#folk taoism

[daveykimy]

Chinese Folk Religion: Snowy edition

Recent snow storms where I live has got me thinking: is there a deity responsible for snowfall and winter in traditional Chinese religion?

You got Frau Perchta/Holle in Germanic folklore, Yuki-Ona in Japanese Shinto folk beliefs, Skadi in Norse Paganism, and Morana in Slavic mythology, but I haven't ever heard of such a figure from my elders growing up.

So for this one, I had to actually use my limited Mandarin skills to do research, along with some help from more fluent family members and friends.

It turns out there are more than one traditional winter & snow deities in Chinese folklore. The reason I personally didn't hear of any is because, again, Chinese folk religion is extremely regional. There are central major deities that are uniform but the rest all differs from region to region. Han Chinese people have always spread out across several climate zones, from tropical to sub-arctic. Understandably, Gods and Goddesses associated with weather will differ from region to region. My Chinese side of the family hailed from a region where snowfall isn't very common, and winter isn't normally extreme. But look towards regions north of the Yellow River, and it's more upstream valleys in the Han Chinese heartland, it's a different story.

Teng'Liu: The Spirit of Snow and Frost

The first deity I can find is a figure named Teng'Liu (藤六). This is a male deity associated with snow itself. The "Liu" part if his name is the Chinese character for 6. Snowflakes typically have six arms/branches regardless of pattern. In Chinese numerology, the number 6 is also a number with "extreme Yin energy" (极阴). Snow itself is a thing with a lot of Yin energy too, as it's formed from water. Those familiar with Chinese cosmology should be familiar with the element's association with the cardinal direction of North. Which, again, is attributed with Yin. Thus explains why many forms of his folk names contains the number 6.

There is a folk ritual (which thankfully hasn't been practiced in over a century), which in Northern villages they used to offer up a young girl to this snow deity as a gift to appease him. The unfortunate girl would be tied up in a sack and left to the elements in the cold.

Teng'Liu occurs often in poetic works of literature as a stand-in for "snow". A fitting example is a work from Song dynasty writer and poet Yang Wanli, where he mentions "The Azure Lady pulls along Teng'Liu, as the Sun wilts away as she shakes (him)"** The meaning is obvious, but he mentions an Azure Lady, which takes us to another deity.

Qing'nu (青女）: The Azure Lady

The second deity associated with snow and winter is a Goddess called Qing'nu, or "The Azure Lady", "The Lady in Turquoise", "The Lady in Blue", depending on the translation. She seems to be much more well-attested in ancient religious texts in addition to poetry and seems to predate the emergence of Teng'liu.

Attested in Huainanzi, a text compiled around 139 BC, "...three moons into autumn, Qing'nu emerges (from her home), and makes frost and snow fall..."

She is also mentioned as having white hair in a lot of classical Chinese poetry.

In traditional Chinese folk beliefs, Qing'nu resides in the moon and is a companion/handmaiden of the Moon Goddess Chang'E (嫦娥). Every year at the end of autumn, she will emerge from the moon palace to perform her duty: to bring winter, frost, cold, and snow. She will descend upon Mount Qing'yao (青要山), where she will bathe in the waters there to purify herself. She will then start playing her seven-stranded lyre and snow and frost will fall upon the earth to cleanse the land of impurities and diseases (until they come back next summer).

BTW Mt. Qing'yao is an actual mountain in Henan Province. The mountain itself does play a rather big role in traditional beliefs and in Taoism. In fact, there is a hill adjacent to the mountain named Qing'nu's Peak (青女峰), where on the peak there stands a pillar-like rock. In local folklore they say that lone pillar looks like a slender lady, standing atop the mountains looking down upon the earth. It marks where the Goddess herself stands every year to bring winter. The locals call it "the maiden's rock" (闺女石).

