#Two Taoism Tales

[oneofusnet]

Digital Noise Episode 350: Some Weird Cool Stuff DIGITAL NOISE EPISODE 350: SOME WEIRD COOL STUFF Wright and Chris record a Digital Noise episode so long that it should be nominated for Best Picture this year. From a criminally underseen classic in the vein of the Coen Brothers (but not by them), to a Spanish classic where a dog plays Tommy Lee Jones. From the a top three film from one of the best stunt performers in the history of film, to a duo of films by one of the most uniquely strange voices in bad horror filmmaking. We’ve got such sights to show you. So come and… Read More »Digital Noise Episode 350: Some Weird Cool Stuff read more on One of Us

[tosahobi-if]

GAME OUT NOW

Misfortune begets misfortune; evil will prey upon itself. Just as how the fox cannot live without the rabbit, the predator must understand what rises will fall.

Long before you were born, the Great Calamity, a calculated effort by Magyo cultists nearly wiped out the entirety of the Jungpa sects. If not for the noble sacrifice of the peerless Sword Saint of the Mount Hua Sect: the Divine Blade, Yeo Jinhu, demonic forces would have rent the heavens and the earth asunder.

Despite his triumph, nothing would ever be the same – the losses were staggering, the task of rebuilding the sects to their former glory seemed to prove an insurmountable challenge. Yet nearly two decades after his death, peace returned to the land once more.

After the death of your parents, you lead an ordinary, if not monotonous, life as the playmate of the spoiled young master of the Mount Hua Sect. However, all is not what it seems. Following the mysterious arrival of an amnesiac with strange abilities, whispers of a plot brewing in the shadows start to surface, and the world as you know it begins to fall apart around your feet.

Suddenly confronted with the uncertainty of the future, you must unravel the tragedy of what truly conspired all those years ago before you risk losing all you hold dear.

tosahobi (18+) is a muhyeop choose-your-own adventure game centered around elements of korean folklore and taoism in a tale of family, grief, and heritage.

play as a customizable main character: choose their physical appearance, gender, pronouns, sexuality, and more.

explore different relationships: from platonic to romantic to familial, build a variety of relationships with the cast (and hopefully make more friends than you do enemies.)

choose from different skill sets: pick between medicine, weaponry, tactics, and hand-to-hand combat. each field comes with its own advantages and disadvantages that affect multiple scenarios as the story progresses.

choice-driven story: with several routes and (many) choices, fail or succeed and find your way to an ending (whether it be happy or not.)

something is incredibly wrong: can you feel it too?

THE YOUNG MASTER

Yeo Jinwol of the Mount Hua Sect, is the youngest son of the sect leader. Contrary to his charming public demeanor, he has a childish side and can be extraordinarily stubborn. Having grown up in the shadow of his elder brothers he is fiercely protective of those he considers precious to him and struggles to measure up to the expectations placed on his shoulders. Assigned his playmate at a young age, whether you consider it fortuitous or not the two of you have been stuck together for years.

THE ENIGMA

Yul is your sajae, a disciple under the same master as you. Despite their amnesia, they're preternaturally talented at whatever they set their mind to. With strange yet unexplainable abilities that seem to stretch far beyond the scope of their powers, their missing memories may be the key to unlocking the answers you seek. Reclusive yet dedicated you'd almost think they were far, far older than their age if not for their intense sweet tooth and their tendency to follow you around like a very clingy second shadow.

THE PRODIGY

Baek Iseul, the Frozen Blade, is the rising star Emei Sect and has long been hailed as the next Sword Saint. Contrary to her cheerful personality you've never met anyone with a sharper gaze before. Hailing from obscurity, her power rivals even those who have trained for years and years, and has amassed an ever-growing collection of heroic feats under her belt. Popular and well-liked with a mischievous streak, you're really not sure why someone with such a promising future has taken a liking to you.

???

if to transcend means to leave the world behind, bind me to the soil so even long after my death, long after my body has turned to dust, i can find you once more.

[jedineedlove]

Legend VS LMK

Nüwa

Legend:

Name:

Mother Goddes, and Member of the Three Sovereigns of Chinese Mythology. The sister and wife of Fuxi. Nuwa is considered the goddess of creation and the female emperor of mankind. Her reverential name is Wahuang (Chinese: 媧皇; lit. 'Empress Wa'). That is due to Nuwa’s position of honor in the Chinese pantheon, Nuwa was given a character completely unique to her name – Wa. Nu is the character of woman and is often used as a prefix for goddesses.

Shes is a godess in Chinese folk religion, Buddihsm, Confucianism and Taoism

She is one of the most venerated Chinese goddesses alongside Guanyin and Mazu.

Origin:

Nuwa was created by her mother, the goddess Huaxu. While wandering the heavenly realms, Huaxu stepped into the footprint of the god of thunder Leigong and suddenly became pregnant. In the earliest versions of the myth, Huaxu gave birth in the earthly realm to only Nuwa.

In later versions, Huaxu gave birth to Nuwa and Fuxi. Nuwa and Fuxi were born with the bodies of snakes and the faces of humans, however, they could shapeshift into humanoid figures with two legs and a tail.

Nüwa & Fuxi Appearances:

The iconography of Fuxi and Nüwa vary in physical appearance depending on the time period and regional differences. In tomb murals and iconography, Fuxi and Nüwa generally have snake-like bodies and human faces or heads.

Nüwa is often depicted holding a compass or multiple compasses, which were a symbol of a dome-like sky. She was also thought to be an embodiment of the stars and the sky or a star god.

Fuxi and Nüwa can be depicted as individual figures arranged as a symmetrical pair or they can be depicted in double figures with intertwined snake-like bodies. Their snake-like tails can also be depicted stretching out towards each other. This is similar to the representation of Rahu and Ketu in Indian astrology.

As some tales of Nüwa and Fuxi, both sprang from the same mother at the same time, Taoists believed that Nuwa was the primordial personification of yin energy (female, gentle, intuitive, and receptive) and Fuxi was representative of the yang (male, fast, active, fierce). Coming together symbolized the reunion of the yin and yang energies which then united to create human existence.

Fuxi and Nüwa can also appear individually on separate tomb bricks. They generally hold or embrace the sun or moon discs containing the images of a bird or a toad (sometimes a hare) which are the sun and moon symbolism respectively. Them holding the sun and the moon appear as early as the late Western Han dynasty.

Other physical appearance variations, such as lower snake-like body shape, depictions of legs. and wings with feathers that protrude from their backs as found in the late Western Han Xinan Tomb or smaller quills found on their shoulders, and in hats and hairstyles.

the Gansu murals dating to the Wei and Western Jin period, one of the most typical features of Fuxi is the "mountain-hat" which looks like a three-peaked cap while Nüwa is depicted wearing various hairstyles characteristic of Han women. Both deities dressed in wide-sleeved clothing, which reflects the typical Han clothing style also commonly depicted in Han dynasty art.

Nüwa and Fuxi Other Stories:

In one version of their myth, soon after the birth of Nuwa and Fuxi, a great flood struck the earth, and only Nuwa and Fuxi remained unharmed after escaping by boat. As the years passed, and with only each other to keep themselves company, Nuwa and Fuxi longed for companionship. Unwilling to violate the laws of heaven by sleeping together as brother and sister, they prayed together seeking a sign of approval.

As they were the only humanoids of their kind left upon the earth, the Emperor of Heaven accepted their union. After mating, Nuwa gave birth to humanity, becoming the matriarch of mankind by giving birth to a ball of meat. Nuwa and Fuxi then divided the meat into pieces shaped as humans and scattered them across the world.

