Transcription: Pinyin, syllables separated

A[top]

B[top]
Ba Xian 八仙 (Eight Fairies or Immortals): A group of eight, partially historical personalities that are known throughout China as symbols of luck and good fortune. Each one of them represents a different condition of life, like youth, old age, poverty, prosperity, nobility, the agerage people, man and woman.

Zhang Guolao 張果 lived during the Tang Dynasty. He held a high official post and had attracted the curiosity of the emperor who had questioned a famous Taoist master about him. This master told him that if he were to reveal Zhang's true identity he would fall dead to the ground. However, if the emperor in person were to go barefoot and bareheaded to ask Zhang forgiveness for such betrayal, Zhang could bring him back to life. The emperor promised to do so, and the Taoist master told him that Zhang was an incarnation of the primordial chaos. The master immediately fell dead to the ground. The emperor kept his promise and begged forgiveness of Zhang. He then sprinkled water over the dead body and the master was brought back to life. Soon after, Zhang became ill and withdrew to the mountains where he died somewhere between 742 and 746 CE. When his pupils opened his grave they found it empty. Legend has it that Zhang owned a magical white donkey which was capable of travelling a thousand miles a day. This donkey could be folded like a handkerchief and carried in one's pocket. To revive it, all one had to do was sprinkle a handful of water over the handkerchief. Zhang's symbol is a fish-drum, an instrument capable of raising a loud noise..

Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓 too lived during the Tang Dynasty. The members of his family were civil servants. As a young man he traveled to Mount Lu in the south where he met a fire dragon who presented him with a magical sword that enabled him to conceal himself in Heaven. On a journey to the capital he met Zhongli Quan, another immortal. Lü fell asleep and dreamt that he had been promoted to a high official post and possessed enormous wealth. All was well for fifty years until his family was banished and exterminated. When he awoke his dream he decided to forgo an official career and follow Zhongli into the mountains. At the age of 100 he still had a youthful appearance and was capable of travelling 100 miles in a matter of seconds. Lü Dongbin considered compassion to be the essential means of attaining perfection. His sword was not a tool for killing enemies, but for conquering ignorance, aggression, and passion. Through his example Lü had a decisive influence on the development of Taoism, and is venerated by the school as the teacher of its founder.

Cao Guojiu 曹國舅 was the brother-in-law of an emperor the Song Dynasty. Cao Guojiu himself lived an exemplary life, but his younger brother became a murderer. In shame, he retreated to the mountains where he lived a very long life as a hermit. Lü Dongbin, another immortal, taught Cao how to attain perfection and within a few days he became an immortal. Cao Guo-jiu is the patron of actors. He is frequently portrayed holding a pair of castanets.

Zhongli Quan 鍾離權 reputedly lived during the Han Dynasty. In one account he was a field marshal who withdrew to the mountains in his old age. Another claims that he was a vice-marshal who, after losing a battle against the Tibetans, fled into the mountains where five Taoist saints initiated him into the teachings of immortality. Several hundred years later he taught Lü Dongbin, another one of the eight immortals. There a different stories of how he became an immortal. In one he met and old Taoist master in a forest, who at his request gave him prescriptions on how to attain immortality. Shortly after Zhongli left this venerable master, he turned to cast a last glance at his hut but found that it had vanished. Another versions claims that during a famine Zhongli produced silver coins by miraculous means and distributed them to the poor. One day, a wall of his hermitage collapsed while he was meditating and behind it he discovered a jade vessel which contained prescriptions for attaining immortality. He followed these and was borne away to the immortals on a shimmering cloud. Zhongli Quan's attribute is a fan made of feathers or palm leaves. He is usually portrayed as a corpulent man, bald, with a beard that reaches to his navel. In representations of the eight immortals he can also be recognized by the wisps of hair that grace his temples.

Li Tieguai 李鐵拐 is always pictures with an iron crutch (hence his name). The iron crutch was given to him by Xi Wang Mu, the Queen Mother of the West, after she healed an abscess on his leg. She also taught him how to became immortal. His other attribute is a pumpkin containing a magic potion. There is a different story of how Li came to have a crippled leg. Laozi had descended Heaven to initiate Li in the Taoist teachings. Soon after Li had attained immortality, he left his body to travel to the sacred Mount Huashan. He charged one of his pupils with the task of guarding his body in his absence. A special instruction to this pupil was to burn his body if he did not return within seven days. On the sixth day, however, the pupil received a message that his mother was dying. To fulfill his duty as a son he had to return home, but he also had to guard Li's body. The pupil burned the body and went home. On the seventh day, Li returned but found his body burned to ashes. He was forced to enter the body of a dead beggar, a man with a crippled leg, among other deformities. Li did not want to live that way but Laozi begged him to accept his fate, and gave Li a crutch to help him walk.

