source

events

Hsi-yu C^i (scene 8)

"Kuan-yin appoints ten heavenly protectors for" Tri-pit.aka "on his dangerous journey to the foreign countries in the western regions. Hua-kuang is one of these divine guardians."

S^ui-hu C^uan 13.178 & 37.534

Hua-kuan "is typically associated with two magical treasures, a three-corned golden brick and a golden lance".

Fen-s^en Yen-i 63.21a

"the deity Ma Shan’s creation from the wick of a lamp"

p.

biography

N-y C^-c^

148

"Hua-kuang, or Flowery radiance, ... was originally the halo of light ... which intensified as the lamp heard ... preaching. Eventually this radiance was transformed ... into the deity Miao chi-hsiang. ... Miao chi-hsiang ... burns the malicious Single Fire Demon (Tu-huo kuei) to death. For this act ... he ..., endowed with five supernatural powers, ... is incarnated in the womb of the Goddess of Horse-Ear Mountain (Ma-erh shan niang-niang) ["As`vakarn.a, ... one of the seven concentric mountain ranges around Mount Sumeru." (fn. 38)] Lady Horse-Ear is the widow of the Great King of Horse-Ear Mountain (Ma-erh shan ta-wang) who had been killed by the Iron-shod Dragon King of the Eastern Sea (Tung-hai t>ieh-chi lung-wang) ... . Lady Horse-Ear calls her son (the reincarnated Miao chi-hsiang) Three-Eyed Spiritual Radiance (San-yen ling-kuang), because he is born with three eyes. ... Soon afterwards, San-yen ling-kuang ... steals the golden lance of the Great Emperor of Purple Vacuity of the North Pole (Pi-chi tzu-wei ta-ti) and is crushed by him.

1.1a-12a

But the Heavenly Worthy of Wondrous joy (Miao-lo T>ien-tsun) takes pity on the dim little radiance roaming around in space – Hua-kuang’s ... – and causes him to be born again, this time as a son of the deity Heavenly King Flaming Devil (Yen-mo t>ien-wang) and his wife.

[1.12b-2.11b]

Hua-Kuang becomes the disciple of the Heavenly Worthy of Wondrous

2.12a-17b

149

Joy ... . Proving his newly-acquired abilities ..., he is rewarded by his master with a three-cornered golden brick, a magic treasure that enables him to transform himself at will. Ending his apprenticeship, he ... is appointed Great Marshal of the Troops and Horses of the Ministry of Fire (Huo-pu ping-ma ta yuan-shuai).

However, at an official banquet held in the heavenly palace, Hua-kuang clashes with the Crown Prince Golden Spear (Chin-ch>iang t>ai-tzu), heir to the Jade Emperor’s throne, and thus incurs the Emperor’s wrath.

4.1a-6a

Pursued by the celestial armies he flees to the north, where he is stopped and subjugated by the Dark Emperor (Hsu:an-ti).

[4.6b-5.5b]

After appointing Hua-kuang to be his thirty-sixth general {cf. decan} ..., the Dark Emperor lets him go free. ... Hua-kuang then escapes by burning down the Gate of Precious Virtue of the Southern Heaven (Nan-t>ien pao-te kuan).

5.6a-12b

Descending now into the world of mortals, Hua-kuang ... subdues the demons Ch>ien-li yen and Shun-feng erh, whose insatiable demands for human sacrifice had weighed heavily on the inhabitants of the Country of a Thousand Fields (Ch>ien-t>ien kuo). For this virtuous deed Hua-kuang is rewarded by the king of the country with an official cult and temple.

[5.13a-6.12a]

Unfortunately, the new temple is erected at the site of the defunct sanctuary of another popular god, General Fire Whirl (Huo-p>iao chiang). This deity takes revenge for the demolition of his shrine by kidnapping the royal princess while she is offering incense in Hua-kuang’s new temple. Hua-kuang is first suspected of the crime, but he soon succeeds in saving the princess and convicting the true evildoer. {The god Boreas (= Fire Whirl?) abducted heroine Oreithuia while she was (GM 48.a) "whirling in a dance" (for Fire Whirl?) : "the abduction took place during a procession ... for the temple of Athena Polias ... . Sometimes the punishment of PHINEUS (3) is ascribed to Boreas." (CDCM, s.v. "Boreas") --- So, is Phineus = Hua-kuan?}

6.12b-21a

In the meantime, the Jade Emperor has found out Hua-kuang’s whereabouts and sent his celestial armies after him. Hua-kuang barely escapes by entering, once more, the woman of a woman; he is reborn,

8.22b-32a

150

together with his four brothers, into the Hsiao family of Wu-yuan. ...