In another version of the creation tale, found in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Nuwa and Fuxi lived upon legendary Kunlun Mountain. Trying to keep warm on a cold night, the twins created two fires. As the fires burned, they eventually became one. While watching the fires merge, Nuwa and Fuxi joined together as husband and wife. Deciding that they would like to have children, they molded clay into the shape of humans. Using their powers to imbue the small figurines with life, Nuwa and Fuxi created humanity.

Duyi Zhi volume 3, written by LiRong over a thousand years ago, gives a slightly different account of the Chinese creation myth – “There was a brother and a sister living on the Kunlun Mountain, and there were no ordinary people at that time. The sister’s name was Nuwa. The brother and sister wished to become husband and wife but felt shy and guilty about this desire. So the brother took his younger sister to the top of the Kunlun Mountain and prayed: “If Heaven allows us to be man and wife, please let the smoke before us gather; if not, please let the smoke scatter.” The smoke before them gathered together. So Nuwa came to live with her elder brother. She made a fan with grass to hide her face. (The present custom of women covering their faces with fans originated from this story).”

"But most versions give sol credit of humanity's creation to Nuwa. But in some of those Fuxi is credited with introducing a number of innovations and inventions that made significant improvements to the lives of his wife’s beloved creations. One of these, for instance, is the invention of fishing and domesticating animals. "

Creation:

After the goddess Hauxu gave birth to Nuwa, Nuwa roamed the earth alone. The earth was young and teeming with life, filled with blossoming trees and flowers. The lush grounds were covered with many types of animals, the skies were filled with birds, and the seas were full of fish. But while the earth was beautiful, Nuwa felt very lonely, despairing that there was no one to accompany her.

While walking one day, Nuwa was struck by the idea of creating living beings herself. First, she made a new type of bird that could not fly away from her by creating chickens. Then she wanted to make an animal that would be a constant companion, and Nuwa created dogs. On the third day, she made sheep. Then pigs. Then cows. On day six, Nuwa made horses On day seven, while Nuwa walked along a riverbank, she stopped to admire her reflection. As she stroked the hair from her face, she was struck with inspiration and thought to make life forms that looked like her. Nuwa began to scoop and mold yellow clay into figures that had arms and could stand upright upon legs. As she worked the mud in her hands, the figures came alive and began to move and speak. Soon, the creations began to sing and dance around Nuwa while honoring her. All of the loneliness Nuwa had known went away.

Thrilled at her results and filled with passion for her creation, Nuwa desired to make more humans faster. She realized that she could drag rope across the mud and mass produce them, as creating every person individually was beginning to take too much time and hurting her hands. Soon she began to whip the rope, flinging mud and making people faster and faster.

The people Nuwa molded by hand became the wealthy nobility. The ones she made by dragging the rope became commoners. And finally, the ones Nuwa made by whipping the rope became the servant class. As she finished making the last batch of humans it began to rain. Because some of these figures had not yet dried, the rain began to mark them and melt them. The last batch of humans that Nuwa created were damaged by the rain, and thus were the ancestors of those with sickness and deformities.

"She molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay. In other stories where she fulfills this role, she only created nobles and/or the rich out of yellow soil. The stories vary on the other details about humanity's creation, but it was a tradition commonly believed in ancient China that she created commoners from brown mud."

The Pillars:

One of the enduring myths of Nuwa is that of the repairing of the Pillar of Heaven. In the early days of earth’s existence, The earth was separated from the sky by four large pillars which had once been the arms and legs of the creator god, Pangu.

During these early days, the god of water, Gong Gong, and the god of fire, Zhu Rong, had been at odds for many years. Unable to hold back their fury at one another, they engaged in battle to determine who would be the god of the heavens. As they fought, fires raged and floods began to destroy the new earth.

Gong Gong was finally subdued by Zhu Rong, but in his rage, he slammed his head against Buzhou Mountain, one of the four pillars of heaven that had once been Pangu’s leg. An earthquake shook the earth, and the pillar collapsed tearing a hole in the skies.

Looking upon the earth, Nuwa was filled with compassion for her children who were suffering. The new creation of earth had been torn to shreds from the battle between the water and fire gods. Fires burned out of control and water poured in a deluge from the hole in the sky. Nuwa desired to help her children, so she sought out the sky turtle, Ao.

Nuwa threw herself at Ao’s mercy, hoping for a miracle to save her many children. The sky turtle, feeling compassion for the mother of humanity, took Nuwa’s sword and cut off one of his legs, offering it as a substitute pillar. After leaving Ao, Nuwa collected five colored stones (red, yellow, blue, white, and black) and melted them together to repair the hole in the heavens, while using Ao’s leg to replace the pillar.

( The five-colored stones symbolize the five Chinese elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water)

Waters poured on her relentlessly as she pushed the leg into position, and once in place, she shoved the ashes of burnt reeds into the remaining holes to plug the leaks. After replacing the pillar and stopping the deluge, Nuwa fell exhausted upon the earth and died.

While many are familiar with the Chinese myth of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, some areas of south China revere Nuwa as one of the Three Sovereigns, reigning as Empress Wa after the death of Fuxi and the rise of Shennong.

Tying into China’s strong ancient matriarchal beliefs, after the reign of Fuxi, the Empress Wa’s rule was challenged by a neighboring tribal chieftan. After defeating the chief in battle, Nuwa dragged her enemy to the peak of Mount Buzhou. Filled with shame, the chief banged his head upon the mountain, tearing a hole in the sky.

As the waters poured from the heavens, the entire world soon flooded, killing all of creation except for her army which was protected by her godhood. Nuwa then found five colored stones and melted them together, patching the hole in the sky.

In other versions of the Pillar of Heaven myth, when Nuwa attempted to fix the sky with the five melted stones she soon found that there was not enough to fix the hole in the sky. Knowing there was no other choice, Nuwa used her own body to fix the remaining hole, sacrificing her life to keep her children safe. With the hole repaired the deluge ended, and humanity was able to thrive and multiply again.

"In all of the myths of the repair of the Pillar of Heaven, due to Ao’s leg being slightly shorter than the original pillars, Nuwa could not align the sky and earth the same as they were before. The sky slanted to the northwest. The earth slanted southeast.

Since the repair, the sun, moon, and stars all rise from the east and set to the west, and all of the rivers in China flow southeast. And due to the use of the multi-colored stones, the clouds of heaven now had different colors."

Other:

In southwest China, many of the minority groups still celebrate Nuwa as their primary goddess and honor her with the yearly Water-Splashing Festival. There are many temples to Nuwa and Fuxi, but the largest temple to the pair lies in Hebei Province, believed to be the ancestral home of all humanity.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, dated between the Warring States period and the Han dynasty, describes Nüwa's intestines as being scattered into ten spirits.

In Shuowen Jiezi (c. 58 – 147 AD), China's earliest dictionary, under the entry for Nüwa author Xu Shen describes her as being both the sister and the wife of Fuxi. Nüwa and Fuxi were pictured as having snake-like tails interlocked in an Eastern Han dynasty mural in the Wuliang Temple in Jiaxiang county, Shandong province.

In the collection Four Great Books of Song (c. 960 – 1279 AD), compiled by Li Fang and others, Volume 78 of the book Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era contains a chapter "Customs by Yingshao of the Han Dynasty" in which it is stated that there were no men when the sky and the earth were separated. Thus Nüwa used yellow clay to make people. But the clay was not strong enough so she put ropes into the clay to make the bodies erect. It is also said that she prayed to gods to let her be the goddess of marital affairs.