Legend has it there was once a gorgeous palace at the foot of this mountain where Qing'nu would stay in temporarily during winter. This could possibly be a reference to some type of structure used as a shrine or temple. Today only the spring that flowed in the palace remain. The very spring that, according to folklore, that the Goddess herself bathes in to purify herself. Today, young ladies from around would make pilgrimage to that spring to welcome her arrival on 14th day of the ninth month. A second pilgrimage would also be made on 13th day of the third month as she is supposed to leave and return to the moon. (the dates are the dates in the Chinese lunar calendar).

From these we can see while those deities are all associated with snow, they are seen by the people as very different. Teng'liu is very embodiment of the weather phenomenon, kind of like Jack Frost in American folklore. The fact there were rituals to appease him means that he is seen as a very unpredictable and volatile force. A spirit which has to be controlled under strict orders from a higher Celestial deity (天神): Qing'nu. Think of her as the Chinese counterpart to Frau Holle, a spirit attributed to making snow fall but not the snow itself. Or rather, think of those two like Helios and Apollo in Greco-Roman mythology. One being the sun itself and the latter being the one who pulls the sun across the sky.

This was fun, i hope all you folks who are trying to connect to their ancestral beliefs found this useful.

**translation might be off, sorry. Middle Chinese is difficult even for fluent speaker who studies old literature, plus this was Middle Chinese in it's poetic form.

[journeytothewestresearch]

An influence on Sun Wukong's medical knowledge

As I write in this article, Sun Wukong showcases his medical knowledge in chapter 69 when he analyzes an ailing king’s pulse from afar using three magic hairs-turned-golden threads. This is no doubt based on the story of the “Grand Emperor of Protecting Life” (Baosheng dadi, 保生大帝), the Daoist and folk religion god of medicine, curing an empress using the same method:

During the reign of Chengzu (1403-21), the Empress Wen suffered from an inflamed breast. A Taoist priest offered his skills, but the Emperor tested him by having him take her pulse with a string held on the other side of her bedroom wall. First the Emperor attached it to a cat. The Taoist said, “Not a bear, no not bear, it’s a cat.” Then the Emperor tied the string to a doorknob. The Taoist said that it was something of metal and wood, and not a human pulse. Finally, the Emperor tied the string to the woman’s breast and the Taoist said that the liver pulse was inflamed and the blood clotted, and that this indicated a breast infection which had to be treated by moxibustion. He offered to perform the operation by dangling a cord over the wall. He cured the ailment and vanished, refusing a reward of gold and office. In He Qiaoyuan’s version, the Emperor inquired about his name and discovered that he was the long-deceased Divine Doctor Wu Tao. In gratitude, the Emperor enfeoffed the god as Wanshou wuji baosheng dadi (Emperor Who Protects Life of Limitless Longevity) (Dean, 2014, p. 74).

What’s interesting is that this legend carried over into religious practices. A reader who contacted me in 2022 explains:

I observed a practice at [Sidian Xingji Temple (祀典興濟宮)] in Tainan where an individual would let the god Baosheng dadi check their pulse by resting three sticks of incense on their forearm. The temple brochure also mentions this procedure.

A detail from the aforementioned temple brochure showing the three incense sticks resting on a member’s wrist. Photo by Richard Malabarista.

[yebreed]

Ancestral Hall of the Tiger Talisman in Fujian

One of those architectural gems that are scattered throughout the Chinese countryside: the Ancestral Hall of the Tiger Talisman (虎符祖殿) aka Huyan Ancestral Hall (虎岩祖殿) or Hufuyan (虎符岩) in Nanfeng (南豐村), Xinqiao, Fujian.

Built in the Song dynasty and rebuilt in the 16th year of Jiajing in the Ming dynasty (1537), the complex covers an area of about 1800 square meters. This temple is dedicated to the Taoist Leifa deity Zhang Shengjun (張聖君), the Master of Five Thunders. The papers with talismanic inscriptions are stuck under the ceiling.