His mother is in reality a horrible man-eating demon, called Chi-chih-t>o, who had devoured the real Lady Hsiao while she was praying for a child before the ... altar in her garden.

7.21b-22b

This monster who, without anyone in the family realizing it, continues to eat people from the neighborhood, is eventually caught by a dragon divinity and incarcerated in the infernal regions of Mount Feng-du. Hua-kuang ... presumes that she has been abducted ..., and tries to find her. Disguised as the Heavenly Worthy of Grand Unity who Saves from Suffering (T>ai-i chiu-k>u t>ien-tsun), he performs a ritual (tao-ch>ang) for the orphaned souls of the dead and interrogates them as to his mother’s whereabouts ... . ...

8.32b-33a

He defeats the celestial Marshal Sung Wu-chi and captures the fierce fire crows of the Holy Mother of Hundredfold Increase (Pai-chia sheng-mu).

9.1a-10a

Pursuing the dragon who carried his mother away, he assaults the Bodhisattvas Wen-chu and P>u-hsien (Man~jus`ri and Samantabhadra) ... .

10.10a-18a

In a battle with the powerful Na-cha, who was sent by the Jade Emperor himself to subdue him, Hua-kuang loses his precious three-cornered golden brick.

11.18a-26a

151

He then tricks the Holy Mother Jade Bracelet (Yu:-huan sheng-mu) out of her treasured golden pagoda ... . This entails a skirmish with the Holy Mother’s daughter, the unconquerable Iron Fan Princess (T>ieh-shan kung-chu). With the help of a miraculous drug Hua-kung defeats the beautiful princess and takes her as his wife.

12.26a-13.1b

Soon afterwards, ... he is suspected a second time of accosting a mortal woman, but again is able to prove his innocence by revealing the true malefactor : a white snake demon. ...

13.2a-9a

Hua-kuang ... finally meets the unfortunate real Lady Hsiao in the Administration of the Shadows (yin-ssu) and leans about the true identity of the creature from whose womb he was born ... . He assures Lady Hsiao that he will obtain her rebirth into a prestigious family,

15.10a-12b

but he again adopts the appearance of the Heavenly Worthy of Grand Unity who Saves from Suffering, works his way through to Mount Feng-du, and ... the man-eating ghoul, Chi-chih-t>o, his monstrous mother.

17.15a-18b

... Hua-kuang takes on the form of the divine monkey, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven (Chi-t>ien ta-sheng), and steals the peaches of immortality from the garden of the Queen Mother of the West (Hsi wang-mu). He feeds the fruit to Chi-chih-t>o, and thus redeems her from cannibalism. ...

17.18b-25a

Hua-kuang ... only after suffering the loss of a leg {one-footed = whirlwind? – one Harpuia who troubled Phineus was named (GM 150.j) /Ae:llo-pod-/ ‘storm-foot’ (GM, vol. 2, p. 378a) "as a whirlwind" (GM 150.2)} ... is made ... Divine Agent of the Five Manifestations (... Wu-hsien ling-kuan ta-ti)." {cf. the [Aztec] 5 one-footed Tezacatli-poca-s}

18.25a-28a

animal-form

source

dragons

S^uo-wen chieh-tz>u 112b

bulls

S^an-hai C^in chieh-s^u 14.6b

birds

S^u-i C^i 2.17b

monkeys

commentary by Wei C^ao on the Kuo-yu: [Lu-yu: 2.201 "They have human faces, the bodies of monkeys" (p. 154)]

p.

source

monopod

153

S^an-s^u c^en-i 3.18b-19a

"the mythic monopod K>uei ... is ... the music minister of the sage ruler Shun."

153-4

C^uan-tzu c^i-s^ih 6B.591 sq

"the K>uei as a foolish one-legged animal that wonders how the millipede, despite his many legs, moves so much more easily than itself, whose single leg already causes it trouble."

154

S^an-hai C^in chieh-s^u 14.6b

"a K>uei spirit was ... blue, one-legged ... without horns, and ... the Yellow Emperor once used the skin of a K>uei for a drum whose resonance struck the world under heaven with awe."

S^uo-wen chieh-tz>u 112b

"A K>uri spirit ... one-legged ... had horns, hands, and a human face."

commentary by Wei C^ao (204-273 Chr.E.) to the Kuo-yu:

"the K>uei have only one leg. The people of Yu:eh call these phantoms Mountain Sao (Shan-sao) or Mountain Hsiao (Shan-hsiao)."