In Ming dynasty myths about the transition from the Shang dynasty to the Zhou dynasty, Nüwa made evil decisions that ultimately benefited China, such as sending a fox spirit to encourage the debauchery of King Zhou, which led to him being deposed. Other tales have her and Fuxi as exclusively the "great gentle protectors of humanity" unwilling to use subterfuge Another telling of that story is from the famed Ming Dynasty novel Fengshen Bang. Nüwa is revered since Xia dynasty for creating the five-colored stones to mend the heavens, which tilted after Gonggong toppled one of the heavenly pillars, Mount Buzhou. Shang Rong asked King Zhou of Shang to pay her a visit as a sign of deep respect. Upon seeing her statue, Zhou was completely overcome with lust at the sight of the beautiful ancient goddess Nüwa. He wrote an erotic poem on a neighboring wall and took his leave. When Nüwa later returned to her temple after visiting the Yellow Emperor, she saw the foulness of Zhou's words. In her anger, she swore that the Shang dynasty would end in payment for his offense. In her rage, Nüwa personally ascended to the palace in an attempt to kill the king, but was suddenly struck back by two large beams of red light. After Nüwa realized that King Zhou was already destined to rule the kingdom for twenty-six more years, Nüwa summoned her three subordinates—the Thousand-Year Vixen (later becoming Daji), the Jade Pipa, and the Nine-Headed Pheasant. With these words, Nüwa brought destined chaos to the Shang dynasty, "The luck Cheng Tang won six hundred years ago is dimming. I speak to you of a new mandate of heaven which sets the destiny for all. You three are to enter King Zhou's palace, where you are to bewitch him. Whatever you do, do not harm anyone else. If you do my bidding, and do it well, you will be permitted to reincarnate as human beings." With these words, Nüwa was never heard of again, but was still a major indirect factor towards the Shang dynasty's fall.

Nüwa and Fuxi were also thought to be gods of silk

LMK:

Long ago, Nüwa sculpted humanity out of clay and mud. She believed her children would not survive the primordial sea of chaos, so she built the Pillar of Heaven and forged the cycles to protect them. But, a cataclysmic event left the pillar shattered. Nüwa crafted five-colored stones and reconstructed the pillar back to its original state. She entrusted four stones to the Four Symbols: the Vermillion Bird, the Black Tortoise, the White Tiger, and the Teal Dragon, the final one to be guarded by the Jade Emperor. After Monkey King's birth, Nüwa repurposed his stone to carry the Harbinger of Chaos. She was saddened by the creature's existence to sacrifice himself but knew that this was a necessary sacrifice to keep her children safe from the chaos beyond.

Thoughts:

Throughout the whole research into her real-world mythology. She has been credited for creating a few animals though monkeys are not mentioned that could be just my research or something else. But I actually found something similar to her pillar story number 3 that nearly matches the LMK version of her fixing the pillars. She was never in the JTTW. But some other thoughts on Nuwa and the pillars I think when she fixed the pillars she accidentally made Wukong. I don't remember where I read this but I think there was a version of JTTW that had the Jade Emperor say something about " Made with the essence of fragments of Godess Nuwas Power" Even if that might not be what I remember right. Maybe it could be in the LMK universe when the crew fought the Nine-headed demon, he used his chaos powers to bind them to certain sections of the wall.

MK is placed over his mural self, the silhouette of his destiny. And the others are placed over the sotnes that would later be them when they smashed them.

But then look at Wukong who is placed in Nuwas hand in the mural of her molding and creating humans.

This could be foreshadowing that it might be revealed and it might hold something of importance later. It might also explain why the goddess chose Wukong as the templet for her harbinger of chaos.

Other Media:

She does appear in the film "The Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven's Palace" and "Journey to the West II", both of which feature Nüwa creating Sun Wukong using one of the five-colored stones. The former film also features Nüwa sacrificing herself to rebuild Heaven, similar to her actions previous to Season 5.

Thnak you for reading if you have something i missed please leave it in the comments thank you :)

[journeytothewest-daily]

Further reading: Introductory texts to Buddhism, Taoism, The Tang Dynasty (when the story is set) and the Ming Dynasty (when it was written)

All available on the Internet Archive.

Buddhism

Old Path White Clouds by Thich Nhat Hahn

Stepping into Freedom: An Introduction to Buddhist Monastic Training by Thich Nhat Hahn

The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra by Thich Nhat Hahn

Elaborations on emptiness : uses of the Heart Sūtra by Donald Lopez

Classics of Buddhism and Zen : the collected translations of Thomas Cleary

Youtube channel with teachings I love: Longchenpa, Zen/Chan Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism.

Daoism

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

Tao Te Ching translated by Jonathan Star

What is Tao? by Alan Watts

The Zhuangzi

A video from a channel I really like

Tang Dynasty

China's Golden Age: Everyday life in the Tang Dynasty by Charles Benn

Women of the Tang Dynasty by May Holdsworth

Ming Dynasty

The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty by Albert Chan

A Tale of Two Melons: Emperor and Subject in Ming China by Sarah Scheewind

The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty by Shih Shan Henry Tsai

A Brief History of Chinese Fition by Lu Hsun

Enjoy the read.

[asksythe]

I read your tweet on how Wei Ying’s Guidao is orthodox cultivation based on real Guidao and that it’s descended from Bashu witchcraft. I’m very interested in that. Can you elaborate on it? What parts of WWX’s Guidao are based on real-life folklore? I’ve also seen people talk about how his cultivation is bad because it locks souls in their dead bodies. That doesn’t sound too credible to me, but I don’t know enough to be sure. 

Hmm… I’m not sure what you want me to elaborate on exactly. It’s a lot of materials to cover. Dry materials at that.

In any case, Guidao 鬼道 (Path of the Dead, Ghost Path) is a real-life orthodox cultivation. WWX’s Ghost Path, aside from sharing the name, has two main aspects that draw directly from real-life basis: 1/ the summoning, nurturing, and utilizing of ghosts or wraiths (in the novel, those would be the ghost lady and the ghost child that killed Wang Lingjiao and Wen Zhuliu. In the Donghua, they are represented as ghost brides), and 2/ commanding fierce corpses.

These two aspects are drawn from two different sources.

I. Maoshan Sect’s Guidao:

As I mentioned in the tweet, the ghost path belongs to one of the three main fulu orthodox schools of Daoism: the Maoshan Sect (the other two being Quanzhen and Zhengyi)

The earliest mentions of Ghost Path are in Han and Jin history records as well as the Three Kingdoms: Zhang Lu biography texts. These texts talk of a Daoist named Zhang Lingzhi, whose Daoism is called Guidao 鬼道. Zhang Lingzhi taught the people the way of ghosts and dao and raised an army. His soldiers and generals were called ghost soldiers and ghost generals. Zhang Lingzhi’s Daoism was itself descended from Bashu ethnic group witchcraft. Zhang Lingzhi founded the 天师道 Tianshidao School.

(Citation: Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences - “巴蜀的“鬼道”如何变成了道教?” - How did Bashu’s ghost path become Taoism? http://www.sass.cn/912/default.aspx If you want to dig deeper, you can contact the academy directly for their research paper.)

Tianshidao School underwent several name changes over the year. To this day, they are known under the name (or descended, as some would say) Maoshan Sect in Jiangsu Province.

Maoshan sect has four major specialties: talisman, array, sorcery, and the nurturing of ghost familiars. After the cultural revolution, Maoshan sect lost a lot of its scriptures and relics. But it has been around for literally thousands of years. So there are still things there. It’s not the titan it used to be, but it’s still very much a cultural icon. There are numerous movies, books, and games that draw from Maoshan history and legends. One of them happens to be a movie cited as MXTX’s inspiration for aspects of MDZS in the recent Subaru magazine.

(Mr. Vampire, the movie cited in Subaru magazine features the adventure of a Maoshan Daoist)

II. Tujia 土家族 ethnic group’s stiff corpse driving sorcery - Hunan:

The other aspect of WWX’s ghost path: the commanding of dead corpses by a warlock. In the same Subaru interview, MXTX also talked of folk legends of Jiangshi (stiff corpse, or commonly translated as Chinese hopping vampire) serving as the basis for her fierce corpse, ranging from things like general abilities, toxicity, and tricks like using rice gruel to cure their poison.

