Eight immortals
The Eight Immortals ( Chinese 八仙 , Pinyin Bāxiān ) are saints of Chinese mythology and Daoism .
presentation
The Eight Immortals are mostly depicted as they cross the sea with their different skills ( Chinese 八仙過海, 各顯神通。 , Pinyin Bā xiān guò hǎi, gè xiǎn shén tōng. ).
Legend has it that each of them had a special prop. This brought them to the Paradise of the West (西天 Xītiān) on the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West (西 王母 Xīwángmǔ).
The Eight Immortals are especially popular because they stand by all people in need and fight against injustice and oppression.
They also embody the eight basic living conditions: youth, old age, poverty, wealth, nobility, people, feminine and masculine.
They hold objects / treasures in their hands, the so-called " eight treasures " ( 八寶 / 八宝 ).
list
| image | Saint | character | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lü Dongbin | 呂洞賓 | Lived from 755 to 805. A scholar with a fly whisk and magic sword. He is the patron saint of barbers . |
|
Li Tieguai | 李鐵 拐 | Shown with an iron crutch and a bottle gourd . Patron saint of the sick. |
|
Zhongli Quan | 鐘離 權 | Shown with a fan responsible for the military. |
|
Han Xiangzi | 韓湘子 | Allegedly the nephew of the Tang Dynasty scholar Han Yu . He is shown with a flute and is the patron saint of musicians. |
|
Cao Guojiu | 曹國舅 | Allegedly a relative of the Song Dynasty imperial family . Shown with castanets and a jade tablet that allows access to the imperial court. Patron saint of actors. |
|
Zhang Guolao | 張 果 老 | Shown with a mule and a bamboo drum with iron bars. Patron saint of the old people. |
|
Lan Caihe | 藍 采 和 | Either represented as a woman or a boy with a basket of flowers. Patron saint of florists. |
|
Hey Xiangu | 何仙姑 | A woman with a lotus blossom or a basket of flowers and a peach and a Sheng mouth organ. |
literature
- Wolfram Eberhard: Lexicon of Chinese symbols. The imagery of the Chinese. Hugendubel, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-89631-428-9 , p. 287.
- Josef Guter: Lexicon of the gods and symbols of the ancient Chinese. Marix, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-937715-04-5 , p. 10
- Werner Lind : The dictionary of martial arts. China, Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, India, Mongolia, Philippines, Taiwan etc. a. One-time special edition. Sportverlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-328-00898-5 ( Edition BSK ).