Photo: ©劉江嶺

[trans-xianxian]

wei wuxian in second on that poll that's like which genderbent male character would be a tradwife is crazy. homophobia so strong you forgot what happened in the story and the most basic, easy to digest traits of the character in question

[crazycatsiren]

My grandfather was the one who told me this when I was a child. In Chinese astronomy, Venus is named after the god Taibai Jinxing (his name means "great white gold star"), an honored and beloved advisor of the emperor of heaven. He has the brightest star in the night sky named after him for his great wisdom and the brightness of his mind.

[panvani]

Ig at the end of the day (note that this isn't directed towards any particular person) I just find the practice of specifically 'occult' research to be very silly— it's the acquirement of vast amounts of knowledge without any learning. Esotericism has had historical value as a form of community building, or philisophizing, or even scientific study in the millenia prior to an actual useful understanding of chemistry, but the study of the "occult" tends to be at the explicit exclusion of any attempts to understand current or historical culture/philosophy, and doesn't tend to form community to boot.

[pastelcheckereddreams]

I'm in awe of your posts about the architectural details of MDZS/CQL -- and so grateful. As a fanfic writer, it's really helped me visualize the territory. I'd like to correct one detail... my degree is in Asian Studies with a focus on the spread of Buddhism across Asia. The Southern Song dynasty neo-Confucians laid claim to the lotus imagery, but it is Buddhist, dating back to the Han in China, and further back in India.

Thank you @icarusancalion! For the compliment and your correction💛 It has, quite predictably, lead me down a fresh rabbit hole of research. One, I realise, I should have paid more attention to in the first place. For others' clarity, I believe this is the passage you're referring to within my Lotus Pier set study:

The first passage paraphrases the article linked in the text (and here, for anyone who would like to access it directly now) that talks about Chinese philosopher Zhou Dunyi's work 'On the Love of the Lotus', in which he ties the lotus flower symbollically to what the article calls his 'anthrocosmic vision'. The article further talks about Zhou Dunyi's, or Zhou Lianxi's, "embrace of Daoist and Buddhist notions" and how he was regarded as a controversial thinker: highly influential for his reformation of traditional Confucian ideals, and the later emergence of neo-Confucionism. I admittedly only focused on the passages relating to the lotus imagery at the time, and didn't consider the context this article (notably: the only source I chose to find on Zhou Dunyi at the time) was laying out with regard to his Buddhist and Daoist influences as a Confucian scholar.

It's also the lack of research on my part that lead to my neglect of mentioning the intricate relationship of these three pillars of religious philosophy in China: Confucianism in earlier dynasties, its sometimes-conflict with Taoism, and Buddhism's earlier introduction to China. (Plus, the growing word count was also a factor.) And frankly, when it comes to the lotus imagery in particular, I didn't pay Buddhism its due: I was focused on the article regarding 'On the Love of the Lotus', which doesn't actually mention the prevailance of the lotus in Buddhist symbology for the poem's context - although wikipedia, of all places, does. It briefly states that Zhou Dunyi "borrowed from Gautama Buddha's famous metaphor", regrettably without a source. Crucially, though, I was aware that the lotus symbolism had its origins in Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra, as mentioned by the second source cited in the original text, I just clean forgot to mention it, and ended up equally attributing it to Daoist philosophy. So again, big thank you for your correction and insight 🙏 I'll see that the original post is reworded appropriately, although I can't do anything for the reblogs already out there. If you have any academic sources/sources with more insight than these articles that could help me or anyone interested further explore this context, please drop them in my ask box 💛 I'm not entirely happy with the credibility of that second source, and new information and perspectives are always welcome. I wish you the best for your studies! I'm only scratching the surface here, but it seems like a fascinating and expansive specialism.

[dreamconsumer]

Chang'e.