Jiangshi has been around since the Ming dynasty, but tales of warlock with the ability to command them originate from the Tujia ethnic group in Hunan.

A jiangshi warlock process the corpses, plaster them with paper talismans to restrain their ferocity, tie them in a row, and leads them using a bell that the warlock continuously rings.

(Hoppy hoppy! It's edgiest conga train!)

Well, I don’t think I need to point out the similarity between the real-life Tujia warlock and WWX’s corpse commanding ability.

This specific sorcery was created in a time of war, when young men died in far-off lands. Their families, wanting to bury them in their home soil, would pay a warlock to go fetch their corpses and walk these corpses all the way back to their home province.

These legends might seem very fantastic but the corpse walking part is a very real job that still existed until the last 50 years. It’s featured in Liao Yiwu’s real-life journalism record “The Corpse Walker”

(It's a really thrilling read. I got the physical copy over 13 years ago while I was in my last year at university. I recommend it.)

III. How does Tujia warlock (and WWX) supposedly command corpses?

Regarding the whole, did WWX lock people’s souls inside their dead bodies. Uh…. I don’t think so.

Why?

Because Chinese beliefs about souls are different from Western beliefs. In Chinese lore, a person has three souls and seven spirits (三魂七魄). The three souls represent the positive aspects of a person, with one soul literally being a divine spark. The seven spirits represent earthly taints and degradations and are bound to the body. When a person dies, the three souls will go to the heavens, the next life, and the underworld, respectively. The seven spirits, on the other hand, dissipate after death after 49 days.

This belief is shared in other Sinosphere nations as well and is featured in other media franchises. If you read Inuyasha, you will remember the Jewel of Four Souls and the Four Souls concept being a close relative to three souls seven spirits. In Vietnam, there is folklore of Ba Hồn Bảy Vía and rituals on how to call a person's soul home.

It’s these seven spirits that create Jiangshi. If the spirits do not completely dissipate, the corpse turns into a Jiangshi, a literal life vampire that has only the worst aspect of the dead person and who is forever hungering for life energy. It is these seven spirits that a Tujia warlock (and WWX) controls.

When you have this context, you can put the creation of Wen Ning in a different perspective, and why is it that it's such a big deal he retains his consciousness as a corpse.

(Citation: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%83%B5%E5%B0%B8/80733

[ryin-silverfish]

Chapter 12: What the monk doing?

Disclaimer: Not a Buddhist, just some Chinese nerd who has an academic interest in religious art and folklore.

-When Guanyin saw Xuanzang reciting scriptures for the Grand Mass, she went "So you know your Lesser Vehicles, but what about the Greater Vehicles?"

-Without going too deep into details: the "Lesser Vehicle" Buddhism (Hinayana/Theravada) is the older school of Buddhism that followed Sakyamuni's teaching more conservatively, and is mainly concerned with personal liberation from the cycle of transmigration, and was somewhat pejoratively referred to as such by later "Greater Vehicle" (Mahayana) Buddhists, who believed that practitioners could save others from the same cycle through the Path of Bodhisattvas.

-However, however, these dictionary definitions of the different Buddhist traditions had little to do with how JTTW's flavor of Buddhism defines "Lesser/Greater Vehicle".

-Let's take a look at the names of the scriptures: Sutra of Life & Deliverance from the Dead(受生度亡经), Heavenly Treasure Chronicle for Peace in the Nation(安邦天宝篆), Scroll on Merit and Self-Cultivation(劝修功卷).

-None of these names could be found in any official Buddhist canon, and Anthony Yu's footnote suggested they were made up by the novel's author. They aren't entirely fictional, tho.

-The first invokes a sort of folk religion apocrypha, which were all about the salvation of souls in the afterlife. A subset of those apocrypha books is called 寿生经, often falsely attributed to the historical Xuanzang, and the gist of its belief is…interesting.

-Basically, when people go off to reincarnate, they have to borrow money from the Underworld bureaus in order to become a human in their next life again. A sort of Pay-to-Reborn mechanics, if you will. So remember to burn paper money in life to save into your Underworld bank account, kiddos, bc the true face of Hell is capitalism all along.

-The other two had titles that were typical of surviving "Precious Scrolls", performative religious storytelling aimed at the largely illiterate masses. Also typical of Chinese folk religions, these stories were often a chowder pot of the most easy to understand + entertaining bits of Buddhism, Taoism and local tales, with a hefty dash of singing and folk operas.

-So, to JTTW's author, Lesser Vehicle = bastardized lay religion Buddhism, while Greater Vehicle = the scripture canons. Funnily enough, what he believed the True Scriptures TM could do——freeing the masses of the wrongful dead——is exactly what the "lesser" sort of Buddhism is crazy obsessed about.

-Which reminds me…in academic studies of JTTW, for a long time, the consensus is that JTTW's final author-compiler (who may or may not be Wu Cheng'en) was NOT well-versed in Buddhism at all("尤未学佛"), as Lu Xun had suggested , because of things like the nonsensical scripture names.

-However, newer research brought up a different hypothesis——the author wasn't well-versed in canonical scriptures, but he certainly possessed more than surface-level understanding of the Yogacara school and its ritualistic text.

-Now, Yogacara(瑜伽教) has a specific connotation in Ming dynasty religion. The way temple administration works, Buddhist monks were divided into three types: Chan (who meditated), Jiang (who studied scriptures and doctrines), and Jiao(Yogacara), who performed rituals and grand masses for the dead by secular request.

-Since they were the kind of monks laypeople are most familiar with, the line between Yogacara practice, similar Taoist rituals and folk religion was also the blurriest, creating a need to both promote and legitimize themselves. Which is a possible explanation for why JTTW's version of "Greater Vehicle" Buddhism shared the same general concerns and beliefs of folk religion, while also dissing the more outlandish Precious Scrolls stuff.

-Those who read the forewords to the Yu edition may know that the historical Xuanzang snuck himself outta China illegally, and would have never gotten Taizong's blessing or become his Royal Brother. However, the "Royal Brother" thing did have some basis in Xuanzang's biography, 大慈恩寺三藏法师传.

-When he travelled to the Kingdom of Gaochang, he was met with open arms by its king, Qu Wentai, who wished he could stay in his court forever. However, since Xuanzang was so determined to go to India, the king settled for sworn brotherhood instead and gifted him a royal entourage, just to make his future travels easier.

-Does this remind you of anything? (kingdom of women arc wink wink nudge nudge)

@journeythroughjourneytothewest

[all-asian-drama]

Please help me complete my mega ❤️ROMANCE❤️ drama list below!

Let me know if something has a sad (😢), happy (😊), bittersweet (🥹), or open (🤔) ending! Or feel free to add dramas

😊 - Happy Ending

🥹 - Bittersweet Ending

😢 - Sad Ending

🤔- Open Ending

Wuxia / Xianxia

- [ ] A Camellia Romance

- [ ] A Pamiliar Stranger

- [ ] A Step into the Past

- [ ] Ancient Poetry

- [ ] Ashes of Love

- [ ] Assassin Academy

- [x] Back From the Brink

- [ ] Be My Cat

- [ ] Beauty of Resilience

- [x] Believe in Love

- [ ] Blood of Youth

- [ ] Bloody Romance 😢

- [ ] Blooms At Ruyi Pavilion

- [ ] Buried City to Shut all

- [ ] Catch up My Prince

- [ ] Chef Hue

- [ ] Childe Xle's Wine

- [ ] Choice Husband

- [ ] Cinderella Chef

- [ ] Colourful Bone 😢

- [ ] Cry Me a River of Stars

- [ ] Dance of Phoenix

- [ ] Dance of Sky Empire

- [ ] Demi Gods & Semi Devils

- [ ] Destiny of the White Snake 😢

- [ ] Devastating Beauty 😢

- [ ] Duoluo Continent

- [ ] Eternal Love

- [ ] Eternal Love Rain

- [ ] Eternal Love of Dream

- [ ] Fake Phoenixes

- [ ] Fake Princess!

