#carved ruyi

[mote-historie]

Cartier Paris, Vanity Case, ca. 1927; Produced by Cartier (Paris, France); Manufactured by Henri Lavabre (French); Lapis lazuli, carved jade, carved ruyi, coral, diamonds, lacquer, mirrored plate glass, gold, platinum; 9.9 × 5.2 × 1.7 cm (3 7/8 × 2 1/16 × 11/16 in.);

Photo: Doug Rosa

Jeweled Splendors of the Art Deco Era: The Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection features exquisite work from premier jewelry houses of Europe and America – among them Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Lacloche Frères, Boucheron and Bulgari – dating from 1910 to 1938.

[yunsound]

Chinese Mythology: The Four Dragon Kings

Does anyone remember Ao Guang? Or the other three Dragon Kings? Or did anyone watch Ne Zha 2025?

You may then know of the Four Dragon Kings of Ancient China (四海龙王). 

Historically all four of them are male- some recent adaptations will show one (or more) of them as female just for fun. China, even in ancient times, did not have four seas around it- the four dragon kings each correspond to a body of water in the cardinal directions. 

Ao Guang

The big guy, Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East, does have a “sea”: the East China Sea. 

A carving of Ne Zha fighting Ao Guang (we all remember how that went, right?)

We know and love Ao Guang since he’s the one who got Ne Zha killed (after both he and his son got their asses beat) and is also the guy who gave Sun Wukong his mythical weapon, the Ruyi Jingu Staff (maybe will make a post on mythological weapons at some point).

His third son, Ao Bing, is famous for getting his tendons plucked out by Ne Zha.

Subtitles: I'll pull your tendons out, see if you can still hurt anyone after this! (sorry for Ne Zha being kind of naked, he's a kid who was just taking a bath)

Ao Guang is the biggest, most powerful Dragon King.

In the Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods post here), he’s a big dickhead who forces people to give him offerings or he’ll bring them drought and disaster. He’s very powerful, and is the leader of the Four Dragon Kings.

He’s also the sexy dragon dilf dad in Ne Zha 2. 

I just cannot get over this character design, oh my goodness.

Ao Run

Ao Run, pronounced Ow Rwen (also sometimes called Ao Ji) is the Dragon King of the West. 

He does not have a “sea”: in fact, he rules over the biggest lake in China, Qinghai Lake. It’s big enough that we consider it a sea, I guess. It used to be considered an actual sea (like, connected out to the open ocean) probably because it’s huge, but it was probably never actually a sea. 

Lake Qinghai has shrunk a lot. You can tell in this picture: right now it’s about the size of Trinidad.

See all that dry land? Used to be lake.

It’s very blue, which is why it’s called Qinghai 青海 (blue sea). Qing generally refers to a bright blue-teal shade. 

Ao Run’s son, Ao Lie, is the dragon that is sentenced to death by the Jade Emperor for setting fire to Ao Run’s palace accidentally and destroying a whole bunch of stuff. In the end, Guanyin Pusa spares Ao Lie’s life and sends him on the Journey to the West with Wukong, Tangsen, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. You may recall that Tangsen had a big fancy white horse- that’s Ao Lie!

You may notice in this picture everyone else's names are labeled except for the horse. It's kind of sad- he's a little irrelevant.

A huge downgrade, from being a fancy dragon prince to a horse, but you can’t say he didn’t deserve it. 

He's also featured in Fei Ren Zai (a very funny comic/animation series about mythical figures in modern-day also featuring Ne Zha, Wukong and Erlang Shen).

You may remember Ao Run from Ne Zha 2, 2025 as the sexy dragon lady with the killer sky-splitting manicure. 

Sorry, she did things to me when I first saw her appear in her human form.

Ao Shun

Ao Shun, pronounced Ow Shwen, is the Dragon King of the North.

He also does not have a “sea”, like Ao Run. His patron body of water is what’s now known as Lake Baikal (Wikipedia better not fail me, I actually had no idea where the North China Sea was supposed to be). 

Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, it’s right up there in the south part of Siberia. North enough for you?

Back when the Han dynasty was fighting the Xiongnu (the Huns in Disney’s Mulan, basically), they beat the Xiongnu in a battle here. They saw this huge-ass lake, and decided they’d refer to it as the North China Sea. Lake Baikal is larger than Belgium. A little scary, no?

In Ne Zha 2, he was the freaky purple-green guy with blades all over his body. You may remember him fighting Ao Bing in a very exciting battle sequence. I’m not aware of any myths where he’s of any significance. 

A hard pass. Sorry, second uncle. Your big brother and younger sister are much hotter.

Ao Qin

Ao Qin, pronounced Ow Chin (敖钦) is the Dragon King of the South.

The South China Sea of recent geopolitical tension fame is in fact a sea. Other than Ao Guang, he’s the only one with an actual sea. There’s not much to say about Ao Qin, he’s not that relevant.

If you remember him from Ne Zha 2, he’s the big red one who’s dumb as bricks..