[panicinthestudio]

Gates to the Underworld Open as Ghost Month Begins, August 3, 2024

At the start of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, Ghost Month begins. In Taiwan, this is held to be the time the gates to the underworld open and allow the souls of the dead to walk among the living; there is a long list of taboos and superstitions associated with the month. TaiwanPlus News

Ghost Month Begins in Taiwan, Bringing Rituals and Taboos, August 16, 2023

Taiwan has marked the beginning of Ghost Month, a time of year when spirits in the underworld are said to return to the world of humans. It’s a period of colorful rituals—but also taboos. TaiwanPlus News

[yebreed]

Fox Spirits In Medieval Narratives: Gender Bias

The domestic worship of the fox described by Zhang Zhuo informs us that the fox spirit occupied an ambivalent position in family lives. That foxes were enshrined in private quarters and offered food consumed by humans suggests that they participated in the family as insiders. However, their supernatural power and animal nature inspired both reverence and fear, and preserved their identities as…

[journeytothewestresearch]

As someone who’s Chinese w/ a degree in social science + (art) history regarding East Asia I’m always super intrigued and interested to how others interpret changes in new titles on older religious texts- but I will ask in particular if you have any personal ties to Buddhism/Taoism/Confucianism (and Chinese culture) when you find yourself interpreting BM:W’s change in allegorical use of Buddhism as contemporary political adherence! BM:W’s religious and soul mechanics follows their previous game without much overt linking between the two.

Overthrowing Gods in East Asian media is a very common trope in videos specifically due to player involvement (contrast to books where you are separate as the audience) and often is used as an allegory for the system/recent events we exist in. In such it does shift a lot from the original text in base but I think it’s not supposed to relay the same allegory due to the time period in which the writers exist! Wukong’s story changing to him still being chained by the principles that envelop life is far more relatable to late-stage capitalist environments viewers and artists exist in- as such he fulfils the contemporary variant of his original role in JTTW!

I think the change in purpose the Buddhist mythos serves in this game is decisive by nature due to inherent bias present in the original text as a religious piece, and such is core to the allegory. However I don’t think BM:W is supposed to relay that allegory, I think it is supposed to branch off on its own as an alternate contemporary extension of the foundation JTTW set out (plus with the 2 DLC’s on the way, there is plenty of time to extend the universe in game to validate a shift in religious purpose compared to the cut 7 chapters planned during development). And such i think attributing it to the CCP can be a bit of a touchy statement (especially if one doesn’t have long standing ties to East Asian culture or Regional religious practice!) and can accidentally play into sinophobic phrasing and attitudes.

Buddhism as a practice and way of life has a very different presence in writers centuries ago compared to now, as well as how we use religion in audience-involved stories. And such I find it an interesting shift regarding a game made with an international and widely multi-religious audience (that isn’t consuming it as a psycho-socio poem compared to a much smaller and more culturally homogenous readerbase. I think the friction caused by thematic changes is more due to how the game relays the physical journey so closely with reusing characters and having to shift them according to the foundational changes- if it was closer to other written “sequels” that created characters connected to the original cast through descending from them etc, the changes wouldn’t grate on completed arcs or how we compare the experience to wukong’s parallel one

No, I do not have any direct personal cultural connection to Buddhism, Daoism, or Confucianism. I live in Asia, though, and beyond my research of JTTW, I do study religion here (with more of an emphasis on folk religion as it pertains to the Great Sage). My negative view of Black Myth: Wukong is colored by my deep love for the original story. In general, I don't like adaptations.

Thank you for your explanation of the game.

[thelamb1429]

Ik i’ve said it before but like shout out to all of the religious queer/trans people out there

I see all of you, and you’re most definitely NOT alone!!

It’s super hard being LGBTQ+ as it is, but then add on being religious in a hateful community (more than likely for lots of us) is like, the coolest, bravest thing?!