- [ ] Fighter of the Destiny

- [ ] Follow my Dear General

- [ ] For Married Doctress 😢

- [ ] Four Daughter from Luoyang

- [ ] Good and Evil 😢

- [ ] Handsome Siblings

- [ ] Heart of Loyalty

- [ ] Heavenly Sword & Dragon

- [ ] Heroes

- [ ] Hold on my Lady

- [ ] I'm a Pet at Dali Temple

- [ ] I've Fallen For You

- [x] Immortal Samsara 😊

- [ ] Investiture of the Gods

- [ ] Journey of Chong Zi

- [ ] King is Not Easy

- [ ] Lady in The Butcher's House

- [ ] Legend of Awakening 😢

- [ ] Legend of Condor

- [ ] Legend of Fuyao

- [ ] Legend of Lin Ye

- [ ] Legend of Phoenix

- [ ] Legend of Xiao Chuo

- [ ] Legend of Yunxi 😢

- [ ] Legend of Zu

- [ ] Legends

- [ ] Letter from cloud

- [ ] Life of a White Fox

- [ ] Lights

- [ ] Listening Snow Tower

- [ ] Love Behind the Melody

- [x] Love Better Than Immortality 😊

- [x] Love Between Fairy and Devil 😊

- [ ] Love By Hypnotic

- [ ] Love a Lifetime

- [x] Love and Redemption 😊

- [ ] Love for Two Lives

- [ ] Love is All

- [ ] Love is more than a word

- [ ] Mald Escort

- [ ] Ming Dynasty 😢

- [ ] Mirror: Tale of Twin Cities 😢

- [ ] Miss Truth

- [ ] Miss the Dragon

- [ ] My Lucky Princess

- [ ] My Poison Lover

- [ ] My Sassy Princess

- [ ] My Villain Husband

- [ ] New Proud Smiling Wanderer

- [ ] Nirvana in Fire

- [ ] Novoland: Bagle Flag

- [ ] Novoland: Castle in Sky 😢

- [ ] Novoland: Pearl Eclipse 😢

- [ ] Oh My General 😊

- [ ] Oh my Lord!

- [ ] One and Only 😢

- [ ] Order of the Sommelier

- [ ] Princess Agents

- [ ] Princess Agents 😢

- [ ] Princess Silver

- [ ] Queen of Attack

- [ ] Rewriting Destiny

- [ ] Royal Rumours

- [ ] Sassy Beauty

- [ ] Side Story fox Volant

- [ ] Slaying Sabre

- [ ] Song of Glory

- [ ] Song of Youth

- [ ] Song of the Moon

- [ ] Stand By Me

- [ ] Sword Dynasty

- [ ] The Blue Whisper

- [ ] The Flame's Daughter

- [ ] The Great Ruler

- [ ] The Immortal Prince

- [ ] The Joy of Life 😢

- [ ] The Journey 😢

- [ ] The King of Blaze 😢

- [x] The Long Ballad

- [ ] The Lost Promise

- [ ] The Rebel Princess

- [x] The Starry Love 🤔

- [ ] The Sword and the Brocade

- [ ] The Taoism Grandmaster 😢

- [ ] The Wolf 😢

- [x] Till the End of the Moon 🥹

- [ ] Tribes & Empires

- [ ] Truth of Immortality

- [ ] Truth or Dare

- [ ] Twisted Fate of Love

- [ ] Unique Lady

- [ ] Warm on a Cold Night

- [ ] Weaving a Tale of Love Mengfel Comes Across

- [ ] Who Rules the World

- [ ] Word of Honor

- [ ] World of Fantasy

- [ ] Wulin Heros

- [ ] XuanYuan Sword:han Cloud

Historical

- [ ] A Girl Like Me

- [x] Believe in Love 😊

- [ ] Choice Husband

- [ ] Destiny of Love

- [ ] General & I

- [x] General’s Lady 😊

- [ ] Goodbye My Princess 😢

- [ ] Heart of Loyalty

- [ ] I'm a Pet At Dali Temple

- [ ] Jiu Liu Overlord

- [ ] King’s Woman 😢

- [x] Love Between Tiger and Rose 😊

- [x] Love Like the Galaxy 😊

- [ ] Love and Destiny

- [ ] Maiden Holmes

- [x] New Life Begins 😊

- [ ] Promise of Changan 😢

- [ ] Qing Luo

- [ ] Royal Rumors

- [ ] The Romance of Hua Rong

- [ ] Unchained Love

- [ ] Untouchable Lovers

Modern

- [ ] A Love So Beautiful

- [ ] A River Runs Through It

- [ ] A Romance of the Little Forest

- [ ] Accidentally in love

- [ ] Boss and Me

- [ ] Crush

- [ ] Fall in Love

- [ ] Falling Into Your Smile

- [ ] Feel at Ease Mr. Ling

- [ ] Flourish in Time

- [ ] GO Into Your Heart

- [ ] Gank Your Heart

- [x] Go Ahead 😊

- [ ] Go Go Squid 2

- [ ] Hi Venus

- [ ] Lie to Love

- [ ] Lighter and Princess

- [ ] Love O2O

- [ ] Love Scenery

- [x] Love is Sweet 😊

- [ ] Make My Heart Smile

- [ ] Memory of Encaustic Life

- [ ] Miss Crow with Mr. Lizard

- [ ] Moonlight

- [ ] My Lethal Man

- [ ] My Little Happiness

- [ ] My Unicorn Girl

- [ ] Nothing But You

- [ ] Oath of Love

- [ ] Once We Get Married

- [ ] Our Secret

- [ ] Perfect and Casual

- [ ] Put Your Head On My Shoulder

- [ ] She and Her Perfect Husband

- [ ] Skate Into Love

- [ ] South Wind Knows My Name

- [ ] The Big Boss

- [ ] The Brightest Star in the Sky

- [ ] The Day of Becoming You

- [ ] The Love You Give Me

- [ ] The Whirlwind Girl 😢

- [ ] The Youth Memory

- [ ] Timeless Love

- [ ] Unrequited Love

- [ ] When We Were Young

- [ ] You Are My Glory

- [x] You Are My Hero 😊

- [ ] You are my Destiny

Modern Supernatural

- [ ] Love Under The Full Moon 😢

- [ ] My Girlfriend is an Alien

- [x] Mr. Bad

[andersonvision]

Eureka Entertainment Brings "Two Taoist Tales" to Blu-ray for the First Time https://youtu.be/Dez0t9XBIx8?feature=shared Martial arts fans, rejoice! Eureka Entertainment is set to release "Two Taoist Tales" on Blu-ray for the first time ever. This double feature, including "Taoism Drunkard" and "The Young Taoism Fighter," will hit shelves on September 24th, showcasing the celebrated Yuen Clan's mad martial arts mayhem in stunning high definition. What to expect from Two Taoist Tales: Brand new 2K restorations of both films Limited edition O-card slipcase (first 2000 copies) Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub New audio commentaries by East Asian film experts Exclusive interviews with director Yuen Cheung-yan These cult classics blend horror, fantasy, comedy, and martial arts, offering a unique glimpse into 1980s Hong Kong cinema. With jaw-dropping fight sequences and fantastical imagery, "Two Taoist Tales" is a must-have for any martial arts film enthusiast. Pre-order your copy now to secure the limited edition collector's booklet, featuring new writings on Taoist-themed martial arts films.