The Four Dragon Kings are really not that important aside from Ao Guang and Ao Run. Ao Guang is a key mythological figure- he appears in many myths, and is a semi-major character in Journey to the West.

Ao Run contributes mainly by giving Tangsen a horse in the form of his son. Poor Ao Lie. 

In the 1979 Ne Zha Conquers the Sea, they are all seen briefly scheming with Ao Guang to go Karen-style and ask for the manager (Jade Emperor).

They're all siblings (since they have the same last name, Ao), with Ao Guang being the oldest brother. The order of ages past that is a little harder to figure out- from what I know, their ages are

Ao Guang

Ao Shun

Ao Qin

Ao Run

I actually don't know where Ao Run is in the ranking, I just know Ao Qin is younger than Ao Shun. As such, Ao Run could be either the youngest, the second youngest or the third youngest.

[journeytothewestresearch]

I was wondering if you have any knowledge on both the Bull Demon King's steed, The Water Repelling Golden Crystal Beast, and his brother the Immortal Ruyi. I read that they both exist in JTTW but I can't find much information about them at all beyond that and I was curious to know more if you knew anything about them?

The Bull Demon King's steed, the "Water-Repelling, Golden-Eyed Beast" (Bishui jinjing shou, 辟水金睛獸; a.k.a. Jinjing shou, 金睛獸, "Golden-Eyed Beast"), appears in chapters 60 and is referenced in chapters 61 and 63. It is never described, and I don't believe that it appears in any other chapters. The only things we know are: 1) It can freely travel through water; 2) It will let anyone ride it. For instance, Sun Wukong hops on it without first magically disguising himself; and 3) It has a carved saddle.

The picture below is just an artist's interpretation. It looks like a mix between a dragon and a lion.

As for the Bull Demon King's brother, the "True Immortal Compliant" (Ruyi zhenxian, 如意真仙), I write about his arc here:

[thescarlettempress]

Taglist under the cut. Interact with my current pinned post if you want to be added to it!

@anonduckling @denesesavage @tiny-librarian @ruyi-years @thevampireconcept @kokokrispies @rk800f @daydreamingofher @dutifullyoptimisticdeer @devilishminx328 @thegildedacorn @caesaranthoniozepeli @patpranlove @bloodisonthedancefloor-blog-blog @paperfishlantern @nekonero @unluckyleprechaun @ineffable-avocado @applepie1000 @servetolive @galaxy--supernova @sakuramarie @svegliatelovesworld @meyeur204 @rxozes @oliviaslabyrinth @whoyoucallinpinheaddirtydan @brazilianreader @unabashedlykitty @cosmic-cares @viviandarko

Thank you all for interacting, I hope you'll enjoy the upcoming story

[fancydreamland999999]

Hetian jade hand-carved poem Ruyi statue

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1542898109/38203-hetian-jade-hand-carved-poem-ruyi?click_key=46f70de0e32fe5991fcabb1eb585ade527201c73%3A1542898109&click_sum=bb63c93e&ga_search_query=38203&ref=shop_items_search_1&frs=1

[quanronggallery]

Superb Chinese Qing Dynasty Hetian Jade Carved Ruyi Statue

[yongpingren]

Ruyi Collection, Gugong Museum

Qing dynasty

2、黄杨木嵌金蝠珠石如意

3、红珊瑚云蝠灵芝纹如意

4、本雕九九如意-菊花纹如意

5、木嵌各种玉���瓜果灵芝式九九如意

6、翡翠灵芝式如意

7、青玉竹凤纹如意

8、紫檀柄金瓦嵌宝石如意

1. Silver-plated silk jade tiles inlaid with beads and stones Ruyi

2. Boxwood inlaid with golden bat beads and stone Ruyi

3. Red Coral Cloud Bat Lingzhi Pattern Ruyi

4. This carving has the meaning of Ruyi - chrysanthemum pattern.

5. Wood inlaid with various jade, melons and fruits, Ganoderma lucidum style ninety-nine good luck

6. Jade Lingzhi Style Ruyi

7. Blue Jade Bamboo Phoenix Pattern Ruyi

8. Rosewood handles and gold tiles inlaid with precious stones Ruyi

[janegillespie]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Certified untreated Green Natural A Jade jadeite Pendant PiXiu RuYi 2792 5*****.

[angelandgypsy]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Rare Red Jadeite Jade Hand Carved 62mm Lotus Flower Ruyi Fish Bangle Bracelet.

[maman-louve07]

$19.9 ~ Natural jade Figurines carved Chinese Ruyi statue, Chinese Figurines, Jade Chinese Statues, Jade Chinese Figurines, Chinese Statues, Antique Chinese Figurines, Porcelaine Chinese Figurines, Porcelaine Chinese Statues, Antique Chinese Statues Find Out This Chinese Figurines

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

Sun Wukong's assorted lingpai (mandate tokens)

[ID: 1) An illustration of the two sides of a mostly rectangular lingpai made of wood. One side reads "令" and the other reads "弼马温", both written in seal script. The bottom of the lingpai is adorned by horses facing outwards, clouds by their feet.

