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| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme god name "AME-NO-MINAKA-NUSHI-NOKAMI" | Shinto / Japan | Supreme god. he highest deity of the Shinto pantheon and the first to emerge in Takama-No-Hara (the plain of high heaven) when heaven and earth were fashioned. He was born alone, resides in the ninth heaven and has always hidden himself from mortal eyes. A remote and vague figure of whom no images are ever made and toward whom no cult is directed. His name only appears once in the Kojiki and never in the Nihongi. Originally his identity may have been strongly influenced by Chinese religion. His name is linked closely with those of two other lesser primordial beings, TAKA-MI-MISUBI-NO-KAMI and KAMI-MISUBI-NO-KAMI.... |
| Goddess name "AVALOKITESVARA (merciful lord)" | Buddhist / India | Bodhisattva or buddhadesignate. One of the most important deities of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism. In Lamaism he is the tutelary god of Tibet. He equates with VIS NU in Hinduism and bears links with PADMAPANI. In cosmic mythology he is a creator deity. Color: white or red. Attributes: blue lotus, image of Amitabha (topmost pyramidal head), lotus, rosary, sword and water jar. NOTE: in Chinese Buddhism he is represented by the goddess Kuan-Tin, and in Japanese by KWANNON.... |
| God name "Bo Hsian" | Taoist / Chinese | God. The Taoist counterpart of the Buddhist deity SAMANTABHADRA. Usually depicted upon a white elephant. He is considered to be a god of wisdom.... |
| God name "Chang Hs'iien" | Chinese | Guardian god of children. According to tradition he was the mortal king of Szechuan killed by the founder of the Sung dynasty. His wife was captured and forced to become a concubine in the imperial palace. She was discovered by the emperor kneeling before a picture of her deceased husband which she identified as a local deity, the immortal Chang who gives children. This triggered the cult which began locally in Szechuan circa AD 100. Chang Hs'ien is depicted holding a bow made of mulberry wood and either aiming an arrow at the star Tien Kou, the socalled celestial dog which threatens the earth, or aiming the empty bow at a rat (see ERH LANG).... |
| King name "Erh Lang (master)" | Chinese | Tutelary deity. Associated with a celestial dog, Erh Lang was once honored with a sanctuary in Beijing (Peking). According to tradition he and the dog saved the city from flooding. His attributes include a bow which he is depicted drawing, and arrows. The dog may be replaced by a rat, in which case the arrows are not included. The rat is a sign of impending wealth and therefore the drawing of an empty bow at the rat is a sign which invokes wealth of children.... |
| God name "Hachiman" | Shinto / Japan | God of war and peace. A deity whose origins are confused. The name does not appear in either of the sacred texts of Shintoism, but such a deity was probably worshiped in the distant past with the alternative title of HimeGami or Hime-O-Kami. The cult center was on the southern island of Kyushu at Usa. In modern Shintoism, Hachiman originates as a member of the imperial dynasty. Named Ojin-Tenno and born in AD 200 to the empress Jingu-Kogo, he greatly improved the living standards and culture of Japan during his remarkable reign. The place of his birth was marked by a sanctuary and several centuries after his death, a vision of a child KAMI appeared there to a priest. The kami identified himself by the Chinese ideogram representing the name Hachiman, and thus the link developed. The site is, today, the location of a magnificent shrine, the Umi-Hachiman-Gu, where Hachiman has been perceived as a god of war. Soldiers departing for battle once took with them relics from the shrine. Hachiman is also a deity of peace and a guardian of human life and, when pacifism dominated Japan during the post-war era, he became more strongly identified in the latter context.... |
| Goddess name "He Xian-gu" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, she was once a mortal being who achieved immortality through her lifestyle. The tutelary goddess of housewives and the only female deity among the group. Attributes include a ladle, lotus and peach fruit.... |
| God name "Ho-Po" | Taoist / Chinese | River god. The so-called Count of the River, the deity who controls all rivers but particularly the Yellow River, and who is the subject of an official cult and sacrifice. According to tradition he achieved immortality by weighing himself down with stones and drowning himself. He received an annual sacrifice of a young girl until the end of the Shou Dynasty circa 250 BC. Also Hebo; Ping-Yi.... |
