couple has two children. Sun Wukong manages to defeat the demon, which mysteriously vanishes after his defeat. Wukong then seeks help from Heaven to track down the demon and learn his true identity. The Jade Emperor discovers that one of the 28 Mansions is missing, so he orders the remaining 27 to subdue the demon. The demon is revealed to be a disguised as Revatī, the Wood Wolf of Legs, a star deity in the heavenly court, and one of the 28 Mansions. The Wood Wolf is then subdued and brought back to Heaven. As punishment, he is ordered to become a furnace keeper under Taishang Laojun.

Jade Maiden:

Considering she is a huge part of Kui Mulang's life I thought maybe also some info about her as well.

[ Yunü / Jade Girl or Jade Maiden]

Yunü is a common designation for a beautiful woman or, in Daoism, for a fairy or immortal

A Taoist deity or goddess in Chinese mythology and Chinese traditional religion who, along with her male counterpart Jintong (Golden Boy), are favored servants of the Jade Emperor and Zhenwudadi. 

They are also believed to serve as guides in the underworld and the protectors of houses and temples. Some of the Golden Boy and Jade Girl pair could be found on some graves at Bukit Brown Cemetery as they are believed to serve as guides in the Spirit World or the Underworld.

During the spring festival, pictures featuring the two can be found on the doors of many households.

This couple helps virtuous souls over a golden bridge to paradise and helps souls whose good deeds outweighed the bad, over a silver bridge to paradise. Therefore by erecting the Golden Boy and Jade Maiden by the grave of the deceased, living family members hope that the deceased will not venture into the courts of hell but instead lead their afterlife in paradise. Yunü and Jintong have appeared in several stories since the Song and Yuan dynasties and have become important figures in Chinese mythology.

There are several mountain peaks bearing her name.

In Journey to the West, Yunü is a servant maid of the Jade Emperor in Heaven. She falls in love with a star god called Kui Mulang and decides to elope with him. However, she doesn't want to ruin Heaven's pureness, so she decides to reincarnate as a human. She enters the human world as Baihuaxiu, the third princess of the Kingdom of Baoxiang.

In Other Literature:

Specific examples are the southern opera version of the legend, Jintong and Yunü, In this context, Yunü is called Longnü and Jintong is called Shancai Tongzi. According to the Shenyijing, Yunü and her companions loved to play touhu, a Chinese game in which arrows or darts are thrown into a vase. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, she and Jintong seek enlightenment and are acolytes of Guan Yin. In this context, Yunü is called Longnü and Jintong is called Shancai Tongzi. Some folktales say that Xue Dingshan and Fan Lihua were originally the Golden Boy and Jade Girl. The Jade Emperor was furious with them and wanted to punish them for breaking the celestial utensils. Fortunately, the Old Man of the South Pole begged for their mercy and was demoted to the mortal world. In the Hanyi ji play, the protagonists Qi Liang and Meng Jiang are reincarnations of Jintong and Yunü. In most popular versions of The Butterfly Lovers, the protagonists Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai are human reincarnations of Jintong and Yunü who are expelled from Heaven Court by Guanyin or the Jade Emperor for their sin and forced to live as a thwarted couple for three or seven generations before being reunited and restored to their original status.

Thoughts:

Yunü has a lot of love and being kicked/leaving heaven tales.

But did love she was more than just known for this story alone.

The JTTW and LMK versions of Kui Mulang are not too different. However, in the retelling of their love tale he only mentioned himself ridding them of their immortality it almost sounded like in that tale she might have had second thoughts and he did it by force. But I hope not but we can never know because the LMK changed a lot of the characters and tweaked some backstories.

I think the real change in the LMK is that Kui Mulang captured Ao Lie before the JTTW. From the way he talked about the Jade Maiden, she had not been reincarnated or at least he had not captured her yet. For Ao Lie It had to be after his banishment of course because he talked about his powers causing damage he felt bad for aka when he burned his dad's stuff.

Well, I hope you, readers enjoyed:)

[ryin-silverfish]

The way that Erlang's parents meet and how his mother is rescued varies a lot across traditional storytelling as seen on stage and in recitation. I'll list out the versions I found:

Taiping Geci Recitation: "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother"/"劈山救母". Erlang lives in Heaven and spends his days hunting. He shoots down a pair of phoenixes and his grandfather the Jade Emperor rewards him with divine liquor. He falls asleep and dreams of his mother, causing him to ask the JE what happened to her. The JE weeps in shame and asks Erlang to seek out the Queen Mother of the West. She tells him that his mother married a mortal, and after having a son, washed the baby's diapers and polluted the seas. Heaven's armies were sent to capture her, but Sun Wukong shut her under Mount Tao. Erlang goes to Taishang Laojun, who tells him about Pan Gu's axe. Erlang goes into the mortal world and finds the axe has gained sentience as a demon. he defeats it and chops open Mount Tao to save his mother.

