Difference between revisions of "He Xiangu" - New World Encyclopedia
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==Legends== | ==Legends== | ||
| − | The account of He Xiangu's assumption into the ranks of the immortals is told in a number of forms throughout the vast corpus of Chinese folktales and literature. | + | The account of He Xiangu's assumption into the ranks of the immortals is told in a number of forms throughout the vast corpus of Chinese folktales and literature. <segue> |
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| + | In the second version, He Xiangu, a beautiful but impoverished young girl, is forced to become the servant of a wretched old harpy. In a Cinderella-esque fashion, she was forced to toil ceaselessly while her thankless master gossiped with the neighbors and ordered her around. One day while the old woman had left for the market, the young lady's toils were interrupted by seven beggars, who humbly pleaded with her for some rice noodles to fill their gnawing bellies. Though she knew that the old woman would be furious if she found out, He Xiangu's heart went out to the destitute men and she offered to cook them a small meal, which they accepted and ate graciously. Unfortunately, no sooner had the mendicants left than the girl's mistress returned. When she assayed the contents of her larder, she flew into an apoplectic rage and demanded to be told where her precious food had gone, accusing her young servant of stealing it for herself. <ref>Ho and O'Brien, 130-131.</ref> | ||
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==Iconographic Representation== | ==Iconographic Representation== | ||
| − | In graphic depictions, He Xiangu is easily recognized, as she is the only definitively female member of the Eight Immortals (with the androgynous [[Lan Caiho]] as a possible exception). Further, she is typically portrayed playing a ''sheng'' (a Chinese reed organ), or carrying a peach (a reference to the the Queen Mother of the West's peaches of immortality) or a [[lotus]] flower (a potent religious trope likely borrowed from Buddhist symbology).<ref>Goodrich, 314. Ling, 66-67.</ref> | + | In graphic depictions, He Xiangu is easily recognized, as she is the only definitively female member of the Eight Immortals (with the androgynous [[Lan Caiho]] as a possible exception). Further, she is typically portrayed playing a ''sheng'' (a Chinese reed organ), or carrying a peach (a reference to the the Queen Mother of the West's peaches of immortality) or a [[lotus]] flower (a potent religious trope likely borrowed from [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] symbology).<ref>Goodrich, 314. Ling, 66-67.</ref> |
==Area of Patronage== | ==Area of Patronage== | ||
Revision as of 21:04, 16 January 2007
Named He Qiong (何瓊 hé qióng), Immortal Woman He or He Xiangu (何仙姑 in pinyin: hé xiān gū) or Ho Hsien-ku in Wade-Giles, is the only female deity of the Eight Immortals. (The gender of her fellow Immortal Lán Cǎihé is somewhat ambiguous).
She was from Yong Prefecture (永州 yǒng zhōu) (today Linglin County (零陵縣 líng lín xiàn), Hunan) in Tang Dynasty, or from a wealthy and generous family in Zēngchéng County (增城縣), Guangdong.
Member of the Eight Immortals
He Xiangu is one of the illustrious Eight Immortals (Ba Xian), a group of Daoist/folk deities who play an important role in Chinese religion and culture. While they are famed for espousing and teaching Daoist philosophy and cultivation practices, they are also figures of popular myth and legend that are known for their devotion to the downtrodden and their collective lifestyle of “free and easy wandering.” Though they are most often depicted and described in the context of their group, each has their own particular set of tales, iconography, and areas of patronage. Each of these three elements will be elaborated on below.