[screen1ne]

TWO TAOIST TALES (Eureka Classics) Special Edition Coming to Blu-ray 23rd September

Eureka Entertainment to release TWO TAOIST TALES (TAOISM DRUNKARD and THE YOUNG TAOISM FIGHTER), a couple of crazy kung-fu extravaganzas from the first family of Hong Kong martial arts, the Yuen Clan. Presented in their worldwide debuts on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restorations. Available, from 23 September 2024 in the UK and from 24 September in North America, as part of the Eureka Classics…

[gsmattingly]

"A Chinese Ghost Story" Review

Yesterday I watched "A Chinese Ghost Story" (1987) directed by Siu-Tung Ching. It stars Leslie Cheung as Ling Choi San, Joey Wang as Lip Siu Sin (as Tsu-hsien Wang), Wu Ma as Swordsman Yin Chek Ha and numerous others. From IMDb, "After a string of bad luck, a debt collector has no other choice than to spend the night in a haunted temple, where he encounters a ravishing female ghost and later battles to save her soul from the control of a wicked tree demon. "

This is a Xianxia movie. "Xianxia is a genre of Chinese fantasy that contains elements of Chinese mythology, Taoism, Buddhism, martial arts, traditional medicine and more. Xianxia stories often revolve around the tale or growth of a medical practitioner who involve themselves in supernatural affairs with gods, immortals, spirits, demons, ghosts as well as mythical creatures. The main focus of Xianxia drama should be to use one’s own power to punish evil and praise good."

This was an interesting and entertaining movie that was also sort of silly. There were lots of ghosts, there was a demon or two, there were swordsmen, there were bolts of magic flung here and there, and a young man and a ghost falling in love.

The release I watched was from Fortune Star Media. The subtitles were pretty abysmal. I could follow the story but there were lots of words missing or wrong, and much that just didn't make sense unless you thought about what they were attempting to say.

There were comical chases of bounty hunters looking for killers who had a bounty on their heads. The quality of the video itself and the audio that I couldn't understand were all good.

[xenofact]

Trees, Taoism, and Bigots

Recently I saw a certain member of a religious group refer to non-religious people as a social burden. I won’t name names, but the man says he’s Catholic. He belongs to a league of similar followers. Figure it out yourself.

Anyway, this culty creep’s opinion is actually very revealing. He states people who are not religious – and his form of religion – are a burden. He’s pretty damn close to the Nazi idea of “useless eater,” which tells me he’s not just awful, he’s probably afraid of demographic changes towards the non-religious in America. He wants to classify people not like him as a burden, as “not useful.”

Well, not useful to him, because a lot of religious organizations are just about turning people into tools so the bigwigs end up in power. Calling someone “useless” or a “burden” says outright that people should be “useful” to others, like a tool. It also is close enough to saying “non-useful” people should be eliminated.

This reminds me of Taoist tales of trees, and why “usefulness” is highly overrated. In Taoist lore I’ve encountered multiple tales of trees that are relevant to how people view each other. Let’s go into the two I’m familiar with, both of which I encountered in some form in the Chuang Tzu but have heard other variants.

First up is the tale of a carpenter and his apprentice. Seeing a tree, the carpenter comments how absolutely useless the tree is to he, the carpenter, so twisted and knotted and so on he couldn’t do anything with it. After they returned home, the spirit of the tree came to the carpenter and notes that it grew to be so old just because it was useless. The carpenter told his apprentice the experience.

I love this story because it notes that being useful means people may not just use you but use you up – but being useless may mean you live long.

The second tale involves a weird tree which is also useless due to it’s wood (sometimes it has giant useless leaves or huge but foul and inedible nuts). However one of the characters notes that the tree is actually quite useful – you plant it and you get lots of shade. Other stories may include parts of the tree – the weird leaves make great umbrellas, or the nut shells are big enough to use as a small boat.

I like this story because it notes that sometimes just leaving something alone may let you enjoy it as well. The tree is “useful” because you don’t try to use it.

These are great stories because they make you ask what is the use of usefulness? If it kills you off, what good is it? If just being is good, you’re valued but not used. We’d all be better off appreciating whats there (and less likely to destroy it).

I’m all for social cohesion and social responsibility. But turning people into tools, trying to constantly rank who’s “useful” means no cohesion, no responsibility, and eventually no society. We need to appreciate uselessness.

It also disarms people like the aforementioned bigots. It reminds us when someone starts talking how “useless” people are, how they’re “a burden” they’re not caring about people. They want us to be their tools.

Also, they’re assholes.

-Xenofact

[bigbadredpanda]

Helloo, would it be a possible interpretation that the ideals and mindset that wwx follows is close to the religion and practice of Taoism?

Hello! That’s a fascinating question and I wish I had more knowledge to delve deeper on the subject but I’m a bit more familiar with the philosophy/spirituality part of Taoism than with its religious practices and rites. As always, anyone is welcome to add to the discussion or correct me if I misconstrue something, this is a vast topic and I’m just an interested layperson!

Xianxia in itself is a literary genre rife with references to Taoism: the pursuit of immortality, the internal alchemy to form a golden core, the Taoist exorcisms to drive out evil spirits, Taoist incantations and talismans, etc... But that does not necessarily make cultivators Taoists.

At the heart of Taoism is the philosophy of espousing harmony with nature, with the self, with the Tao. It’s about simplicity, spontaneity, non-attachment to worldly desires. In the introduction of my copy of the Zhuangzi (庄子), one of the main Taoist texts, the translator chooses the hero Yu the Great to epitomise the “going with the flow instead of fighting against the current” attitude dear to Taoists. Yu the Great is a legendary figure whose father, Kun, was tasked by the emperor Shun to protect the country from floods. Kun built barrages and dykes that held momentarily the waters in check but they ended up bursting, causing a flood even more devastating. The emperor banished Kun and entrusted the son, Yu the Great, with the same mission. Yu the Great succeeded by digging canals to help the course of water and let it flow to the sea. Yu the Great is referenced several times in the Zhuangzi and, interestingly, Wei Wuxian himself takes him as a model when he challenges Lan Qiren in the classroom and sows the seeds of what would become the foundation of his demonic cultivation:

魏无羡道：“横竖有些东西度化无用，何不加以利用？大禹治水亦知，堵为下策，疏为上策。镇压即为堵，岂非下策……”

Wei Wuxian said, “Anyway, there are some things that cannot be liberated so why not make use of them? Yu the Great who controlled the waters knew that building barrages to block was ineffective and dredging canals to reroute was the superior method. Suppression counts as blocking, wouldn’t is also be considered ineffective...” (ch.14)

The carefree and unfettered part of Wei Wuxian’s nature does fit Taoist ideals, you even have the opposition of the more Confucian-oriented Gusu Lan Sect and its rigid abidance with rules and ethics. However, Wei Wuxian is at odds with a key concept of Taoism: the principle of non-action (无为 wuwei). It’s not passivity or laziness, it’s letting nature runs its course, letting things fall into place. Wei Wuxian is very much shown to be assertive, even wilful, when his mind and heart are set on one thing. He does not hesitate to take matters into his own hands and jump into action. That’s especially true of his younger self who would rebel instead of do nothing, his older and wiser self after he is reborn is a bit more circumspect and knows when to speak out and when to hold his peace. Non-action is seen as the guiding principle of an ideal ruler, without the interference of government meddling, the state would (hypothetically) flourish on its own. I’ve seen some good meta on both the Chinese and the English-speaking sides of the fandom that makes good arguments that it’s actually Lan Xichen who personifies best this concept (x). Speaking of other characters from MDZS that parallel Taoist parables, Nie Huaisang reminds of the good-for-nothing tree which is praised by Zhuangzi. Because it bears no fruit, no one tore its branches to strip the fruits from them, because its wood is of poor quality, no carpenters cut it down. It is left alone and it is able to live long.