| Goddess name "Hung Sheng (boly one)" | Chinese | Guardian god. A deity who protects fishing boats and their crews against danger at sea in the Southern Ocean. His role is similar to that of the goddess KUAN YIN. Little is known of the origin of Hung Sheng, but he was allegedly a mortal who died on the thirteenth day of the second moon, which falls two days before the spring equinox when the sea dragon king, Lung Wang, is believed to leave the ocean and ascend into the heavens. The god is propitiated with cakes made from the first grain of the year, on the fifth day of the fifth month and in some traditions he is seen as an aspect of the sea dragon king.... |
| Deity name "Jimmu" | Japan | The first emperor of Japan, direct descendant of Amaterasu, the supreme deity, and generally regarded as the ancestor of the present Japanese emperor. Jimmu is a Chinese-style name given to this emperor much later; his original name was Kamu-yamato-iwarehiko. Kamu means divine, and Yamato is the name of the loca- tion of the ancient capital. |
| Deities name "Kami-Musubi-No-Kami (divine producing wondrous deity)" | Shinto / Japan | Creator being. The third in the list of primordial deities appearing in the Kojiki and Nibongi sacred texts. A remote and vaguely defined deity who was born alone in the cosmos and whose presence remains hidden from mankind. Probably influenced by Chinese religion.... |
| Deity name "Lan Cai-he" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, the deity is of ambiguous sex, sometimes depicted as a girl. Once a mortal being who achieved immortality through perfect lifestyle. Attributes include flowers and a flute. See also BA XIAN.... |
| God name "Lu Pan" | Chinese | God of artisans. The deity concerned with builders, bricklayers, housepainters and carpenters. He is particularly revered in Hong Kong. According to tradition he was born in 606 BC in the kingdom of Lu, where he became a skilled carpenter. He turned into a recluse on the Li Shan mountain, where he perfected his skills. He is said to have constructed the palace of the queen of the western heaven. Because of his powers he was murdered. He is also an invoker of harmonious relationships. His festival takes place on the thirteenth day of the sixth month, when the Rains are due. Attributes include a set square and carpenter's plane. He is also depicted with an ax, the symbol of a marriage go-between.... |
| Goddess name "NA CHA (here is a loud cry)" | Taoist / Chinese | Guardian god. A somewhat ambiguous god who is generally regarded as benevolent, but whose traditions hint at a more destructive aspect. He was born a god of human parents, the reincarnation of an older deity, Ling Chu-Tzu, the intelligent pearl. According to tradition, his father was Li Ching, who threatened to kill his mother because she claimed she was made pregnant by the mystical actions of a Taoist priest who told her she was to bear the child of a unicorn. Na Cha is said to have fought in the Shang-Chou war on the side of the Chou dynasty circa 1027 BC. His chief adversary was the sea dragon king. Ultimately he became involved with the goddess Shih-Chi Niang Niang, accidentally killed her attendant and, in remorse, committed suicide.... |
| Deity name "Nezha" | Chinese | Nataku or Nata, a deity, the enfant terrible trickster, originally of Chinese mythology. His official Taoist deity name is Zhongtan Yuanshuai. |
| Goddess name "Nu Kua" | Chinese | Creator goddess. A primordial deity who may be androgynous and who engendered mankind out of lumps of yellow clay. The invention of the flute is also attributed to her. Also NuGua.... |
| Deity name "Old Man of the Moon" | Chinese | Old Man of the moon. The Chinese deity who links in wedlock predestined couples. |
| God name "Ryujin" | Shinto / Japan | dragon god. A deity controlling thunder and Rain and probably the most significant of the group of weather gods known as the RAIJIN. He is of Chinese origin and more Buddhist than Shinto. He does not appear in the sacred Shinto texts Kojiki or Nibongi, but enjoys shrines in many Shinto sanctuaries and is worshiped by farmers, particularly in times of drought. He lives in the sea, lakes and large ponds from which he ascends in mists and winds. He generates dark Rain clouds which then burst. His main festival takes place in June.... |
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