Han Xiangzi 韓湘子 is generally believed to be a nephew of Han Yu, a famous literary figure and statesman of the Tang Dynasty, who had been entrusted with Han Xiangzi's education. Xiangzi he had a stormy temper and possessed various supernatural abilities. Once he caused peonies of many colors to blossom forth in the middle of winter. On the petals of these peonies appeared the following poem: "Clouds veil the peaks of Qinlin Mountain. Where is your home? Deep lies the snow on the Languan Pass and the horses will go no further." Han saw a hidden meaning in these lines, but his uncle dismissed them as nonsense. Soon after, Han Yu fell in disgrace with the emperor and was banished court. When he reached the Languan Pass the snow was so deep that he could not go further. Then Han Xiangzi appeared and cleared away the snow. He told his uncle that he would regain his official post and return to the bosom of his family, which prophecy soon came true. Han Xiangzi gained immortality when he fell a peach tree. He is usually portrayed holding a (transverse) flute, a bouquet of flowers or flower basket, or a peach.

He Xiangu 何仙姑 is the only female among the Eight Fairies. She lived during the Tang Dynasty and spent her life as a hermit in the mountains. A spirit appeared to her in a dream when she was fourteen. He told her to grind a stone known as the "mother of clouds" into powder and eat that powder. She would then become as light as a feather and attain immortality. She followed these instructions and also vowed never to marry. Soon after she was able to fly one mountain peak to the next, gathering fruit and berries for her mother. She herself had no longer any need of nourishment. One day the emperor summoned her to his court but she disappeared along the way and became an immortal. According to another myth she had lost her way in the mountains while gathering tea. There she met a scholar (rumored to have been Lü Dongbin who gave her a peach to eat. After that she never felt hungry again.

Lan Caihe 藍采和 is dressed in rags, wears a belt made of black wood, and wears a boot on one feet while the other one is bare. In summer he would wear a thick overcoat but dress lightly in winter. His breath is like hot steam. According to legend he roamed the streets as a beggar, accompanying his songs with castanets, drunk most of the time. When people gave him money, he would string the coins on a cord which he dragged behind him. One day he entered an inn, stripped off his clothes, and disappeared into the clouds, riding on a crane. Lan Caihe is sometimes portrayed with female features. In his hand he carries a basket of flowers.

C[top]
Caishen 財神: The God of Prosperity and Richness. He has various magical powers, such as warding off thunder and lightning, and ensuring profit commercial transactions. As a historical figure he is identified as Zhao Xuantan 趙玄壇 the Qin Dynasty. He attained enlightenment on top of a mountain. He also assisted Zhang Daoling on his search for the life-prolonging elixir. The Caishen is usually portrayed riding on a black tiger. He has a black face and a thick moustache. On his head he wears a cap made of iron and he holds a weapon, also made of iron.

D[top]

E[top]
Eight Fairies or Immortals = Ba Xian

F[top]

G[top]

H[top]

I[top]

J[top]

K[top]

L[top]
Laozi 老子 ("Old Master"): As a philosopher, Laozi (personal name Li Dan 李耽or Li Er) is known as the author of the Daodejing classic. During the Han Dynasty, he became a deity of popular belief in ritual practices to prolong life and to search immortality by ascesis and alchemy. In that time, he stood side by side with the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di). Now, he is the highest deity of the Daoist pantheon and is also called 太上老君 Taishang Laojun "Old Lord of the Heights".

M[top]
Mazu 媽祖 ("Ancestral Mother"): A female fishermen deity that is mainly venerated at the coasts of Fujian and Guangdong Provinces and in Taiwan. Her largest temple is in Tainan 臺南/Taiwan. There is even a small island off the coast of Fujian Province called Mazu Dao 馬祖島 (written with "horse" instead of "mother"). Another name for Mazu is Da Tian Hou 大天后 "Great Empress of Heaven" (Cantonese: Tin Hauh).

N[top]

O[top]

P[top]

Q[top]

R[top]

S[top]

T[top]

W[top]
Wong Tai Sin 黃大仙 (Cantonese: Wohng Daaihsin, Chinese: Huang Daxian): A refugee deity that is venerated in the largest temple of Hong Kong.
Wen Wang 文王: King Wen the Cultured, father of King Wu Wang, first ruler of the Zhou Dynasty. As Lord of the East (Qi Bo), King Wen was imprisoned by the last depraved Shang ruler and invented the milfoil divination. He died during the conquest of Shang. He and his son are an illustrious pair of good exemplarious rulers.
Wen Wu = the kings Wen Wang and Wu Wang.
Wu Wang 武王: King Wu the Martial, first ruler of the Zhou Dynasty, son of King Wen Wang. In Confucian thinking, King Wu is an example of the illuminated ruler who reigns with humanity and righteousness. He received the Heavenly Mandate and overthrew the last depraved Shang ruler, establishing the holy Zhou Dynasty. He is often venerated together with his father as the pair "Wen Wu - Cultured and Martial".

X[top]

Y[top]

Z[top]