Erlang Shen

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His bearing was refined, his visage noble, His ears hung down to his shoulders, and his eyes shone. The hat on his head had three peaks and phoenixes flying, And his robe was of a pale goose−yellow. His boots were lined with cloth of gold; dragons coiled round his socks; His jade belt was decorated with the eight jewels, At his waist was a bow, curved like the moon, In his hand a Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear. His axe had split open Peach Mountain when he rescued his mother, His bow had killed the twin phoenixes of Zongluo. Widespread was his fame for killing the Eight Demons, And he had become one of Plum Hill's seven sages. His heart was too lofty to acknowledge his relatives in Heaven; In his pride he went back to be a god at Guanjiang. He was the Merciful and Miraculous Sage of the red city, Erlang, whose transformations were numberless.

Description from Journey to the West , Wu Cheng'en

Throughout the course of Erlang's duel between Sun Wukong, it was proven that they are equally matched. After many transformations that were performed in their duel (Sun Wukong fleeing as a fish; Erlang and Sun Wukong becoming larger birds, and so forth), near the conclusion of the battle, he managed to see through Sun Wukong's disguise (as a temple) using his third eye and with the assistance of another God. It should be noted, however, that Wukong fleeing was for his monkeys' safety. Erlang eventually captured Wukong through teamwork with several other gods; Laozi personally had dropped his refined golden ring that had hit Sun Wukong on the head, giving Erlang a chance to bring him down, and Erlang's dog bit him in the leg. After Sun Wukong had been captured (to which Sun Wukong retorts that they are cowards for attacking from behind), he and his heavenly soldiers would burn areas of Mount Huaguo. Erlang is seen again far later in the novel when he assists Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie through chance by fighting against an ancient Dragon King and his villainous son-in-law, a nine-headed bird demon. [4] Wukong also mentions being sworn brothers with Erlang Shen. Erlang has six other sworn brothers from Plum Hill.

Bao Lian Deng

In the tale Lotus Lantern (Bao Lian Deng), Erlang had a sister known as the Holy Mother of Mount Hua (Hua Shan). She married a mortal man, Liu Yanchang, who was a scholar. Together, they had a son by the name of Chen Xiang. She was admonished by Erlang for this unlawful human-deity union and imprisoned under Mount Hua. When Chen Xiang came of age, he split the mountain with an axe to free his mother, but not before facing people who repeatedly tried to undermine his mission, most notably his own uncle Erlang. [4]

Erlang is also introduced as a resplendent, powerful god in Kevin Hearne's Scourged, book 9 of The Iron Druid Chronicles . [13]

Erlang Shen
Ping Sien Si - 011 Yang Jian (Erlang Shen) (15949358169).jpg
Relief of Erlang at a temple in Perak, Malaysia
Yang Jian/Erlang Shen in film and television
YearCountryTitleTypeYang Jian/Erlang

Sheng actor

1964ChinaUproar In Heaven

大鬧天宮

Animated FilmYu Ding
1986China Journey to the West

西游记

Television seriesLin Zhiqian
1996Hong Kong Journey to the West

西游记

Television series Joe Ma
1998Singapore Legend of the Eight Immortals

东游记

Television seriesWang Yanbin
1999China Lotus Lantern

宝莲灯

Animated film Jiang Wen
2005China Lotus Lantern

宝莲灯

Television series Vincent Chiao
2006China The Legend and the Hero

封神榜之凤鸣岐山

Television seriesHan Dong
2009China Prelude of Lotus Lantern

宝莲灯前传

Television series Vincent Chiao
2009China The Legend and the Hero 2 Television seriesHan Dong
2010China Journey to the West

西游记

Television seriesYin Xiaotian
2011China Journey to the West

西游记

Television series Feng Shaofeng
2014Hong Kong

China

The Monkey King

西游记之大闹天宫

Film Peter Ho
2016Hong Kong

China

League of Gods

3D封神榜

Film Huang Xiaoming
2017ChinaA Chinese Odyssey: Love of Eternity

大话西游之爱你一万年

Television series Hu Yunhao
2018ChinaThe Taoism Grandmaster

玄门大师

Television series Han Dong
2019China The Gods

封神

Television series Luo Jin
2020ChinaHeroic Journey of Nezha

哪咤降妖记

Television seriesGao Ziqi
2022China New Gods: Yang Jian

新神榜:杨戬

Animated FilmWang Kai
2023China Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms

封神第一部:朝歌风云

FilmCi Sha

See also

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References

  1. "The disciple of Bajinggong-not to blame Yuding's low level of realism, he is not worthy to be Yang Jian's master". INF. 16 March 2020.
  2. Zhonglin, Xu (June 2011). Creation of the Gods. Asiapac Books Pte Ltd. ISBN   978-981-229-588-0.
  3. "二郎神杨戬的师父并非玉鼎真人?_黄龙". Sohu (in Chinese). 8 July 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Burham, Harold (2015). The Esoteric Codex: Deities of Knowledge. LULU Press. p. 310. ISBN   9781312998575.
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  6. "Zhulong". God Erlang Suppressed Fire Dragon. Legend goes, on one of the northern mountains of Dujiangyan lived a fire dragon which was raging the common people. Li Bing asked his son-God Erlang to subdue it. God Erlang climbed onto Yulei Mountain and became a giant. He was as tall as the sky. He wrapped clouds on his waist and cut a tree to make a carrying pole. Then he carried two mountains at a time to build the dam. After he brought 66 mountains the dam was built. Erlang got water from Pacifying Dragon Pool to put into the dam. At length the fire dragon was subdued.
  7. "《新神榜:杨戬》:颠覆版的劈山救母传说". The Paper (in Chinese). 26 August 2022.
  8. Mode, Markus (1991–92). "Sogdian Gods in Exile – Some iconographic evidence from Khotan in the light of recently excavated material from Sogdiana". Silk Road Art and Archaeology. 2: 182–183. ISSN   0917-1614 . Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  9. Li, Guotao (2004). "二郎神之祆教来源——兼论二郎神何以成为戏神" [The Zoroastrian Origin of Erlang Shen: How Erlang Shen became the Patron-God of Dramas]. Religious Studies (in Simplified Chinese) (2): 78–83. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1006-1312.2004.02.013 . Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  10. Hou, Hui (2011). "二郎神源自祆教雨神考" [Research on Erlang Shen Originating from the Zoroastrian Rain Deity]. Religious Studies (in Simplified Chinese) (3): 195–203. ISSN   1006-1312 . Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  11. Liu, Zongdi (April 15, 2019). "二郎骑白马,远自波斯来" [Persian Origin of the Horse Riding Erlang Shen]. chinafolklore.org (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  12. Xu, Zhongli. Investiture Of The Gods. p. 104.
  13. Hearne, Kevin. "Scourged". Kevin Hearne. Retrieved 17 October 2023.