China: Carving of Huoling Shengmu (Mother Fire Spirit), depicting her role in the 16th Century Ming Dynasty novel Fengshen Yanyi ('Investiture of the Gods'). From Ping Sien Si Temple, Pasir Panjang Laut

Huoling Shengmu, also known as Mother Fire Spirit, was a minor character in the classic Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi'.

'Fengshen Yanyi', sometimes also known as 'Fengshen Bang' and translated to 'Investiture of the Gods', was a 16th-century Ming Dynasty novel written by Xu Zhonglin and Lu Xixing, and is a dramatised and fictionalised story depicting the fall of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty. It contains various elements and characters from Chinese mythology and folklore, including deities, gods, immortals, spririts and demons. It consists of 100 chapters, and was first published in book form in the 1550s.

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Anandajoti

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