Malaysia / China: Carving of Mei Bo, depicting his role in the 16th Century Ming Dynasty novel Fengshen Yanyi ('Investiture of the Gods'). From Ping Sien Si Temple, Pasir Panjang Laut

A character from the classic Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi', Mei Bo was renowned as the Number One Grand Counselor of King Zhou of Shang. Like his fellow official Shang Rong, he starts to lament King Zhou's descent into idiocy and tyranny, and tries to talk sense into the ignorant king.

For his defiance and insolence, King Zhou sentences Mei Bo to be beaten to death. His favourite concubine however, the vixen spirit Su Daji, convinces King Zhou that it would be best to burn Mei Bo alive in a large toaster for his 'evil ways'. The toaster was built especially for Mei Bo, said to have been over twenty feet tall and with three levels of burning charcoal and fire, as well as two wheels so that it could be moved around like a chariot.

Like the other officials who were sentenced to death by King Zhou, Mei Bo defiantly scolds and insults the king before his death, lamenting what King Zhou's predecessors would think at how far the Shang Dynasty had fallen. He was then stripped naked and thrown into the toaster, his blood-curdling screams echoing from within. His horrible death instilled complete horror into his fellow surviving officers, and marked the death of one of the Shang Dynasty's most loyal followers. Mei Bo was deified after his death as the deity of Tiande Star.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

Anandajoti

Credit:

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