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Lei Gong, sometimes known as Lei Shen, is a god of thunder in traditional Chinese religion and religious Taoism. Generally depicted as a fearsome bird-man with a blue face and a beak, bat wings and claws, wearing only a loincloth. Lei Gong is often shown wielding a drum and mallet to produce thunder, as well as a chisel with which to punish evildoers.<br/><br/> In Taoism, Lei Gong is not only the god of thunder but also a divine instrument of punishment and retribution, ordered by heaven to punish earthly mortals who have been found guilty of secret crimes or evil spirits who abuse their Taoist knowledge to do harm upon human beings. To aid in his task, he has a retinue of assistants and helpers, including his wife Dian Mu (Tian Mu or Lei Zi), the goddess of lightning, who uses flashing mirrors to send bolts of lightning streaking across the sky.<br/><br/> Lei Gong began his life as a mortal man by the name of Feng Lung, who accidentally found and ate one of the immortal peaches from heaven, which immediately transformed him into his godly form. Temples dedicated solely to Lei Gong are rare, though he is sometimes honoured by people who hope he will exact revenge upon their personal enemies. Lei Gong is also said to be extremely prudish, and will not enter a house where copulation is taking place, or even if there are pictures of this act displayed in the house.
Yang Ren was a character from the classic Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi'. A high-ranking official within the Shang Dynasty, Yang Ren held the title of Grand Counselor. After Jiang Ziya committed 'suicide' so that he could quietly retire from the increasingly corrupt Shang court, Yang Ren became suspicious and began to investigate the matter.<br/><br/> Taking what he had learned to King Zhou of Shang, his logic and conclusions angered the king, who immediately demanded Yang Ren's eyes be gouged out as punishment. After his eyes were removed, Yang Ren lay on the floor in shock and horror, covered in his own blood, and would have bled out had the 'superiorman' Insouciant of Mount Green Top, Purple Cave not intervened. With his Ýellow Kerchiefed Genie, he blew on Yang Ren's eyes sockets and gifted him with a pair of hands that had eyes within their palms.<br/><br/> Declaring that Yang Ren's fate was not to end here and that the will of heaven still had plans for him, Insouciant took Yang Ren under his wing as his disciple. Yang Ren would eventually be deified at the end of the novel as the deity of Jiazi Taisui Shen.
Shen Gongbao is a character from the classic Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi'. A disciple of Yuanshi Tianzun, master of Mount Kunlun and one of the highest deities in religious Taoism, Shen Gongbao was renowed for his communication skills, as well as his magic arts in general.<br/><br/> Shen Gongbao considered Jiang Ziya, fellow apprentice to Yuanshi Tianzun, as his rival and enemy, and assisted the tyrannical King Zhou of Shang. He was appointed as General of the East Sea, and fought against Jiang Ziya multiple times, before eventually being arrested by his old master Yuanshi Tianzun.
The Chinese god Erlang Shen, or sometimes Yang Jian, has various differing origin stories. In some, he is a deified folk hero who helped regulate China's torrential floods, in others he is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. Whatever his origin, Erlang Shen is known as the greatest warrior god of heaven, equpped with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead, and is titled 'Divine Immortal of Purity and Decency'.<br/><br/> Erlang makes various appearances in Chinese folk mythology and writing, from 'Journey to the West' to 'Fengshen Yanyi'. In the former, he is titled 'Illustrious Sage' and is sent by his uncle, the Jade Emperor, to subdue Sun Wukong for causing havoc in heaven, eventually defeating the trickster monkey through teamwork with several other gods.<br/><br/> In 'Fengshen Yanyi', he is first seen fighting demons known as the Diablo Brothers alongside noble and sage Jiang Ziya. He later fights on the side of the Zhou army against the Shang army, helping to overthrow the Shang Dynasty. Erlang is almost always portrayed as a noble and righteous warrior god, exceptionally powerful and capable of 72 Transformations, and is worshipped as a filial deity for rescuing his deceased mother from torture in the Chinese underworld.