The Tao Te Ching (道德经, Daodejing) expounds three basic virtues called the Three Treasures (三宝): compassion (慈), frugality (俭) and humility (不敢为天下先, lit. ‘daring not to put oneself before others’ or ‘daring not to be first in the world’). The first two are for sure among Wei Wuxian’s qualities but the last one is more contentious, not because he is arrogant or boastful but because he dares setting himself apart. The following analysis in from a commentary of the Taoist text:

The third treasure, daring not be at the world's front, is the Taoist way to avoid premature death. To be at the world's front is to expose oneself, to render oneself vulnerable to the world's destructive forces, while to remain behind and to be humble is to allow oneself time to fully ripen and bear fruit. This is a treasure whose secret spring is the fear of losing one's life before one's time. This fear of death, out of a love for life, is indeed the key to Taoist wisdom. (Ellen M. Chen) 

Wei Wuxian did not hesitate to ‘expose himself’ by being willing to be the first practitioner of demonic cultivation and in the end his downfall was at the hands of ‘the world’s destructive forces’, warmongering rumours and bloodthirsty hostility. Wei Wuxian is also not subject to fear of death, there are a few quotes that exemplify his carefree, devil-may-care mindset:

使我徒有身后名不如即时一杯酒。

Better have a cup of wine here and now rather than leave behind a posthumous good name. (ch.75 & Wei Wuxian’s CQL character song Qu Jin Chen Qing)

The quotation above comes from A New Account of the Tales of the World (世说新语), a collection of various anecdotes that was compiled in the 5th century, fittingly it’s from the “The Free and Unrestrained” (任诞) section.

生前哪管身后事，浪得几日是几日。

Why care about what happens after death while one is alive? Better live life to the utmost while one can. (ch.16)

I’m not sure if this one is a literary citation or not as I haven’t been able to track down a quote with this exact wording but it was very reminiscent to me to a chapter of the Liezi (列子), another Taoist text, attributes the following thoughts to the hedonist philosopher Yang Zhu:

One hundred years is the limit of a long life. Not one in a thousand ever attains it. Suppose there is one such person. Infancy and feeble old age take almost half of his time. Rest during sleep at night and what is wasted during the waking hours in the daytime take almost half of that. Pain and sickness, sorrow and suffering, death (of relatives) and worry and fear take almost half of the rest. In the ten and some years that is left, I reckon, there is not one moment in which we can be happy, at ease without worry. This being the case, what is life for? What pleasure is there? For beauty and abundance, that is all. For music and sex, that is all. But the desire for beauty and abundance cannot always be satisfied, and music and sex cannot always be enjoyed. Besides, we are prohibited by punishment and exhorted by rewards, pushed by fame and checked by law. We busily strive for the empty praise which is only temporary, and seek extra glory that would come after death. Being alone ourselves, we pay great care to what our ears hear and what our eyes see, and are much concerned with what is right or wrong for our bodies and minds. Thus we lose the great happiness of the present and cannot give ourselves free rein for a single moment. What is the difference between that and many chains and double prisons?

"Men of great antiquity knew that life meant to be temporarily present and death meant to be temporarily away. Therefore they acted as they pleased and did not turn away from what they naturally desired. They would not give up what could amuse their own persons at the time. Therefore they were not exhorted by fame. They roamed as their nature directed and would not be at odds with anything. They did not care for a name after death and therefore punishment never touched them. They took no heed of fame, being ahead or being behind, or the span of life."

The myriad creatures are different in life but the same in death. In life they may be worthy or stupid, honorable or humble. This is where they differ. In death they all stink, rot, disintegrate, and disappear. This is where they are the same. [...] The man of virtue and the sage die; the wicked and the stupid also die. In life they were Yao and Shun [sage-emperors]; in death they are rotten bones. In life they were Jie and Zhou [wicked kings]; in death they are rotten bones. Thus they all became rotten bones just the same. Who knows their difference? Let us enjoy our present life. Why should we worry about what comes after death?” (A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, trans. Wing-tsit Chan)

It’s quite a long extract so I highlighted the most relevant parts that echo Wei Wuxian’s ideas and in particular his motto in life:

是非在己，毁誉由人，得失不论 。

Right and wrong are decided by oneself, praise and condemnation depend on others, gains and losses are insignificant. (ch.75)

This is for me the defining quote of the novel that encapsulates the overarching theme of the story. This sentence is so popular that it’s the go-to quote on Wei Wuxian-related merch and it also features on the cover of the book in simplified Chinese.

We find in the Yang Zhu chapter of the Liezi the same ‘carpe diem’ attitude, the nonchalance about death, the disregard of social conventions and the futility of reputation. Nevertheless, Yang Zhu does not exactly have a place with other Taoist thinkers as he promotes acting in self-interest, a form of ethical egotism that does not take heed of other people’s benefit. The translator from the extract above calls it ‘negative Taoism’. As we are well aware, Wei Wuxian has a much more benevolent and altruistic outlook:

我娘说过的，你要记着别人对你的好，不要去记你对别人的好。人心里不要装那��多东西，这样才会快活自在。

My mom said that you should remember the kindness you received from others and not the kindness you gave. That's the only way to find happiness and be free as the heart can only carry so much. (ch.113)

Wei Wuxian’s life philosophy is about remembering the good you've been granted and keep giving without expecting anything in return. If you let yourself to be fettered by bad memories, if you dwell on the past, negative feelings like anger and envy will take roots in your heart. It takes great courage and integrity to be able to move on from painful experiences without holding grudges and retain the ability to greet the future with a smile.

These themes remind me of the lyrics of the song Enlightenment (悟) from the film Shaolin,《新少林寺》, it’s a moving song that draws a lot from Buddhist influences:

为何君视而不见 规矩定方圆

Why do you look without seeing and let conventions decide the rules?

悟性 悟觉 悟空 心甘情愿

I open my heart, coming to my senses and awakening to emptiness

放下 颠倒梦想 放下云烟

Let go of your confused dreams, let go of the things fleeting like mist

放下 空欲色 放下悬念

Let go of idleness, desire, pleasure, let go of the trouble weighting your heart

多一物 却添了 太多危险

One thing more adds too much danger

少一物 贪嗔痴 会少一点

One thing less and vices will be alleviated [lit. ‘greed, aversion, delusion’, the Three Poisons in Buddhism]

唯有 心无挂碍 成就大愿

Only with a heart without worries can your wishes be accomplished

唯有 心无故 妙不可言

There is no greater marvel than an unburdened heart

This ended up to be such a long-winded and maybe inconclusive answer but to me, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, have all deeply shaped Chinese customs, ideas and culture with sometimes no clear boundaries where one begins and the other ends. Wei Wuxian’s ideals, his free-spiritedness and his probity, are reflected in these different schools of thoughts and spiritual currents but there is not a single all-encompassing one that matches him to a tee. In the end, what perhaps defines him best is his name that befits his nature, Wei Ying, the guileless innocence of a child, someone who can cheerfully go through life with a clear conscience and an unburdened heart.

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Folklore - Fey and Ghosts

Another topic I'm surprised I haven't gone in depth with yet.

There are a lot of parallels between these two groups of paranormal entities. As a heads up, the majority of the fey lore I'll be mentioning is from the British Isles. Fey-like creatures do exist in many cultures, but I'm not as familiar with them. Both Fae and Fey are correct, I just prefer the latter spelling.

Also, this is a long post. There are things I might have missed. Feel free to add on things.

Although partial inspirations can be guessed in some instances, the origin of the fey has been lost to time. One theory is that the fey may once have been psychopomps, which are entities that help guide the soul to the afterlife. Even into the 1800s in Ireland, occasional stories of fairies being able to show those grieving their dearly departed, but at a cost. Those stories often end with the sudden and premature death of the one who had been grieving.