156

S^en-i C^in 9b

"the Shan-hsiao demons, could be frightened off by the loud reports of burning bamboo."

"

6^th century [Chr.E.] Ching Ch>u sui-shih chi 1.1b

"the first ritual performed by families on the morning of the first day of the new year {cf. /[W]Ete-arkho-/ ‘year-beginning’ as father of Battos} consisted of burning pieces of bamboo ... in order to expel these demons."

154

Pao-p>u-tzu nei-p>ien (cited from :- J. J. M. de Groot : The Religious System of China. Leiden, 1910. vol. v, p. 501)

"Mountain Essences (Shan-ching) have the shape of babies. They have only one leg with the heel reversed. ...

155

Others are the so-called Fei-fei, resembling five-colored dragons with red horns."

p.

source

Wu-hsien / Wu-t>un

158

I-c^ien c^ih 19.7.695 by Hun Mai (1123-1202 Chr.E.)

"the spirits called Wu-t>ung in the regions of Che-tung, Che-hsi, and Chiang-tung (roughly correspoding to present-day Chekiang, southern Anhui, and northestern Kiangsi) and Mu-hsia san-lang or Mu-k>o in Chiang-hsi and Min (the rest of modern Kiangsi, and Fukien) were in reality none other than the K>uei, the Wang-liang, or the Shan-hsiao of old"

I-c^ien c^ih 3.1.1238

"another conflation had obviously occurred between the Wu-t>ung and a type of spirit called Wu-lang."

159

Hsian-s^ih c^ia-s^uo 8.1a by Hsian An-s^ih (1146-1208 Chr.E.)

"He remarks that a local history of Li-yang county (northern Hu-nan) describes shamanistic practitioners worshipping and invoking the Wu-t>ung under the alternative names Yu:n-hsiao wu-lang or Shan-hsiao wu-lang as the five sons of the god T>ai-i."

Hsian-s^ih c^ia-s^uo 8.1b

"the cult of the Shan-hsiao / Wu-t>ung derived from the cult of Tung-huang T>ai-i".

162

I-c^ien c^ih 10.4.1295-6

"prophetic powers of a Wu-t>ung spirit named An-lo shen (God of Peace and Happiness) who was worshipped in ... Chien-ch>ang (Kiangsi)."

Hsin-pien lien-hsian sou-s^en kuan-c^i 25b-26a

"A legend recorded in 1223 ... says that five mountain deities (shan-shen) ... took lodging in an old tree ... and were granted the name An-lo kung (Dukes of Peace and Happiness)".

166

I-c^ien c^ih 2.5.890

"in Kuei-chi (Chekiang)" an "ordained Taoist priest identified the spirit as a one-legged (tu-chiao) Wu-t>ung of the Hsiao category".

I-c^ien c^ih 19.7.696

Some [possessed] women turn into mediums whom people then call "immortals." Others who try to oppose ... and therefore fall ill are said to have contracted "immortals’ disease (hsien-ping)." Some [women] ... remain up to a month in a state of catalepsy [after the demons take possession f them]. Revived, they claim that they

167

have had sexual intercourse with a noble man in a magnificent palace. ... Others go crazy after such an encounter".

I-c^ien c^ih 3.1.1238-9

"a destitute migrant who resettled in Shu-chou (Anhui) ... worshipped a one-legged Wu-t>ung. During the nocturnal rites he held for the spirit ..., his entire family sat naked in the dark. But the demon ... involved all the women of the household in sexual relationships, and some of them even gave birth to the spirit’s offspring."

p. 167 "Later, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the Wu-t>ung came to be closely associated with the cult of the gods of wealth and achieved a notorious reputation for demanding sexual favors in return for the bestowal of riches."

p. 167, fn. 7 reference to p. 698 of :- Richard von Glahn : "The Enchantment of Wealth : the God Wutong ... of Jiangnan". HARVARD JOURNAL OF ASIATIC STUDIES, vol. 52 (1991), pp. 651-714.

p.

Hua-kuan

179

The /Padma-prabha/ ‘red-waterlily radiance’ (Skt. form of name /Hua-kuan/) "appears in the Lotus Sutra [Sat-dharma Pun.d.arika Vaipulya-Sutra], where he is said to be the incarnation of S`ariputra as the Buddha of a blissful era in the distant future. Other sources ... speak of Hua-kuang as the first of the one thousand Buddhas of the great kalpa of the past."