Bangzi Opera, Cantonese Opera, and Drum Recitations: "Third Princess Goes to the Mortal World"/"三姐下凡". The JE's daughters all go down to the mortal world to view festival lights. Erlang's mother meets his father and falls in love. She escapes from her chaperone, the divine general Hua Guang, and recruits the local Tudi couple to be her foster parents so she can marry Scholar Yang. She gives birth to Erlang, but the JE finds her and sends various gods to capture her. She fights all of them off except Guan Yin, who persuades her to surrender herself. JE imprisons her in the Heavenly Dungeon, where she gives birth to her daughter. Erlang grows up in the mortal world with his father and is teased by his classmates over having no mother. His father tells him about his mother's imprisonment and he goes off to rescue her. Erlang acquires divine arts, weapons, armor, and a horse from the immortal Yuding. He heads up to Heaven, where QMW warns him that JE will send out multiple trials to test his willpower. He'll need to carry two great mountains on his shoulders to capture the 12 suns standing guard over the prison. He does so and frees his mother and sister, and his sister helps him attack JE's palace and force him to agree to pardon their mother.

Han Opera: "Taoshan Cave"/"桃山洞". Erlang's mother falls in lover with a mortal after realizing they're fated to marry. Unfortunately, Yuan Hong's (the monkey demon from FSYY) sister also believes she's fated to marry Scholar Yang. Erlang's mother recruits the local Tudi to help her do some tricks with an old tree that gets Scholar Yang to agree to marry her. Sometime after their wedding the monkey demoness attacks and tries to abduct Scholar Yang. Erlang's mother fights them off and carves her name onto the demoness's face. The demoness runs back to her brother, who attacks Erlang's parents in revenge, but is also beaten back, and during their battle, Erlang's mother brags about her name. Yuan Hong reports her to Heaven and gets help from the Dragon Kings and other gods to capture her. Erlang's mother entrusts her baby son to Taishang Laojun, and the united forces of demonic immortals and gods capture her. Yuan Hong shuts her beneath Mount Tao, where she gives birth to a daughter. Erlang grows up with Yuding. He eats special ox, tiger, and dragon buns, as well as peaches of immortality, then bathes in a mortality-shedding pool to gain his powers. He arms himself and goes to Mount Tao, where he defeats the demons and his dog kills the monkey demoness. He rescues his mother and sister and they head home to reunite with their father.

Puxian Opera: "Third Princess Goes to the Mortal World"/"三姐下凡". Basically the same as Han Opera, except Erlang's mother's rival is a dragon princess. Erlang is considered a freak by his father for having three eyes and given over to Yuding. After Erlang's mother mutilates her rival, the Dragon Kings fight her and imprison her under Mount Tao. Erlang's father is abducted and imprisoned under the sea for refusing to marry the mutilated dragon princess. Erlang grows up and besieges the Dragon Palace. The mutilated princess's younger sister comes out to fight him and they fall in love. She makes peace between him and her family and they free his father. Erlang goes to Mount Tao, where he frees his mother and sister. Their family is reunited.

Hunan Huagu Opera: "Zhang's Second Girl Goes to the Mortal World"/“张二姐下凡". Erlang's mother is the Second Heavenly Princess. She reads some Heavenly Scrolls and notices that two gods are yet to be born and decides to be the one who gives birth to them. She picks as her husband Scholar Yang, who's already married to a woman named Zhao Meirong. She takes Meirong's form and tricks Scholar Yang into believing Meirong is a demon. Meirong goes home to her father and brothers, who are outlaws that rule a certain mountain. Her father has Taoist arts and lights special incense to summon the gods and report this strange matter. The gods discover the Second Princess's identity, but even after having her children, she refuses to leave because she's truly fallen in love with her mortal husband. She is captured and shut under Mount Tao. Erlang is abandoned in the mountains and saved by Yuding. The second part is called "Splitting the Moutain to Save Mother"/"劈山救母". When Erlang grows up, Yuding sends him to a renowned swordsmith couple to forge him a blade that can split mountains. The raw material must be the Ox-King's horn and the fuel must be the essence of golden coal from Mount Mei. Erlang takes the form of the Jade-faced Fox, seduces the Ox-King, and saws off a horn while he's drunk. He then fights the spirit of the Golden Coal. She falls in love with him and willingly sacrifices her essence to fuel the forge. Erlang splits the mountain and saves his mother.