Bi Gan, or Bigan, was a prominent Chinese figure during the last days of the Shang Dynasty, and played an important role in the Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi'. Bi Gan was the son of King Wen Ding, and uncle to King Zhou of Shang, last of the Shang Dynasty.<br/><br/> King Zhou was infamous for his corruptive and cruel ways, especially after his betwitching by the fox spirit Su Daji, and became annoyed with Bi Gan's constant advice and attempts to rectify his ways. It is said that, on Daji's whisperings, King Zhou ordered Bi Gan to be executed through the extraction of his heart, under the pretext of curiosity on whether 'a good man's heart has seven openings'.<br/><br/> In 'Fengshen Yanyi', Su Daji plots to kill Bi Gan after he kills some of her fellow fox spirits. The sage Jiang Ziya, predicting that Bi Gan will die soon, gives him a charm that will save his life. After his heart is removed, Bi Gan does not die immediately, and follows Jiang Ziya's instructions to go straight home without looking back. On the way home however, he is fooled by the malevolent spirit Pipa Jing to turn around, collapsing and then dying on the spot. Bi Gan was honoured by Confucius as 'one of the three men of virtue' of Shang, and he was later deified as Cai Shen, the god of fortune.
Shen Kuo (1031–1095), courtesy name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengxi Weng, was a Han Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman of the Song dynasty (960–1279).<br/><br/> Excelling in many fields of study and statecraft, he was a mathematician, astronomer, meteorologist, geologist, zoologist, botanist, pharmacologist, agronomist, archaeologist, ethnographer, cartographer, encyclopedist, general, diplomat, hydraulic engineer, inventor, academy chancellor, finance minister, governmental state inspector, poet, and musician.<br/><br/> He was the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy in the Song court, as well as an Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality.
Su Wu was a Chinese diplomat and statesman of the Han Dynasty. He is known in Chinese history for making a mission to Central Asia, where he was seized and held captive by the nomads.<br/><br/> According to Chinese tradition, Su Wu endured long years of servitude herding sheep, before managing eventually to return home to China.<br/><br/>
Huang Shen was a Chinese painter during the Qing Dynasty. Huang was born in Ninghua, Fujian province, to a poor family.<br/><br/> He began his training under the painter Shangguan Zhou. In the earliest part of his career he excelled at cursive calligraphy and favored a meticulous style modelled after Ni Zan. He became better known as an artistic innovator who was one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. When it came to paintings of people he favored images of religious, historic, and common people. His more famous works include The Drunk Monk and Shepherd Su Wu.
Huang Shen was a Chinese painter during the Qing Dynasty. Huang was born in Ninghua, Fujian province, to a poor family.<br/><br/> He began his training under the painter Shangguan Zhou. In the earliest part of his career he excelled at cursive calligraphy and favored a meticulous style modelled after Ni Zan. He became better known as an artistic innovator who was one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. When it came to paintings of people he favored images of religious, historic, and common people. His more famous works include The Drunk Monk and Shepherd Su Wu.
Huang Shen was a Chinese painter during the Qing Dynasty. Huang was born in Ninghua, Fujian province, to a poor family.<br/><br/> He began his training under the painter Shangguan Zhou. In the earliest part of his career he excelled at cursive calligraphy and favored a meticulous style modelled after Ni Zan. He became better known as an artistic innovator who was one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. When it came to paintings of people he favored images of religious, historic, and common people. His more famous works include The Drunk Monk and Shepherd Su Wu.
Huang Shen was a Chinese painter during the Qing Dynasty. Huang was born in Ninghua, Fujian province, to a poor family.<br/><br/> He began his training under the painter Shangguan Zhou. In the earliest part of his career he excelled at cursive calligraphy and favored a meticulous style modelled after Ni Zan. He became better known as an artistic innovator who was one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. When it came to paintings of people he favored images of religious, historic, and common people. His more famous works include <i>The Drunk Monk</i> and <i>Shepherd Su Wu</i>.
Shennong (Vietnamese: Than Nong), also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains (Wugu xiandì), was a ruler of China and cultural hero who lived some 5,000 years ago and who taught the ancient Chinese the practice of agriculture. Appropriately, his name means ' Divine Farmer'. He is also believed to have discovered tea.
