The Eight Immortals are a group of legendary xian (immortals) in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel (法器) that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the "Covert Eight Immortals" (暗八仙). Most of them are said to have been born in the Tang or Song Dynasty. They are revered by the Taoists and are also a popular element in secular Chinese culture. They are said to live on a group of five islands in the Bohai Sea, which includes Mount Penglai.
Li Tieguai is a figure in Chinese folklore and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. He is sometimes described as irascible and ill-tempered, but also benevolent to the poor, sick and the needy, whose suffering he alleviates with special medicine from his bottle gourd. He is often portrayed as an ugly old man with a dirty face, a scraggly beard, and messy hair held by a golden band. He walks with the aid of an iron crutch and often has a gourd slung over his shoulder or held in his hand. He often is depicted as a clown figure who descends to earth in the form of a beggar who uses his power to fight for the oppressed and needy, and to heal others.
Lan Caihe is a Chinese mythological figure, and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. His presence in this group makes Lan one of the more familiar of the hundreds of other Taoist immortals. Lan Caihe is the only one of the Eight Immortals whose gender is ambiguous. Lan is not generally thought to be based on a historical person, but is traditionally said to have been born sometime during the Tang dynasty, and lived as a homeless street entertainer, who wandered all over China, singing philosophical songs. Stories vary about how Lan attained immortality and became one of the Eight Immortals. Lan's emblem is a basket of flowers, and so this immortal is considered the patron of florists and gardeners.
Lü Dongbin is a legendary Chinese scholar and poet who lived during the Tang dynasty whose lifetime supposedly spanned two hundred and twenty years. Elevated to the status of an immortal in the Chinese cultural sphere by Daoists, he is one of the most widely known of the group of deities known as the Eight Immortals. Lü is also a historical figure and mentioned in the official history book History of Song. He is widely considered to be one of the earliest masters of neidan, or internal alchemy. He is also depicted in art dressed as a scholar carrying a sword to dispel evil spirits.
Zhang Guo, better known as Zhang Guolao, is a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. Among the Eight Immortals, Zhang Guolao, Zhongli Quan and Lü Yan are the only ones who appear in historical records as genuine figures in society at specific times and places. His existence is said to have begun around the middle or end of the 7th century, and ended approximately in the middle of the 8th. The epithet "Lao" added at the end of his name means "old".
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian is a Chinese Taoist deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping, a Taoist hermit from Jinhua during the Eastern Jin dynasty.
The Pa-hsien Mountain, or Eight Immortals Mountain, is a mountain in Heping District, Taichung, Taiwan. It is a branch of Mount Yu. Its height is 2,448 metres, which is around 8,000 Taiwanese feet (台尺). The pronunciation of eight thousand (baqian) and eight immortals are similar in Chinese, hence the name.
Pat Sin Leng is a mountain range in the northeast New Territories of Hong Kong, located within the Pat Sin Leng Country Park. The name Pat Sin Leng literally means "Ridge of the Eight Immortals", who are eight well-known xian in Chinese mythology. The eight peaks along the Pat Sin Leng mountain range are each named after a different Immortal.
The Forbidden Kingdom is a 2008 fantasy wuxia film written by John Fusco and directed by Rob Minkoff, starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano, Liu Yifei, Collin Chou, and Li Bingbing. Loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, the plot revolves around Jason Tripitikas (Angarano), a modern-day American teenager who is transported back to ancient China after discovering the Monkey King's magical staff. He accompanies Lu Yan / Old Hop (Chan) and Sun Wukong / Silent Monk (Li) on their quest to return the staff to its rightful owner while trying to avoid the minions of the evil Jade Emperor (Chou). The action sequences were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping.
The Hong Kong Movie Database (HKMDB) is a bilingual website started in 1995 by Ryan Law. It provides a repository for information about movies originating from Hong Kong and the people who created them.
A xian is any manner of immortal, mythical being within the Taoist pantheon or Chinese folklore. Xian has often been translated into English as "immortal".
Grotto-heavens are a type of sacred Taoist site. Grotto-heavens are usually caves, grottoes, mountain hollows, or other underground spaces.
Ao Guang is the Dragon King of the East Sea in Chinese folklore. He featured prominently in different works including Fengshen Yanyi and Journey to the West.
The Eight Immortals are ancient revered figures of Daoism.
Killer Meteors, is a 1976 kung fu Hong Kong action film, directed by Lo Wei.
Wu Kong (悟空传), also known as Immortal Demon Slayer and The Legend of Wukong, is a 2017 Chinese fantasy-action-adventure film directed by Derek Kwok and produced by Huang Jianxin, starring Eddie Peng, Ni Ni, Shawn Yue, Oho Ou, and Zheng Shuang. It is based on Jin Hezai's internet novel Wukong Biography, which retells the story of Sun Wukong in the classical novel Journey to the West and is partly inspired by the 1995 comedy film A Chinese Odyssey. The film was released in China on 13 July 2017.
Drunken boxing also known as Drunken Fist, is a general name for various styles of Chinese martial arts that imitate the movements of a drunk person. It is an ancient style and its origins are mainly traced back to the Buddhist and Daoist religious communities. The Buddhist style is related to the Shaolin temple while the Daoist style is based on the Daoist tale of the drunken Eight Immortals. Zui quan has the most unusual body movements among all styles of Chinese martial arts. Hitting, grappling, locking, dodging, feinting, ground and aerial fighting and all other sophisticated methods of combat are incorporated.
The Eight Pillars also known as Eight Pillars of the Sky are a concept from Chinese mythology. Located in the eight cardinal directions, they are a group of eight mountains or pillars which have been thought to hold up the sky. They are symbolically important as types of axis mundi and cosmology. Their functions in mythology ranged from pillars which functioned to hold apart the Earth and the Sky, as ladders allowing travel between the two, and as the location of various paradises or wonderland with associated magical people, plants, and animals. The Eight Pillars are a central aspect to Chinese mythology, and also have been used extensively in poetic allusion. Some variations exist, such as only having four pillars.