Teochow Opera: "Third Princess Goes to the Mortal World"/"三姐下凡". Erlang's mother goes to Earth to fight a three-headed demon dragon and his lackey, a dog demon. She falls in love with Scholar Yang in the process and takes the form of a huntress to marry him. They have a son. She is summoned back by Heaven and imprisoned under Mount Tao for forgetting her mission. Like in the Lotus Lantern stories, Erlang's father remarries and has another son. The brothers kill a classmate by accident. Erlang's brother is handed to the authorities while Erlang escapes and studies the immortal arts. He finds the very demons his mother was hunting now have their base over her prison. He defeats the dragon, turning him into his spear, then defeats the dog and turns him into his pet. He frees his mother and discovers he has a sister.

Thank you! I'm not familiar with operas at all, so this is a valuable list to people who want to know more about the other variants of Erlang's mom-saving stories out there, outside the premodern ones from the Lotus Lantern Summaries!

[weidaoduzun3]

A Musing on Requesting Help from Lord Lao

in Livia Kohns introduction to the The Yellow Court Scripture Volume One: Text and Main Commentaries (Huangting Jing 黃庭經) she mentions how adepts of the Shangqing School of Daoism (predecessors of Maoshan) would prepare to chant the Huangting Jing. They do so by petitioning various Gods for aid and support-- mainly Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun 太上老君 ). This ancient idea of requesting help in chanting, or in my practice, spells and cultivation is something that has survived to this day, and is quite frankly, a beautiful preliminary rite.

I theorize and question why members of the Shangqing school would request help from the Gods to aid them in their chants and other religious activities. My conclusion: Even members of the Shangqing school knew, that we alone are not enough to beget magical transmutations. The Gods must aid us in our magical, religious, and mundane pursuits. We must have sincerity in our hearts, become as passive as possible, utilize the emptiness within us, and request to allow the Gods into our lives and work through us. Doing so, allows us to be a reflection of the Gods in all esoteric and exoteric endeavors. We become the Gods and the Gods become us. Such is what the petitioning the Gods and Divinely mapping them to our bodies is about!

Zhaungzi 23.17.1-2: Master Lao said, “How hard and anxiously you’ve worked at cleansing yourself! But your inner self so overflows with it that you still have what’s bad in you. When one’s outer is fettered, even the utmost dexterity fails to control it, so this blocks the inner; when one’s inner is fettered, even the tightest grip fail to control it, so this blocks the outer. If the inner and the outer are thus fettered, even [one who aspires to] the Dao and its Virtue fails to control them, so how less likely can one who conducts himself apart from the Dao!”

This quote from the Zhuangzi (translated by Lynn) gives way to passivity, sincerity, and emptying oneself to ultimately, as the Sangqing and by extension, Maoshan would have it, becoming vessels for the Gods to allow us to move with Ziran and Wu-Wei. Exercise and display Virtue all you wish, but if you are not empty inside to truly embody Virtue, you still have gunk in you. Try to use control and impose yourself and force the Gods to aid you; this fetters the outer and will bring calamity upon you. Having your inner unfettered, meaning becoming vastly empty and void, allows room for the Gods. Having your outside unfettered, the Gods aid you in your religious pursuits, and thus will position you in Ziran, and thus the self, family, and community will eventually sort itself out and abide with Ziran as well.

Dao De Jing 70 “Those who understand me are rare, and so, those few I treasure. It is for these reasons that the Sage wraps himself in coarse cloth while concealing jade in his heart."

To understand Laozi is to ask for His help, in my opinion. In doing so, your outer is unfettered and thus not displaying Virtue biasedly, but rather Virtue is displayed as Heaven displays its beneficent Virtue, humbly -- unbiasedly. This is a reason for dressing, and appearing humble. Concealing the Jade in your heart means to fast the heart-mind. Emptying the essence of your heart so that you make use of the Gods, specifically for this post, Lord Lao, the ontologically highest God under Dao inexhaustibly.

I cannot help to bring up some passages from the Liezi that I think give philosophical backing to this idea of "requesting help from Lord Lao (and all the Gods by extension).

Liezi 2 (translation AC Graham): ���志不分，乃疑於神. "Set your will on one aim, and be equal to the gods!"

Liezi 4: 在己无居，形物其箸，其動若水，其靜若鏡，其應若響。"If nothing within you stays rigid, Outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo."

How else does one be equal to the Gods? How else can you alone move like water, be still like a mirror, and respond like an echo? Ask the Gods for assistance! Prayer. Ritual. Visualization. Divine Landscaping the Gods into your body parts! Become the Gods and They become you, in so much as one has capacities to do so. Some have more capacity to become like the Gods, and others less. No one though is completely devoid of becoming like the Gods, and I believe we all should try to strive to become like our Gods, whether you are a Daoist, Christian, Hermeticist, or whatever.