Xuan Wu (The Dark Martial or The Mysterious Martial), posthumously known as The Dark or Mysterious Heavenly Upper Emperor (Xuan Tian Shang Di), as well as True Warrior Grand Emperor (Zhen Wu Da Di), and commonly known as The Northern Emperor (Bei Di) or Emperor Lord (Di Gong) is one of the higher ranking Taoist deities, and one of the more revered deities in China.<br/><br/> He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements (worshipped by those wishing to avoid fires), and capable of great magic. He is particularly revered by martial artists, and is the patron saint of Hebei, Manchuria and Mongolia. Since the third Ming Emperor, Zhu Di, claimed the help of Zhen Wu in his war to take over the Ming Empire, monasteries were built under the Imperial Decree in Wudang Mountains, in China's Hubei Province, where he allegedly attained immortality. Xuan Wu is also the patron saint of Cantonese and Min Nan speakers (particularly those of Hokkien ancestry) in southern China, whose ancestors fled south following the Song Imperial House of Zhao.<br/><br/> Lotus Pond or Lotus Lake (Chinese: 蓮池潭; pinyin: Liánchí Tán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân-tî-thâm) opened in 1951, and is famous for the lotus plants on the lake and the numerous temples around the lake, including the Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣), the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔), and the Confucian Temple (孔廟).
Xuan Wu (The Dark Martial or The Mysterious Martial), posthumously known as The Dark or Mysterious Heavenly Upper Emperor (Xuan Tian Shang Di), as well as True Warrior Grand Emperor (Zhen Wu Da Di), and commonly known as The Northern Emperor (Bei Di) or Emperor Lord (Di Gong) is one of the higher ranking Taoist deities, and one of the more revered deities in China.<br/><br/> He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements (worshipped by those wishing to avoid fires), and capable of great magic. He is particularly revered by martial artists, and is the patron saint of Hebei, Manchuria and Mongolia. Since the third Ming Emperor, Zhu Di, claimed the help of Zhen Wu in his war to take over the Ming Empire, monasteries were built under the Imperial Decree in Wudang Mountains, in China's Hubei Province, where he allegedly attained immortality. Xuan Wu is also the patron saint of Cantonese and Min Nan speakers (particularly those of Hokkien ancestry) in southern China, whose ancestors fled south following the Song Imperial House of Zhao.<br/><br/> Lotus Pond or Lotus Lake (Chinese: 蓮池潭; pinyin: Liánchí Tán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân-tî-thâm) opened in 1951, and is famous for the lotus plants on the lake and the numerous temples around the lake, including the Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣), the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔), and the Confucian Temple (孔廟).
Xuan Wu (The Dark Martial or The Mysterious Martial), posthumously known as The Dark or Mysterious Heavenly Upper Emperor (Xuan Tian Shang Di), as well as True Warrior Grand Emperor (Zhen Wu Da Di), and commonly known as The Northern Emperor (Bei Di) or Emperor Lord (Di Gong) is one of the higher ranking Taoist deities, and one of the more revered deities in China.<br/><br/> He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements (worshipped by those wishing to avoid fires), and capable of great magic. He is particularly revered by martial artists, and is the patron saint of Hebei, Manchuria and Mongolia. Since the third Ming Emperor, Zhu Di, claimed the help of Zhen Wu in his war to take over the Ming Empire, monasteries were built under the Imperial Decree in Wudang Mountains, in China's Hubei Province, where he allegedly attained immortality. Xuan Wu is also the patron saint of Cantonese and Min Nan speakers (particularly those of Hokkien ancestry) in southern China, whose ancestors fled south following the Song Imperial House of Zhao.<br/><br/> Lotus Pond or Lotus Lake (Chinese: 蓮池潭; pinyin: Liánchí Tán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân-tî-thâm) opened in 1951, and is famous for the lotus plants on the lake and the numerous temples around the lake, including the Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣), the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔), and the Confucian Temple (孔廟).
Tonggiya (or Tunggiya), Empress Shen Cheng, was of the Tongiya clan, and was the daughter of Shu Minga. She became a concubine in her early years and then became Daoguang's official wife in 1808 just after the death of Empress Xiao Mu Cheng. Lady Tongiya gave birth to the eldest daughter of the Daoguang Emperor in 1813, and was elevated to an Empress Consort in 1822. Empress Xiao Shen Cheng died in the thirteenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, and was later interred into the Muling Mausoleum.
Tonggiya (or Tunggiya), Empress Shen Cheng, was of the Tongiya clan, and was the daughter of Shu Minga. She became a concubine in her early years and then became Daoguang's official wife in 1808 just after the death of Empress Xiao Mu Cheng. Lady Tongiya gave birth to the eldest daughter of the Daoguang Emperor in 1813, and was elevated to an Empress Consort in 1822. Empress Xiao Shen Cheng died in the thirteenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, and was later interred into the Muling Mausoleum.
