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.
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.
The Zhuang;Sawndip:佈獞) are a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan,Guangdong,Guizhou,and Hunan provinces. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. With the Bouyei,Nùng,Tày,and other Northern Tai speakers,they are sometimes known as the Rau or Rao people. Their population,estimated at 18 million people,makes them the largest minority in China.
The Nùng are a Central Tai-speaking ethnic group living primarily in northeastern Vietnam and southwestern Guangxi. The Nùng sometimes call themselves Thổ,which literally means autochthonous. Their ethnonym is often mingled with that of the Tày as Tày-Nùng. According to the Vietnam census,the population of the Nùng numbered about 856,412 by 1999,968,800 by 2009,and 1,083,298 by 2019. They are the third largest Tai-speaking group,preceded by the Tày and the Thái,and sixth overall among national minority groups.
Taiyi Zhenren is a Daoist deity in Chinese religion and Taoism. Taiyi means "primordial unity of yin and yang" and Zhenren is a Daoist term for "Perfected Person". According to the opening of the classical novel Fengshen Bang,he is the reincarnation of the first emperor of the Shang dynasty,Tang of Shang.
Zhang Jianzhi (張柬之),courtesy name Mengjiang (孟將),formally Prince Wenzhen of Hanyang (漢陽文貞王),was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty,serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705 but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and died in exile.
Li Bian,courtesy name Zhenglun,known as Xu Gao between 937 and 939 and Xu Zhigao before 937,and possibly Li Pengnu during his childhood,also known by his temple name as the Emperor Liezu of Southern Tang,was the founder and first emperor of the Chinese Southern Tang dynasty. In traditional histories,he is also often referred to as the First Lord of Southern Tang (南唐先主). He was an adopted son and successor of the Yang Wu regent Xu Wen who usurped power from the Yang Wu emperor Yang Pu.
Liu Yin (劉隱),formally Prince Xiang of Nanhai (南海襄王),later further posthumously honored Emperor Xiang (襄皇帝) with the temple name of Liezong (烈宗) by his younger brother Liu Yan,was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang dynasty and Tang's succeeding dynasty Later Liang of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period,who ruled Qinghai Circuit as its military governor (Jiedushi). It was on the basis of his rule that Liu Yan was later able to establish the state of Southern Han.
Di Qing (1008–1057),formerly romanized as Ti Ch'ing,was a Chinese military general of the Northern Song dynasty. He often wore a mask in battle. He led campaigns against the Western Xia and the Nong Zhigao rebellion in Guangxi. He was known for his bravery and skill in warfare,achieving numerous remarkable feats on the battlefield. He held high official positions,including that of the Grand Preceptor. He was also posthumously honored with the titles of Chancellor of the Imperial Secretariat and Chancellor of the Imperial Ministry. In folklore,he was believed to be an incarnation of the God of Military Arts (Wuquxing).
Nong Zhigao (1025–1055?) was a Zhuang (Nùng) chieftain and the only emperor of Dali,Nantian,and eventually Danan.
Yang Lian (楊璉),formally Prince Jing of Hongnong (弘農靖王),was a crown prince of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu. He died not long after his father,Wu's last ruler Yang Pu,was forced to yield the throne to the powerful regent Xu Gao,and it was commonly thought that the death was at the order of the new emperor.
Song Fujin (宋福金),formally Empress Yuanjing,was the empress and second wife of Li Bian,the founding emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Southern Tang,and the mother of four of his five sons,including his successor Li Jing.
Legend of the Eight Immortals is a Singaporean television series based on stories about the Eight Immortals in Chinese mythology and adapted from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the East (东游记) by Wu Yuantai (吴元泰). Produced by the Television Corporation of Singapore in collaboration with two mainland Chinese companies,the series had cast members from Singapore,Taiwan,Hong Kong and mainland China. It was first aired in Singapore on TCS Channel 8 from 26 November 1998 to 6 January 1999.
The Song–Đại Việt war,also known as the Lý-Song War,was a military conflict between the Lýdynasty of Đại Việt and the Song dynasty of China between 1075 and 1077. The war was sparked by the shifting allegiances of tribal peoples such as the Zhuang/Nùng on the frontier borderlands,and increasing state control over their administration. In 1075,Emperor LýNhân Tông ordered a preemptive invasion of Song dynasty territory with more than 80,000 soldiers,razing the city of Yongzhou after a 42-day siege. The Song retaliated with an army of 300,000 the following year. In 1077,Song forces nearly reached Đại Việt's capital Thăng Long before being halted by General LýThường Kiệt at the NhưNguyệt River in modern-day Bắc Ninh Province.
A Nong was a Zhuang shamaness,matriarch and warrior. She was the mother of the warlord Nong Zhigao (1025–1055). Alongside her son,father,and husband,she led the Zhuang and Nùng minorities of the Sino-Vietnamese frontier against Vietnamese and Chinese foes.
The Jingtang Lotus Root (京塘莲藕) is a pink-flowering aquatic plant. It most likely originated in Jingtang,Huadu District,Guangzhou City,Guangdong Province,where it was cultivated for its vegetative parts and seeds. The most commonly eaten component of the plant is its taproot,although its green leaves are eaten as well. This plant is an aquatic perennial. Under favorable circumstances,its seeds may remain fertile for many years. The oldest lotus germination recorded involved 1,300-year-old seeds which were recovered from a dry lake bed in northeastern China.
Lishan Laomu is the goddess of Mount Li in Chinese religion. She is a popular female immortal in the Taoist pantheon,and a high-ranking one according to some late sources. Legend has it that Lishan Laomu,whose surname and origin remain mysterious,is a supremely elevated female immortal dwelling deep within the Mount Li. Her origins are said to derive from Nüwa,the legendary creator and mother goddess.
The roles of women in Taoism have differed from the traditional patriarchy over women in ancient and imperial China. Chinese women had special importance in some Taoist schools that recognized their transcendental abilities to communicate with deities,who frequently granted women with revealed texts and scriptures. Women first came to prominence in the Highest Clarity School,which was founded in the 4th century by a woman,Wei Huacun. The Tang dynasty (618–907) was a highpoint for the importance of Daoist women,when one-third of the Shangqing clergy were women,including many aristocratic Taoist nuns. The number of Taoist women decreased until the 12th century when the Complete Perfection School,which ordained Sun Bu'er as the only woman among its original disciples,put women in positions of power. In the 18th and 19th centuries,women Taoists practiced and discussed nüdan,involving gender-specific practices of breath meditation and visualization. Furthermore,Taoist divinities and cults have long traditions in China,for example,the Queen Mother of the West,the patron of xian immortality,He Xiangu,one of the Eight Immortals,and Mazu,the protectress of sailors and fishermen.
Nong Minfu was a Tai-speaking Rau chieftain who ruled over an area in what is today's Sino-Vietnamese borderland. He could have been Nong Quanfu's father. He was probably the leader of a confederation of tribes.
The Nong Zhigao rebellions were three uprisings in 1042,1048,and 1052 led by the Zhuang/Tai Nùng leader Nong Zhigao against the Viet kingdom of Đại CồViệt (968–1054) and the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China. Defeated in 1042 and 1048 by Đại CồViệt,Zhigao fled to Song territory where he tried to set up an independent kingdom by taking Guangzhou. He failed and was forced to flee to the Dali Kingdom in 1054.