What I am not suggesting is that by doing a Request the Master Spell (Lord Lao is the main "Master" here) will numerically equate with Lord Lao in any capacity. But it will allow you to reflect the qualities of Lord Lao in so much as each individual is capable of, and how it accords with their human nature (xing). Requesting the Master will allow you to bring true power to your inner practice: magic, your cultivation, religious chants, etc. This in turn allows you to outwardly move like water and respond like an echo (Ziran). That is your outward practice...which I think naturally begets one to live like a Confucian...but that is another post for another day once I've studied more (Neo) Confucianism. ;)

I cannot help but assume the Shangqing school had passages such as these in their minds when developing such preliminary invocations to petition the Gods for their magical and religious pursuits. So, how does one go about "Requesting Help from Lord Lao" to aid in their cultivation or other magical and religious pursuits? In @Chinesemagick's (on twitter/x) book Practical Chinese Magic https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Chinese-Magic-Jason-Read/dp/191415312X, we see a certain "opened-door-method" for requesting aid and permission from Lord Lao to aid and assist us theurgist and cultivators. Complete with how to properly set up an altar to Lord Lao, the proper offerings and placements, spells, and proper mudras.

The reason for such requesting and aiding in spells, chants, and the like is to build an ancestral connection with Lord Lao. Simply doing Daoist spells or cultivation methods is just not enough. Others may feel differently and have anecdotal experience to suggest otherwise. More power to them; sincerely, Gods bless them! They should trust the essence of their heart and experience. There is a path for everyone. This is just one path. The Dao of Maoshan. One's inner power is not unlocked just by simple cultivation meditations or chants. At our basest self, we have no real magical power. Connecting to a train of transmission, to the Great Master Lord Lao is what allows the adept to unlock their own inner power to truly cultivate different Qi's, place certain Gods to parts of the body, and thus transmute your own gunk into something either fearful and powerful, or something pleasant and helpful -- you get to choose and act accordingly.

To connect to the ancestral powers of the Master -- such is a fundamental step before any cultivation must begin. It took me 20 days to just get the Request/Permission method I was taught with any sort of efficacy -- then I knew I was ready to cultivate Golden Light (Tian Qi). Then, with the help of this most Precious God, I am beginning to, slowly but surely, transmute some baseness of myself. It's a two-way street. The Gods cannot do all the work for you, but you cannot do all the work either. Be One with the Gods, be One with Dao, for it is all One.

***I do not speak for Shangqing, Maoshan nor the author Jason Read whose book I linked. I speak for myself, and myself only!***

天人合一 tiānrén-héyī “Heaven and Man are One.” 福生无量天尊 fú shēng wú liàng tiānzūn “May the immense blessings of Heaven go forth with you.”

[journeytothewestresearch]

Great overview! I just wanted to add one thing. Yu (Wu & Yu, 2012) actually omits something about the Diamond Snare from the original Chinese. As a reminder, the translation reads:

But the Chinese states:

The year when I crossed the Hangu Pass, I depended on it a great deal for the conversion of the barbarians to Buddhism (emphasis added), for it was practically my bodyguard night and day (based on Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 186). 當年過函關，化胡為佛，甚是虧他。早晚最可防身。等我丟下去打他一下。

This refers to an ancient story cycle in which Laozi travels west from China and becomes the Buddha. The tale was likely created in the second-century to explain the similarities between native Daoism and foreign Buddhism. However, the story was later weaponized during the fourth-century, resulting in the Classic on Converting the Barbarians (Huahu jing, 化胡經), an anti-Buddhist polemic claiming that the religion is just a bastardization of Daoism. [1]

This idea remained current in some Daoist circles for centuries. For instance, a Qing-era reprint of The Illustrated Explanation of Taishang Laojun's Eighty-One Transformations (Taishang laojun bashiyi hua tushuo, 太上老君八十一化圖說) includes an illustration of Laozi's birth as the Buddha (fig. 1).

Yu (Wu & Yu, 2012) likely skipped over all of this to avoid confusing readers.

Note:

For an in-depth discussion, see chapter six in Zürche (2007)

Sources:

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

Zürche, E. (2007). The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China (3rd ed.). Leiden: Brill.

Fig. 1 - A print showing Laozi's early birth as the Buddha.

How does the diamond snare thing work?

Diamond cutting, from the Ming Dynasty fairy novel "Journey to the West", is the magic weapon of the Taishang Laojun. A dense white circle, also known as the golden steel ring, diamond sleeve; can change, is invulnerable to water and fire, can hit all things, collect all kinds of magic weapons and weapons, and the magic is endless. It was refined by Naikun steel, and it was also refined by Huan Dan. It has spirituality. It was used by Laozi for self-defense when he used it and used this treasure to overthrow Sun Wukong and help Erlang Shen capture him.