Cai Shen can also be referred to as Zhao Gongming (Chao Kung-ming) or Bi Gan (Pi-kan). Though Cai Shen began as a Chinese folk hero, later deified and venerated by local followers and admirers, Taoism and Pure Land Buddhism also came to venerate him as a god. Cai Shen's name is often invoked during the Chinese New Year celebrations. He is often depicted riding a black tiger and holding a golden rod. He may also be depicted armed with any one of several iron weapons.
In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God Zao Jun is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to Yu Huang, the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor, emperor of the heavens, either rewards or punishes a family based on this yearly report. Zao Jun is celebrated in Vietnamese culture as Tao Quan.
Shen Junru (Chinese: 沈钧儒; pinyin: Shěn Jūnrú; Wade–Giles: Shen Chünju; (January 2, 1875－June 11, 1963) was a Chinese lawyer, political figure, and the first President of the Supreme People's Court of China in the People's Republic of China.<br/><br/> Shen was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, with family ancestry in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province during the late Qing Dynasty. He received the Jinshi or 'presented scholar' degree, the highest under the imperial examination system. Shen completed a preparation course (速成科) at Hosei University, in Tokyo, Japan in 1905.<br/><br/> Shen attended the first Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in 1949 and was appointed to be the first President of the Supreme People's Court from 1949 to 1954. Shen had also served as a member of the committee of the Central People's Government, and was vice-chairman of the CPPCC from 1949 to 1963.
Cai Shen can also be referred to as Zhao Gongming (Chao Kung-ming) or Bi Gan (Pi-kan). Though Cai Shen began as a Chinese folk hero, later deified and venerated by local followers and admirers, Taoism and Pure Land Buddhism also came to venerate him as a god. Cai Shen's name is often invoked during the Chinese New Year celebrations. He is often depicted riding a black tiger and holding a golden rod. He may also be depicted armed with any one of several iron weapons.
In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God Zao Jun is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to Yu Huang, the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor, emperor of the heavens, either rewards or punishes a family based on this yearly report. Zao Jun is celebrated in Vietnamese culture as Tao Quan.
Emperor Xiaozong (November 27, 1127 – June 28, 1194) was the eleventh emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the second emperor of the Southern Song. His personal name was Zhao Shen. He reigned from 1162 to 1189.<br/><br> The Song Dynasty (960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960) and preceded the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), which conquered the Song in 1279. Its conventional division into the Northern Song (960–1127) and Southern Song (1127–1279) periods marks the conquest of northern China by the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127. It also distinguishes the subsequent shift of the Song's capital city from Bianjing (modern Kaifeng) in the north to Lin'an (modern Hangzhou) in the south.
The Great Leap Forward (simplified Chinese: 大跃进; traditional Chinese: 大躍進; pinyin: Dà yuè jìn) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China (CPC), reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern communist society through the process of rapid industrialization, and collectivization. Mao Zedong led the campaign based on the Theory of Productive Forces, and intensified it after being informed of the impending disaster from grain shortages.<br/><br/> Chief changes in the lives of rural Chinese included the introduction of a mandatory process of agricultural collectivization, which was introduced incrementally. Private farming was prohibited, and those engaged in it were labeled as counter revolutionaries and persecuted. Restrictions on rural people were enforced through public struggle sessions, and social pressure.<br/><br/> The Great Leap ended in catastrophe, resulting in tens of millions of excess deaths. Estimates of the death toll range from 18 million to at least 45 million.<br/><br/> In subsequent conferences in 1960 and 1962, the negative effects of the Great Leap Forward were studied by the CPC, and Mao was criticized in the party conferences. Moderate Party members like Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping rose to power, and Mao was marginalized within the party, leading him to initiate the Cultural Revolution in 1966.
Cai Shen can also be referred to as Zhao Gongming (Chao Kung-ming) or Bi Gan (Pi-kan). Though Cai Shen began as a Chinese folk hero, later deified and venerated by local followers and admirers, Taoism and Pure Land Buddhism also came to venerate him as a god. Cai Shen's name is often invoked during the Chinese New Year celebrations. He is often depicted riding a black tiger and holding a golden rod. He may also be depicted armed with any one of several iron weapons.