And to those who have loving communities in terms of religious communities near you, i’m so happy for you! Like genuinely I’m so overjoyed that even if some of us can’t have that opportunity, that you and many others get to <3

As someone who’s religious, nonbinary, and queer (and aroace spec!), i love all of our community, no matter what orientation(s) you are, no matter what religion you follow, i love you, even if nobody else tells you. And if you needed a sign that you’ll be accepted, take this as that sign.

And i don’t just mean Abrahamic religions either!!

I mean all religions, because there are some hateful people no matter what their belief system is. It’s sad and frustrating, but you don’t need to worry about acceptance from people with hate in their hearts.

BUT ANYWAYS!! I’m super curious now lol, so here’s a little poll— i’ll try to include all the faiths i can in the poll. I’m curious, if you’re in any way a part of the LGBTQ+ community AND are religious, what religion do you follow? <3

[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 :)

[what-even-is-thiss]

A lot of things we think of as “religions” aren’t things you like… identify with.

Statistically speaking most peoples main experience with religion involves either Christianity or Islam. Two religions that require only sticking to their system and that anyone can convert to and have historically gone to war with people that do their religion slightly differently than they do

And while many other religions have similar situations, Sikhism aka Sikhi is another universalizing monotheistic religion for example but a lot of religions are either linked to one’s ethnicity or are entirely circumstantial.

A lot of people perform various religious or spiritual practices related to Taoism and follow their lives based on its philosophy but most of them wouldn’t consider themselves “Taoists” because to them that indicates specifically a Taoist priest or monk. Many people are specifically Buddhists but you can be a Buddhist and other things. Or you can follow various Buddhist religious and spiritual practices and not consider yourself to be a Buddhist. Shintoism and various other highly localized spiritual practices are in a similarly gray area. Anyone can follow Shinto practices or visit Shinto shrines but does that make it a universalizing religion? Idk. Most people that frequent Shinto shrines are probably also doing other things and don’t really care.

And even within exclusive religions things get blurry. A lot of old folk religion gods got reworked into being saints. I was raised by a person who follows zen Buddhism for their spiritual needs and as a result I still incorporate aspects of that practice into my life even though I’m a Christian. There’s atheist witches and Jewish omnists (and I know people who fit both of these examples) there’s people that are religious but not spiritual and there’s people that are spiritual but not religious and there’s people who if you ask them what their religion is they’ll just shrug and keep doing whatever.

Human spiritual practice and belief is… weird. It’s open to infinite types of possibilities. You can get as weird or as orthodox as you like with it in any direction. Results will be mixed.

[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

[mythologyolympics]

Mythology Olympics tournament round 1

Propaganda!

Nezha (哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (中壇元帥). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" (蓮花三太子) after he became a deity. Nezha's mother, Lady Yin, gave birth to a ball of flesh after gestating for three years and six months. Li Jing thought his wife had given birth to a demon and attacked the ball with his sword. The ball split open, and Nezha jumped out as a boy instead of an infant. Nezha could jump and walk immediately after birth. Nezha is worshipped in Chinese folk religion and is called "Marshal of the Central Altar" or "Prince Nezha", the "Third Prince". Nezha is also often regarded as the patron god of children and filial piety. Parents would make an offering to Nezha with the hope that their children would grow up strong, healthy, and be dutiful and respectful.

Propaganda from the submitter:

is most often depicted as an eternal twelve year old and is also one of the best fighters in the entire court of heaven

Lurga, known as Saturn on Thulcandra, is the sixth planet in the Field of Arbol, beyond the orbit of Glundandra, but inward of Neruval. It has a ring called known as the Ring of Lurga. It also has the non-canon names of Lurgandra and Lurgadandra. Like most other planets such as Thulcandra, Malacandra, Glundandra, and Neruval, it has its own moons, but these are not named in the Space Trilogy. Lurga does however have its own Eldila and Oyarsa like all the other planets, but no hnau are mentioned. In the Space Trilogy, the Low Worlds are newer, so the Great Worlds such as Lurga will be older worlds.