Later, it was stolen by Taishang Laojun's mount "Banjiao Qingniu", and fled to the lower realm to occupy the mountain as a demon. He called himself the One-Horned Rhino King, captured Tang Monk in Jindou Mountain. He used this treasure set to get Sun Wukong's golden hoop, the six demon-subduing weapons of Prince Nezha, and the magic weapons of all the gods and generals were taken away together, even water, fire, thunder, and lightning can be absorbed. Later, the king was subdued by the Taishang Laojun who came down to earth with a fire-type plantain fan. After subduing the green bull demon, he took back the diamond cutter and returned the weapons of the gods. Finally, the diamond cutter became the nose ring of the one-horned green bull.

Taishang Laojun is the imperial blacksmith of the Heavenly Court. He has made diamond bracelets, purple, gold, and red gourds, mutton fat jade bottles, golden ropes, plantain fans, seven-star swords, and many other magic weapons. The diamond snare being the most powerful as he used to go down to earth and defeat Sun Wukong after the Tota King, Eighteen Arhats, and other gods in Jindou Cave. Finally, Laojun took away the gold steel bracelet with a plantain fan and subdued the One-Horned Rhino King.

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%87%91%E5%88%9A%E7%90%A2/3279152?fromModule=lemma_inlink&fromtitle=%E9%87%91%E5%88%9A%E9%95%AF&fromid=10311852

[justlarkin]

I guess the new guy is supposed to be Daode Tianzun/ Taishang Laojun? He's a high Taoist god and member of the Three Pure Ones. It's believed he can control the future.

[rustyvanburace]

While I do like SMT1′s Heroine / Yuka well enough, as a neutral rep, I do honestly think she is the weakest in the series. At least in post-apocalypse Tokyo.

Prior to that, she is the leader of a resistance movement opposing both Gotou’s and Thorman’s power grabs. She is adamant that their causes will only bring Tokyo destruction and that these men cannot be reasoned with. Her allies hold a lot of respect for her. She does have a strong connection to the Hero, but she doesn’t shirk her core beliefs either. She firmly knows and asserts where she stands and that is great.

But come post-apocalypse Tokyo, Yuka completely devotes her entire being to the Hero after being rescued and, most egregiously, even changes her alignment to mirror his own. And aside from the tiny bit of dialogue in the game credits, there is no more dialogue from her after her rescue. She essentially ceases being her own character and becomes a magically-inclined mirror of the protagonist.

And while yes SMT1 is an early JRPG and its writing is simple, plus her explanation that she forgot everything else from her past life in 199X, it is still quite disappointing how Yuka goes from being a staunch rebel with her own values into a silent mirror. I would even argue that Yuka may not even be the game’s true neutral rep, but rather that honor goes to the Old Man / Taishang Laojun.

(SMT4 spoilers) I occasionally see people say that Isabeau from SMTIV is the weakest neutral rep, mainly because she initially lacks conviction. But I have to disagree with this assessment as, while yes she starts off that way, she does still come to form her own values and doesn’t let her fellow samurai sway her in that process. Isabeau declines to join Flynn when he accompanies either Jonathan or Walter, preferring to seek answers elsewhere on her own terms. And when she finally does form her own conviction, she sticks to it and refuses to level herself with Flynn if he ultimately did sided with law or chaos. In spite of the anguish it causes her having to fight him. Unlike Yuka, Isabeau stays true to herself no matter the route the player takes.

This is, of course, not to say that I dislike Yuka. I do think she had a lot of room for potential and I’m left wanting so much more out of her. She started off on a very high note and then just completely fell flat.

[journeytothewestresearch]

Laozi's Powerful Diamond Cutter

My first article of 2024 focuses on Laozi's "diamond cutter" (jingang zhuo, 金鋼琢; a.k.a. "diamond snare," jingang tao, 金鋼套), an uber powerful holy treasure. The fillet first appears in chapter six when it is used as a blunt throwing weapon to incapacitate Sun Wukong during his rebellion. It later reappears in chapters 50 to 52 as a mysterious, shiny, white string of pearls used by a buffalo spirit to instantly suck away magic weapons and animals and defeat even destructive elemental attacks, kind of like a personal black hole generator with a built-in pocket dimension. It’s so powerful, in fact, that even the sight of it is enough to make Monkey and a host of other gods flee for their lives.