2) An illustration of the two sides of a stone lingpai shaped mostly like a rectangle, but flared at the top and bottom. One side reads "令" and the other reads "美猴王", both written in seal script. The top of the lingpai is adorned with a dragon-pearl surrounded by flames and clouds. The bottom is adorned with mountains, the sea, and coral. The borders of both the top and bottom are decorated with clouds and flowers. The top is swirled in a way that resembles a lingzhi or a ruyi.

3) An illustration of the two sides of a red jade lingpai, shaped mostly like a rectangle but with a curved top. One side reads "令" and the other reads "齐天大圣", both written in seal script. The top of the lingpai is adorned by a ruyi with a flower and mountain at its center. Below the ruyi is a lotus flower, which sits on top of the forehead of a Yazi carving. Clouds extend out from either side of Yazi and below him are flowers. The two sides of the lingpai have the carvings of cloud pillars wrapped in a stylized waterfall. At the bottom are clouds which could also be the foam from the waterfall. Lotuses float atop this foam/these clouds. At the center of the bottom is a mountain with a ruyi at its foot. This ruyi also has a flower within it.

4) The lineart for the three lingpai, with accompanying commentary. The one labeled "BiMaWen" reads "carved and burned wood," "simple, only horses and clouds," and "ornamental, basically no power." The one labeled "Beautiful Monkey King" reads "carved from a chunk of Sun Wukong's stone egg," "customized from Ao family royal lingpai template," and "mostly sea, cloud, and dragon pearl imagery." The one labeled "Great Sage Equaling Heaven" reads "carved from red jade," "fully custom, in style of an emperor's lingpai but HuaGuo," and "flowers, waterfalls, mountains, ruyi, Yazi, and clouds imagery." At the side are simple doodles of the three lingpai. The first is light brown with a yellow cord, captioned "simple cord, no tassel." The second is grey with a red cord and tassel, captioned "silk cord and tassel." The third is red with a red cord and tassel, captioned "braided cord," "jade and gold accented." End ID]

[artsncosg]

Certified Natural Untreated Burmese Type A Highly Translucent Icy Jadeite Auspicious Lucky Ruyi Pendant（冰种翡翠如意吊坠） Natural Untreated Burmese Type A Highly Translucent Icy Jadeite Auspicious Lucky Ruyi Pendant - Untreated Type A Natural Burmese Icy Jadeite - Set In 18k Solid Gold With Diamond - Highly Translucent - Very Fine-grained - Collector Items - Hand Crafted - Zero Defects - Jadeite Size: 42.4mm x 25.3mm x 4.5mm 冰种翡翠如意吊坠 - 纯天然翡翠 - 完美零瑕疵 - 底妆细腻 - 买到赚到 翡翠如意 翡翠如意吊坠的头部多呈灵芝或者云形，给人一种和睦吉祥的感觉，寓意着好运连连，万事如意，福星高照，人们希望佩戴它能够保佑自己心想事成、幸福连连。 同时翡翠如意吊坠还具有驱魔辟邪、平平安安的寓意，常常被作为赠送给亲朋好友的佳礼，希望能够保佑他们事业有成、福泰安康。 http://nemb.it/p/mEDy6IejK/tumblr

[inkjadestudio]

Chinese Bird, Lotus and Ruyi Hair Stick Hair Pin With Freshwater Pearls

Exquisitely detailed Chinese hair stick features orchid branches set with luminous freshwater pearls, lotus, a tiny bird carved from shell as well as an auspicious ruyi sceptre (symbolizing that all your wishes will be granted) and a delicate dangle with cloisonne bead cap, quartz beads, tinted glass butterfly and quivering tassels.

Available at my webshop (better prices than Etsy): Ink Jade Studio

Etsy: Ink Jade Studio on Etsy

[journeytothewestresearch]

Sun Wukong’s Golden-Ringed Monk’s Staff

Sun Wukong's 13th-century counterpart, the "Monkey Pilgrim" (Hou xingzhe, 猴行���), uses a golden-ringed monk's staff (xizhang, 錫杖) to fight demons. It's shown capable of creating destructive blasts of light, as well as transforming into titanic creatures, including a giant, vajra club-wielding yaksha (likely Vajrapāni) and an iron dragon.

The golden rings would later influence those on the ends of his "As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff” (Ruyi jingu bang, 如意金箍棒) from the standard edition of Journey to the West.

I wanted to be cool like him, so I acquired this hand-carved, 12-ringed monk's staff from an HK-based Taiwanese seller. The dragons give it an otherworldly feel, something that a mythic hero like Monkey would use. I love it. I hope to get better pictures in the future. These don't do it justice.

The staff is quite heavy given its brass construction, so I imagine this was originally only carried during special holidays and rituals. I unfortunately don't know anything about its history. I was just told by the seller that he acquired it from a private collection. I'd love to know which monastery it originally belonged to.

[fancydreamland999999]

Hetian jade hand-carved Ruyi statue