180

According to the "famous Taoist master Po Yu:-ch>an in a text of the thirteenth century [Chr.E.], Hua-kuang figured ... in the guise of the redoubtable vajra bearer Ucchusma (Hui-chi chin-kang)".

order of Wu-t>un

their nature

highest

"pure concentrations of the breaths of the five elements"

2^nd

"condensation of the breaths of mountains and rivers"

lowest

"concentrations of the stale breaths of weeds and trees."

p.

description

source

184

"Divine Agent (ling-kuan), Ma Sheng, appears ... in an early-twelfth-century [Chr.E.] compilation of exorcistic rites of the T>ien-hsin"

T>-s^ C^-k c^-m ts-c^ p-y 7.37b

185

"Ma Sheng’s ... identification with the sixth star of the Southern Dipper (Nan-tou), which was named Sheng."

T-f h-y 222.1a-b

"Marshall Ma ... is described as having three eyes and often six arms, as well as three heads."

T-f h-y 229.2a

"His first attendant is General Ma Ch>ung, a huge white snake (Pai-she ta-chiang)."

T-f h-y 222.2a

"Among his accessories are a golden lance, and a three-cornered golden brick, a fire-wheel and a gourd with five hundred fire crows inside".

T-f h-y 222.9b-17b

in order to expell / subdue __

sacrifice / appeal to __

"phantoms of trees such as Mu-hsia san-lang"

"Great Deity Mu-lang (Mu-lang ta-shen)"

"Shan-hsiao / Wu-t>ung"

"the Five Supernatural Powers of the Divine Agent (Ling-kuan wu-t>ung)"

p. 194

"The people in Hangchow believe above all in the Wu-t>ung gods, whom they also call Five Saints (Wu-sheng).

p. 195

... the Wu-t>ung are capable of enticing women in sexual liaisons, conveyiug wealth, and bringing ... fortune ... upon people. People ... do not dare to utter their name".

p. 197

"The demonic spirits venerated by the people of Wu are called Five Saints (Wu-sheng), or Divine Dukes Five Manifestations (Wu-hsien ling-kung). In the villages they are called Five Gentlemen (Wu-lang). ...

p. 198

It is said that these sprites have their den at Mout Leng-ch>ieh west of the city. The people living there report that torches often emerge from the lake and disappear again. They also say that sometimes five noblemen can be seen who, accompanied by their consorts and retinue, enter old tombs ... .

p. 199

[These demons], by nature, also like to lure women into illicit sexual relationships. ... When they regain consciousness, they say they have seen a magnificently dressed nobleman surrounded by an impressive guard in a royal palace. His consorts and ladies-in-waiting were sitting on both sides, all of them marvellously ... beautiful, and the hall was pervaded by the exuberant sounds of flutes and drums."

p.

female medium

source

200

"a low-class female shaman named Ssu-niang in twelfth-century Hangchow. The woman was regularly possessed by a spirit called a Wu-lang who, speaking through her mouth, made unfailing predictions ... . One day, she was invited to the house of [a nobleman] ... . ... however, on just this occasion the Wu-lang did not respond ... . Only several days later did the spirit resume communication with his medium and excuse himself : "The other day," he explained, "I was refused entrance by the door gods; therefore I couldn’t come in.""

I-c^ien c^ih 11.13.97

201

A high-ranking maiden : one her "wedding day this woman was possessed by a Wu-sheng spirit. ... She suddenly jumped out of her litter and, dancing and singing ..., referred to herself as a Wu-sheng. ... the young wife ran out of the wedding chamber, singing hymns in praise [of the Wu-t>ung] like a shaman."

Ken-ssu pien 5.96

206

"On the occasion of his taking office, the vice governor of Ch>ih-chou (Anhui) paid a formal visit to the local Wu-hsien temple. There it happened that his concubine was struck by the beauty of the statue of the fourth deity (Hua-kuang), fainted, and ... rose, and the possessing spirit, identifying himself as Hua-kuang, explained that the woman’s amorous feelings for him had enabled him to seize her souls."

Ti-c^>i s^an-c^ian Wen t>ai-pao c^uan (HY 779) 1b-2b

p.

the 5 powers

N-y c^-c^

203

Hua-kuan’s incarnation in Wu-yuan in a family named Hsiao : "Just before his first incarnation as the son of the late King of Horse-Ear Mountain, Hua-kuang (alias Miao chi-hsiang) receives ... the Five Supernatural Powers (wu-t>ung)."