My article quotes all mentions of the weapon, complete with the original Chinese; explains how it was created; describes the history of terminology that ties the treasure to diamond-pointed tools used by craftsmen west of China to work hard stone like jade; demonstrates that it is a mirrored literary element to Sun Wukong’s headband and Prince Nezha‘s fire wheel; and, finally, explores its influence on three fillet-like throwing weapons from another Chinese vernacular classic.

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

A little late but happy Trans Day of Visibility!!!

[ID: A monochrome chibi drawing of various figures from Chinese folklore with pride flags painted onto their faces. From left to right are Taibai Jinxing, Sun Wukong, Taishang Laojun, Guanshiyin Pusa, Lan Caihe, Bai Suzhen, and Qing She. Guanyin has nonbinary flags and Lan Caihe has genderfluid flags, but everyone else has trans flags. Above them is written "Happy TDOV 2023!" End ID]

[the-monkey-ruler]

Hello!!! Stumbled upon this blog on a casual scroll-through and am super impressed at how thorough and passionate it is!! Kudos!!

I had a question, if it’s not too much of a bother:

Is there any sort of artifact mentioned in JTTW (or Chinese mythology at large) that’s been used to contain a yaoguai’s power/take it away from them? Maybe in the vein of Guanyin’s vase? Sorry if this doesn’t make sense.

So what you are asking for is something that can take away cultivation so to speak? There are some tv/movies that do show other yaoguai that are able to eat the life force of yaoguai and forcing them back into their original state therefore taking away their power and their humanoid form.

However that is more popular in modern media, as for any canon items they are more focused on subduing and capturing rather than depowering.

Gaunyin's vase sadly hasn't been able to show any depowering abilities either if you were asking about that. It has been show to whole an entire ocean and that it can hold healing water. But there are movies where she is able to capture demons (such as Wukong) in her vase and keep them in a state of status. But I don't know how in canon that is as she does have a lot of history outside of journey to the west.

But on to magical items in journey to the west! I shall rank them from most subduing to least subduing

Subduing Buff Attacking

Golden Jade Ring (金剛琢) - it can change size, is invulnerable to water and fire, can strike all things, collect various magic weapons and weapons, and has infinite uses. Laojun used this treasure to knock down Sun Wukong and help Erlang Shen capture him. The One Horned King used this treasure to take away Sun Wukong's golden hoop, Nezha's six weapons, and the magic weapons of hundreds of gods and generals. It can even dissolve water, fire, thunder and lightning. Later, Taishang Laojun, who came down to the world himself, defeated it with a fire-type banana fan. This was the thing that put Wukong stop in his tracks, doesn't take away power but def the most powerful.

Flask of Yin and Yang Essence (陰陽二氣瓶) - it contains the Seven Treasures and Eight Diagrams, twenty-four Qi, and requires thirty-six people, according to the number of Tiangang, to lift it. This treasure can hold a person and if a person does not speak, the bottle will be very cool. But once they speak, fire will burn them into pulp water in a moment. Wukonghad to use his Golden Hair he was given by Guanyin to escape. While not invincible it took another magical item to counteract it and thus very powerful.

Golden Cymbals (金鐃) - the magic weapon used by the Yellow-Browed Monster who trapped Sun Wukong inside and would have turned to puss inside it if he didn't escape. Sun Wukong escaped from the golden cymbal with the help of Kang Jinlong and immediately broke it. Took nearly an army to escape it, very powerful.

Purple Gold Red Gourd (紫金紅葫蘆) - as long as you call out your opponent's name if they respond, the elixir will pull them inside. Then a note with the words "The Supreme Lord Laozi, please obey my command as soon as possible" will be posted on it, and the elixir will turn into pus in a few hours. Hard to say how powerful this is since Wukong escaped it twice turning into a bug so... take that as user error or not.

Human Sack (人種袋) - Sun Wukong invited the twenty-eight constellations, the two generals of the tortoise and the snake, the five great dragons, Prince Xiao Zhang and the four great generals, but they were all put into the monster's bag. Later, Maitreya Buddha took back the human seed bag and put the demon king into the bag. Very powerful but does not kill, so less of a threat.

Golden Cloth Rope (幌金繩) it was originally a belt used by Taishang Laojun to tie his robe. It has a tightening rope spell but also a loosening rope spell and if a user knows both they most likely will not be affected. Powerful but if you know the loosening spell it is useless.

Suet Jade Flask (羊脂玉淨瓶) this was used by Taishang Laojun to make elixirs and hold water. It has space inside to hold water from all over the world.

Seven Stars Sword (七星劍) - the real sword from the Ming and Qing dynasties that has survived in modern times was used by Tan Sitong. The seven stars are mainly symbolic, but from the perspective of material mechanics, they should have the function of buffering stress concentration and preventing the sword from breaking.