In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God Zao Jun is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to Yu Huang, the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor, emperor of the heavens, either rewards or punishes a family based on this yearly report. Zao Jun is celebrated in Vietnamese culture as Tao Quan.
Xuan Wu (The Dark Martial or The Mysterious Martial), posthumously known as The Dark or Mysterious Heavenly Upper Emperor (Xuan Tian Shang Di), as well as True Warrior Grand Emperor (Zhen Wu Da Di), and commonly known as The Northern Emperor (Bei Di) or Emperor Lord (Di Gong) is one of the higher ranking Taoist deities, and one of the more revered deities in China.<br/><br/> He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements (worshipped by those wishing to avoid fires), and capable of great magic. He is particularly revered by martial artists, and is the patron saint of Hebei, Manchuria and Mongolia. Since the third Ming Emperor, Zhu Di, claimed the help of Zhen Wu in his war to take over the Ming Empire, monasteries were built under the Imperial Decree in Wudang Mountains, in China's Hubei Province, where he allegedly attained immortality. Xuan Wu is also the patron saint of Cantonese and Min Nan speakers (particularly those of Hokkien ancestry) in southern China, whose ancestors fled south following the Song Imperial House of Zhao.
Cai Shen can also be referred to as Zhao Gongming (Chao Kung-ming) or Bi Gan (Pi-kan). Though Cai Shen began as a Chinese folk hero, later deified and venerated by local followers and admirers, Taoism and Pure Land Buddhism also came to venerate him as a god. Cai Shen's name is often invoked during the Chinese New Year celebrations. He is often depicted riding a black tiger and holding a golden rod. He may also be depicted armed with any one of several iron weapons.
Shen Du's poem:<br/><br/><i>In the corner of the western seas, in the stagnant waters of a great morass, Truly was produced a qilin, whose shape was as high as fifteen feet. With the body of a deer and the tail of an ox, and a fleshy, boneless horn, With luminous spots like a red cloud or purple mist. Its hoofs do not tread on living beings and in its wanderings it carefully selects its ground.</i><br/><br/><i>It walks in stately fashion and in its every motion it observes a rhythm, Its harmonious voice sounds like a bell or a musical tube. Gentle is this animal, that has in antiquity been seen but once, The manifestation of its divine spirit rises up to heaven’s abode.</i>
Cai Shen can also be referred to as Zhao Gongming (Chao Kung-ming) or Bi Gan (Pi-kan). Though Cai Shen began as a Chinese folk hero, later deified and venerated by local followers and admirers, Taoism and Pure Land Buddhism also came to venerate him as a god. Cai Shen's name is often invoked during the Chinese New Year celebrations. He is often depicted riding a black tiger and holding a golden rod. He may also be depicted armed with any one of several iron weapons.
In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God Zao Jun is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to Yu Huang, the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor, emperor of the heavens, either rewards or punishes a family based on this yearly report. Zao Jun is celebrated in Vietnamese culture as Tao Quan.
Xuan Wu (The Dark Martial or The Mysterious Martial), posthumously known as The Dark or Mysterious Heavenly Upper Emperor (Xuan Tian Shang Di), as well as True Warrior Grand Emperor (Zhen Wu Da Di), and commonly known as The Northern Emperor (Bei Di) or Emperor Lord (Di Gong) is one of the higher ranking Taoist deities, and one of the more revered deities in China.<br/><br/> He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements (worshipped by those wishing to avoid fires), and capable of great magic. He is particularly revered by martial artists, and is the patron saint of Hebei, Manchuria and Mongolia. Since the third Ming Emperor, Zhu Di, claimed the help of Zhen Wu in his war to take over the Ming Empire, monasteries were built under the Imperial Decree in Wudang Mountains, in China's Hubei Province, where he allegedly attained immortality. Xuan Wu is also the patron saint of Cantonese and Min Nan speakers (particularly those of Hokkien ancestry) in southern China, whose ancestors fled south following the Song Imperial House of Zhao.
Shennong (Vietnamese: Than Nong), also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains (Wugu xiandì), was a ruler of China and cultural hero who lived some 5,000 years ago and who taught the ancient Chinese the practice of agriculture. Appropriately, his name means ' Divine Farmer'. He is also believed to have discovered tea.