Legends
The account of He Xiangu's assumption into the ranks of the immortals is told in a number of forms throughout the vast corpus of Chinese folktales and literature. <segue>
In the second version, He Xiangu, a beautiful but impoverished young girl, is forced to become the servant of a wretched old harpy. In a Cinderella-esque fashion, she was forced to toil ceaselessly while her thankless master gossiped with the neighbors and ordered her around. One day while the old woman had left for the market, the young lady's toils were interrupted by seven beggars, who humbly pleaded with her for some rice noodles to fill their gnawing bellies. Though she knew that the old woman would be furious if she found out, He Xiangu's heart went out to the destitute men and she offered to cook them a small meal, which they accepted and ate graciously. Unfortunately, no sooner had the mendicants left than the girl's mistress returned. When she assayed the contents of her larder, she flew into an apoplectic rage and demanded to be told where her precious food had gone, accusing her young servant of stealing it for herself. [1]
Ho Hsien-ku was the daughter of Ho T‘ai, of the town of Tsêng-ch‘êng, in the prefecture of Canton.
At birth she had six long hairs on the crown of her head. When she was about 14 or 15, a divine personage appeared to her in a dream and instructed her to eat powdered mica, in order that her body might become etherealized and immune from death. So she swallowed it, and also vowed to remain a virgin.
Up hill and down dale she used to flit just like a creature with wings. Every day at dawn she sallied forth, to return at dusk, bringing back mountain fruits she had gathered for her mother.
Later on by slow degrees she gave up taking ordinary food.
The Empress Wu dispatched a messenger to summon her to attend at the palace, but on the way there, she disappeared.
In the ching lung period (about 707 C.E.) she ascended on high in broad daylight, and became a hsien.
From Lieh Hsien Chuan, ii, 32, 33
Iconographic Representation
In graphic depictions, He Xiangu is easily recognized, as she is the only definitively female member of the Eight Immortals (with the androgynous Lan Caiho as a possible exception). Further, she is typically portrayed playing a sheng (a Chinese reed organ), or carrying a peach (a reference to the the Queen Mother of the West's peaches of immortality) or a lotus flower (a potent religious trope likely borrowed from Buddhist symbology).[2]
Area of Patronage
Given her gender, it is not surprising that He Xiangu is seen as the patron of women - especially of women seeking religious truth (limited though their options were in historic China). However, she is rarely (if ever) venerated or worshiped in absentia (i.e. without the other immortals).[3]
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- The Eight Immortals of Taoism. Translated and edited by Kwok Man Ho and Joanne O'Brien, with an introduction by Martin Palmer. New York: Meridian, 1990. ISBN 0-452-01070-5.
- Fowler, Jeaneane. An Introduction to the Philosophy and Religion of Taoism. Portland, OR: Sussex *Academic Press, 2005. ISBN 1-84519-085-8.
- Goodrich, Anne S. Peking Paper Gods: A Look at Home Worship. Monumenta Serica Monograph Series XXIII. Nettetal: Steyler-Verlag, 1991. ISBN 3-8050-0284-X.
- Kohn, Livia. Daoism and Chinese Culture. Cambridge, MA: Three Pines Press, 2001. ISBN 1-931483-00-0.
- Ling, Peter C. "The Eight Immortals of the Taoist Religion." Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society XLIX (1918). 58-75.
- Liu Xiang (77-6 B.C.E.) (attribution). Kaltenmark, Max, traducteur. Le Lie-sien tchouan: Biographies légendaires des immortels taoïstes de l'antiquité. Beijing: Université de Paris, Publications du Centre d'études sinologiques de Pékin, 1953. 1987 reprint Paris: Collège de France.
- Pas, Julian F. in cooperation with Man Kam Leung. "Ho Hsien-Ku/He Xiangu." Historical Dictionary of Taoism. Lanham, M.D. & London: The Scarecrow Press, 1998. 159-160. ISBN 0-8108-3369-7.
- Schipper, Kristofer. The Taoist Body. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 0-520-05488-1.
- Werner, E.T.C. "Pa-Hsien" in A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology. Wakefield, NH: Longwood Academic, 1990. 341-352. ISBN 0-89341-034-9.
- Wong, Eva. Tales of the Taoist Immortals. Boston & London: Shambala, 2001. ISBN 1-57062-809-2.
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