Palm Leaf Fan (芭蕉扇) - The two banana fans, yin and yang, are held by Taishang Laojun and Princess Iron Fan respectively: the banana fan used by Taishang Laojun is yang, and the six Ding divine fire it fanned is the power source of the alchemy furnace; the banana fan used by Princess Iron Fan is yin, and its water vapor can extinguish the fire in Huoyan Mountain. The two fans are mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining. There are prototypes that can be traced in reality.

Banana Leaf Fan (芭蕉扇) - The extremely yin treasure fan can fan out water vapor, and water can extinguish fire, so it can extinguish the 800-li Flame Mountain. "Journey to the West" Chapter 59 "Tang Sanzang's Road Blocks the Flame Mountain, Sun Xingzhe Uses the Banana Fan" "...Her banana fan was originally a magical treasure created by heaven and earth since the beginning of chaos behind Kunlun Mountain. It is the essence of the Taiyin, so it can extinguish fire." The yin wind fanned out can make people drift 84,000 miles before it can stop.

Purple-Gold Bells (紫金鈴) - This Purple Gold Bell was forged by Taishang Laojun in the Eight Diagrams Furnace, and it is very powerful. Shake it once, and fire will come out. Shake it twice, and smoke will come out. Shake it three times, and sand and rocks will fly. Sun Wukong stole the golden bell and then subdued "Sai Taisui".

If you are looking for more magic items that can take away cultivation I actually think that there is something in FSYY that took away some daoists' cultivation... but I think that was more of a formation than an item... I'm sorry I didn't take notes on but that novel DEF has a lot of magical items!!

[jedineedlove]

LMK VS Legend

Yin and Jin

LMK: Silver and Gold Demons Two trouble-making demons. Known thieves, former Speedy Panda owners, and lovers of the dramatic. Both are constant annoyances to the Monkie Kid and the crew. I wonder who the assistant is to them she seems to be in to much control to be a minion.

JTTW

Formally Silver Boy and Gold Boy the two were servent boys of Taishang Laojun and given the job of watching over his furnaces.

In the novel, Jin is the older brother and Yin is the younger one.

They escaped to the mortal realm and moved to Flat Peak Mountain and took Laojuns' five sacred items. The Purple Gold Red Gourd, Suet Jade Flask, Golden Cloth Rope, Seven Stars Sword, and Palm Leaf Fan. When they met the pilgrims they captured all of them except Wukong and instead threw three mouantins on him. They sent two minions to go capture the monkey, but that was foiled due to Wukongs' escape and tricking them into giving them two of the sacred items.

Enraged, they send other minions to invite their godmother The Nine-Tailed Vixen. Finding this out Wukong goes and kills the two minions and the Vixen, designing himself as her he was nearly convincing except for Bajies' blunder. The two trapped the monkey in the gourd but he tricked them and escaped. that repeated another time when with monkey tested ut the gourd's power by faking another identity and using a fake name. After the second time, Wukong swapped the four for a fake one. He challenged the Silver King and tricked him into the gourd. The Gold King led his army to avenge his brother but his army was killed by Wukong. He fled to Dragon Supressing Cave and along with his uncle Hu A’qi, and his uncle's amry set out again to avenge his brother and Hu A’qis' sister. His uncle was killed by Bajie and his army was killed by Wukong. The Monkey King finally ended it when he trapped the Golden King in the gourd. Before the pilgrims could continue they were stopped by Laojun and explained the two orgina claimed back the sacred items and took the boys back to Heaven.

Thoughts:

I got to wonder what the family tree is like in the family in this universe.

[buried-in-stardust]

This is a comment by OP:

Ever since two years ago when I saw the stunning iron fireworks, the notion of striking iron fireworks has always lingered in my mind, but I never made a firm resolution, scared that after an accident, I wouldn't have to ability to bear it. After communicating with Teacher Yang Jianjun's iron fireworks team, they never had much confidence that I could strike them successfully. Teacher said in the past thousand years, struck iron fireworks had only been passed down to men, never women, and he had never taken in a female disciple.

After seeing myself, he thought it was even less possible, and the kindhearted Teacher Yang was particularly afraid of the iron fireworks injuring me. The shixiong* in the iron fireworks team also particularly looked after me, and attentively instructed me how to strike so that the large chunks of molten iron wouldn't splash on my body. My camera operator was completely equipped with 1500 degree fire resistant protective clothing, and we had even searched up the closest hospital's address before starting. Under the pergola we prayed for Taishang Laojun** and grandpa to bless and protect me hahaha

The good thing is all of it went very smoothly, although my clothes now have a lot of holes in them, I have some small burns, and some of my hair was also burnt off, but all of this was worth it. I've finally become the first female disciple in the past thousand years, and a seventh generation inheritor of Queshan struck iron fireworks! I hope everyone who sees this video can be courageous, and I hope the iron fireworks blesses and protects everyone to be safe, sound, happy, and for all things to go smoothly!