There's an interesting tale called "Teig O'Kane and the Corpse" from Ireland. In the tale, Teig comes across one of the Fair Folk carrying a corpse. Due to lack of respect, Teig ends up being forced to bury the corpse for the fey. The fey describe finding the final resting place of the corpse a job which seems to strengthen the psychopomp connection. You also have the stories of fey foretelling the death of humans with Banshee being the most well-known.

Then there are the stories about them possibly being created from souls of the dead, particularly children. This pops up in different regions, and it's possible the Christian belief in limbo helped shaped it. Limbo is a place between heaven and hell where unbaptized souls and those 'too bad for heaven and too good for hell' reside (Purgatory is a different place where sins are cleansed prior to traveling to heaven. Often described as fiery). Children who passed away before baptism were sometimes directly said to become pixies or will-o-the-wisps.

There's an odd tale in Scotland about Malekin of Dagworth Hall. The legend talks about a family 'adopting' a fey child. This entity was noticeably mischievous and would move and take things. He stated he was a human child taken by the fey and would be returned to the human world after seven years. Centuries later, folk who tried to live in there experienced things that they described as a more traditional negative poltergeist-like haunting. Interestingly, invisible fey are often reported to have poltergeist-like tendencies. If they're happy, it's more mischievous and harmless, but if angered, they can do a lot of damage.

Many fey are also associated with burial mounds. Normally, those are considered to be entrances to the fey realm. Then there's Tomnahurich, which is a Cemetery in Scotland. Both humans and fey are said to be buried there as well as being a home for fey. Also, some researchers have stated that Celtic descriptions of the afterlife and the fey realm seem to describe the same place. Also, one of the days where they are reported to be most active is Halloween which is said to be the day where the living and dead walk among each other.

There are food parallels as well. It was common to give fey food offerings to keep them happy and placated. Not doing so would invoke their wrath. They were said to take the essence of the food making it unfit for humans and animals and is unlucky to eat after them. We see similar practices in different cultures. One of the most prominent is the Hungry Ghost festival in Buddhism, Taoism, and other folk religions in East Asia. Offerings are left to those souls to help satiate them, and if not, they can bring misfortune. It's also considered very unlucky to eat those offerings.

Another food parallel is eating in the fey world. Most legends that mention it state to never take food from the fey as it traps you in their realm. This is very similar to the myth of Hades and Persephone with the pomegranate seeds, and it was believed in different places that if a living being ate the food of the realm of the dead, they'd be forever trapped there. Going back to fey lore, there are legends that state that people who have returned to the human world after eating the food have crumbled to dust upon arrival.

There are also stories that suggest the fey need human nourishment (either life force, milk, or blood) to survive. In the Changeling stories, the fey that replaced the baby seems to need to the obvious mother's milk for an unclear reason. There are several stories of women being abducted to be a wet nurse for infant fey. You also have stories of the Baobhan Sith, a vampire-like fey. In parts of central and eastern Europe, you have creatures that are a weird combination of ghosts and zombies that steal blood or the life force of their victims. In Greece, some Epics talk of feeding blood to the Shades of the Hades to help them remember their lives so they can assist the heroes. There are other entities world wide said to abduct and kill humans for sustenance around the world, but most are more described as a monster or spirit as opposed to a ghost.

Then there are the abductions. Fey are well known for taking humans to somewhere. Sometimes they return them. Sometimes they don't. The reasons vary from story to story. In modern paranormal tales, ghosts aren't usually said to take people, but the stories do pop up from time to time. However, those stories usually describe the culprits as spirits, which are not necessarily ghosts. Shadow men, in particular, have a reputation as possible abductors.

I think that's it for now. This was supposed to be a brief description. Sigh

[tamingwangxian]

Chapter 29! 
There’re a lot of Taoism/Buddhism references in this chapter so we have 16 footnotes this time. The most noteworthy would be meaning of 散人 (sanren). Just to clarify, it absolutely does not translate to “wanderer”. It has two meanings; (i) a person who is simple, useless and disregarded by the world, or (ii) a free-spirited and unrestrained person who is unconcerned with the world.

We’ve explained the first meaning in our footnotes, and the second meaning’s explained in the video that we’ve subbed We’ve also included an explanatory video on the Hossu (Horsetail whisk).


Transcript of the video:

0:00 - 0:10 In CQL, Wei Wuxian’s mother is Cangse Sanren. His Shizu (mother’s teacher) is Baoshan Sanren. (师祖 (Shi Zu) - the father of one’s teacher, or one’s teacher’s teacher.) Although they only appeared briefly, but many are curious, what does “Sanren” mean exactly? 

0:20 - 0:41 “Sanren” first appeared in the works of Mozi and Zhuang Zhou (Zhuang zi). The Tang Poet Lu Guimeng “Jianghu Sanren”, has written in “The Tales of the Jianghu Sanren” - the scattered people of the world, scattered in the form of the heart, mind, form and spirit. to be free and without restrain. [江湖（Jiang Hu) - loosely refers to the “world” or “country” (ie.闯江湖 (Chuang Jiang Hu) - to travel around the country) This refers to people who are idle, relaxed and unrestrained. This is an apt description of Wei Wuxian’s mother’s personality. 

1:06 - End “Sanren" is frequently used in Taoism. Quanzhen Taoism is divided into the Northern Qizhen and Southern Qizhen. The sole female practitioner in the Northern Qizhen, also the founder of the Quanzhen Taoism Qingjing Branch, Sun Buer; her Taoist title was “Qingjing Sanren”. [“清静” (Qing Jing) - Tranquility]. Another member of Northern Qizhen, Master Wang Chuyi, had the Taoist title of “Xuanjing Sanren” [“玄靖 (Xuan Jing)” - a state of peace]. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a Neidan theorist named Baiyu Chan. He’s also a member of the Southern Qizhen. His Taoist title was “Wuyi Sanren” [”武夷 (Wuyi) “- This refers to Wuyi Mountain]. There are scholars who like to be addressed as “Sanren”. Luo Guanzhong, the author of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, adopted the Taoist name “Huhai Sanren” [“湖海“ - to travel the world and not to be restrained by politics]. Feng Menglong, the author who wrote the “Sanyan” segment of “Stories Old and New“ adopted the Taoist name of "Guqu Sanren” [“顾曲 (Guqu)“ - to enjoy music and opera]
Enjoy!

[yoga-onion]

Hindu Mythology & Deities

- Hindu deities (31)-

Nezha (Nalakubara)

In Buddhism, Nakrabala is a Nezha. Nezha is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion and a boy god revered in Taoism. He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" after he became a deity. They wear garments shaped like lotus flowers and leaves, carry weapons such as a circular throwing weapon, a mixed-weapon twill, and a fire lance, and ride on a vehicle in the shape of two wheels, releasing fire and wind as it flies.

The figure of a man who fights on two wind and fire wheels is familiar from folk tales and novels such as "Investiture of the Gods" and "Journey to the West",and is also represented in Taoist temples in this manner.

インド神話と神様たち

−ヒンドゥー教時代からの神々(31)–

哪吒（ナクラーバラ）

仏教では、ナクラーバラは哪吒（なた）である。哪吒は、道教で崇められている少年神であり、中国の民間宗教における保護神である。神格化した後は「蓮花三太子」の称号を与えられた。 蓮の花や葉の形の衣服を身に着け、円環状の投擲武器や魔力を秘めた布、火を放つ槍などの武器を持ち、火と風を放ちながら空を飛んで戦う姿は『封神演義』『西遊記』などの民間説話や小説などでなじみ深く、道教寺院でもこのような姿で表される。