#

power (t>un-) in __

description

1.8b

1^st

t>ien ‘heaven’

"wander through the heavenly regions without hindrance."

204

2^nd

ti ‘earth’

"break through earth without hindrance."

3^rd

fen ‘air’

"be invisible as air."

4^th

s^ui ‘water’

"nothing will obstruct you in water"

5^th

huo ‘fire’

"remain unscathed by fire."

"these Five Supernatural Powers materialize in the form of five fire balls (wu t>uan huo) as Hua-kuang enters the womb of Lady Horse-Ear".

1.9a

"the Arhats resort to a ruse. They descend into the world as illusionists and, performing a great many tricks, like cutting off their legs and their arms, immediately attract Hua-kuang’s attention. Fascinated, Hua-kuang wants to imitate them and ends up really cutting off his own right leg. Instantly, a little lion, magically produced by the disguised arhats, appears, grabs the leg, and carries it off ... . Hua-kuang has no alternative but to jump on his fire and wind wheels, follow the lion ... in order to regain his physical integrity."

p.

5 gods

source

208

"the five gods appeared to Wang Yu: in 886 [Chr.E.] and asked him to dedicate a shrine to them."

Tsu-tien lin-yin c^i (quoted in Hsien-pien lien-hsiang sou-s^en kuan-c^i 24b-25b)

171

"five divine beings dressed in yellow appeared in 886 to Wang Yu:, an inhabitant of the city of Wu-yuan. ... The citizens of Wu-yuan built a temple for the deities, which was named Wu-t>ung Temple."

170, n. 126

"the temple gods of Te-hsing were granted the title Wu-t>ung hou ... in 669 and promoted to dukes (kung ...) between 937 and 943".

Ku-c^in t>u-s^u c^i-c^>en 859.45c

" "

"the vice-magistrate of ... Shang-jao ... once, in a dream of his childhood, ... had entered a temple where he saw the magnificently adorned icons of five divine kings. He therefore wrote a favorable report on the temple in Te-hsing ...; subsequently Te-hsing’s Five manifestations were promoted.""

I-c^ien c^ih 10.6.1379-80

208

"the ogress impersonating Lady Hsiao .. gives birth to a lump ... . The father ... cut the lump open, whereupon he finds five sons enclosed in it. the children are named Hsien-tsung, Hsien-ming, Hsien-cheng, Hsien-chih,

Nan-yu c^ih-c^uan 8.22b-27a

210

and Hsien-te. They grow up within a few days, and four of the brothers leave home ... . Only one of them, Hsien-te, or Hua-kuang, stays with the parents."

"fierce subduer Marshal Ma"

"son of the Goddess of Horse-Ear Mountain (Ma-erh shan)"

"Marshal Ma ... is nothing other than the essence of the fire of the south, the king of fire, the prime breath of fire." (Ta-fa hui-yuan 222.1a)

All these iconographic elements are already present in the Taoist ritual manuals of the thirteen to fourteenth centuries [Chr.E.] as symbols and personifications of Marshal Ma."

p.

spirit-medium

T-f h-y

212

"the ritual master transformed himself into Ma Sheng

224.3a-4b

and directed the lost souls together with the demon who had ravished them into the body of a medium ... .

222.25b-28b

213

The medium’s body was then transformed into a prison (yu:) ... in ... the infernal regions of Hell inside which the demon became firmly imprisoned.

222.33b-34b

At this point Marshal Ma, incarnated in the Taoist priest, began to interrogate the demon, who had to reveal his name (through the mouth of the medium)

222.34b-35a

and set the ravished souls free".

222.30a-b

p.

rite

239

"In the second part the language shifts to Southern Min .... It is about the purchase of a lad and a maid to be the servants of the deceased. The servants (or slave-servants) are ... constructions of paper and bamboo sticks which are "brought to life" by the Taoist priest."

241

on the way to Heaven. There is a ferocious baleful general blocking the way, but there are documents indicating that the soul was a good person ... . This ... wins his passage to Heaven."

color of head[dress]

sect

texts used

ritual in text

black

C^en-i

C^in-lu

c^iao (purging of evil spirits)

Huan-lu

c^ai (funeral service)

Wen-c^ien

mi-c^ueh (rubrical manuals); fu (talismans)

(both)

(both)

sections 1-17 of the Hsiao-fa

red

S^en-hsiao

sections 18-23 of the Hsiao-fa