*师兄 - older martial brother, used for men older than yourself who learned under the same teacher

**太上老君 - lit. The Supreme Lord Lao, one of the main gods of Daoism and the reincarnation of the philosopher Laozi

On Bilibili, OP expands on the significance of the pergola design:

Let me explain to everyone the pergola of the "National Level Cultural Heritage Queshan Struck Iron Fireworks".

The Supreme Ultimate: The whole pergola.

Yin and yang: The upper and lower layers.

The Three Powers: The two layers of the pergola plus the pole going through the centre. The three spaces are a total of 15 metres tall, containing the meaning of "Heaven, Earth, Humans". This type of expression can also be found in "Mawangdui Han Tombs No. 1 Silk Painting" (马王堆一号汉墓帛画)

The four constellation groups: The four directions.

The five elements: East is wood, south is fire, west is metal, north is water, and the centre is earth. At each of the five directions, five flags of green, red, white, black, and yellow are inserted to represent the five elements.

The eight trigrams: The pergola is separated into the upper and lower floors, and the two sets of four corners are staggered to create eight corners, the same shape as an eight trigram compass.

There are three dos and three don'ts for iron fireworks. Don't strike during bad harvest years, don't strike during national mourning, don't strike during war. [T/N: The three "dos" are do strike during good harvest years, do strike during happy occasions, do strike during prospering years.] In the recent past, natural calamities and man-made disasters have extended into several decades, and the chaos of war continuing year after year. The Daoists had passed away, and no one could build a pergola anymore.

The style of the pergola you see now is because of Teacher Yang Jianjun spending more than ten years doing textual research from all sides and reviving it from that.

[translated by me]

Pictures of the comments and a picture OP included with her comment under cut:

打鐵花 (da2tie3hua1; struck iron fireworks) is a traditional folk firework that began in Henan and Shanxi, first arising in Queshan county, Henan and later circulating through the whole country. It had first appeared during the Northern Song dynasty, and was most popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

For Queshan struck iron fireworks, a two-layer pergola is built and covered with willow branches for performances, under which the molten iron is struck up with two willow sticks to create a rain of fire.

[eng by me + edited an ad out]

(On top of the information in the video, I have some more about its recent history under the cut.)

*Also, a note about one of the subtitles: I realized later that "going into battle without a shield" actually just meant going shirtless. I was only confused about this phrasing while translating because she didn't go shirtless, although that is for obvious reasons

Queshan struck iron fireworks had almost been lost before Yang Jianjun unearthed it again in 1988. It had almost died out in the early years of the Republic of China being established, after which there had only been three performances until 1988: 1952, 1956, 1962. Yang Jianjun had seen the 1956 performance as a 7-8 year old and later on as the director of a cultural centre, began digging up the skill and its history. In the process, he became an apprentice to Li Wanfa, who had been the last head of the Queshan Struck Iron Fireworks Society. He practised with sand and water, learning of its historical origin, its ancestral inheritors, craftsmanship and performance arts, but didn't touch the real thing until 1988. Through Yang Jianjun's efforts and investment, the first struck iron fireworks performance in more than 25 years took place in Nanshan Square (then a deserted area) in Queshan county.

Queshan struck iron fireworks are different from other struck iron fireworks in that it requires a wide area to perform, whereas others only needed a wall or could be hit straight up into the air, and it costed much more money to set up.

The names of inheritors are difficult to trace, and can only be traced back to the Qing dynasty during the Qian long period, making Yang Jianjun a sixth-generation inheritor, and Jiang Xunqian (OP) the first woman and a seventh-generation inheritor.

[ngocngadotnet]

☯📜🙏 On the 15th day of the lunar second month, it's the birthday of Taishang Laojun, the #SupremeVenerableSovereign, one of the #ThreePureOnes of #Taoism. May all things in life be as you wish, following the natural way of the world. ​​​

🔮 Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗数), also known as Purple Star Astrology, is a traditional form of Chinese astrology that is based on the position of stars at the time of a person's birth. Learn more at https://ngocnga.net/read-your-chinese-astrology-zi-wei-dou-shu/?utm_source=tumblr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ziwei

[earl-of-221b]

This soft pan out was very interesting. I think...I think maybe this is the lid of the Bagua Lu/ Eight Trigrams Furnace. 

What if the lid got blasted off and fell to earth and it’s just. Been there, on that mountain, all this time.