Ne Zha

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Sculpture by Ne Zha

Ne Zha (哪吒) is a Taoist protective deity in Chinese mythology . He also has various titles, including "The Third Lotus Prince", "Marshal of the Main Altar" or "In charge of the Three Temples of the People". He is often depicted as a young boy, which is also said to be a symbol of purity.

Origin of name

The name "Ne Zha" is derived from the name of a child in an Indian legend. The Heavenly King Vaiśravaņa had a son named Nalakūbara . In China it was called Naluojiupoluo . This name later evolved into Nazhajuwaluo , then Nazha, and finally the now known Nezha. Vaiśravaņa, on the other hand, apparently has a connection to the historical Li Jing , a military officer of the Tang Dynasty .

Legends

Fengshen Yanyi

Ne Zha is the main character in the Chinese novel " Fengshen Yanyi " (Romance of the Appointment of the Gods). According to the novel, Ne Zha was born in a military fortress on the Chentang Pass during the Shang Dynasty . Since father, military commander Li Jing and his wife Yin had been waiting for the birth of their third child for three years and six months of pregnancy , alongside their two sons Jin Zha and Mu Zha. The night before the birth, Yin dreamed of an immortal Daoist who asked her to be allowed to teach her child after the birth and to give him the name "Ne Zha". After she accepted, the Daoist stroked her stomach and she woke up. The next day, Yin gave birth to a huge ball of meat. Li Jing thought that his wife had given birth to a demon and struck him with his sword . After the first layers were separated, a boy jumped out, but he was no longer a baby because he could already walk and talk. Later, a Daoist actually came and asked for permission to teach him. So Ne Zha became a disciple of the Immortal Taiyi Zhenren. He gave Ne Zha a magic weapon called "The Cosmic Wheel".

During a major drought in China, people worshiped the Eastern Sea Dragon King, Ao Guang, to make it rain. However, the victim demanded a boy and a girl every day. When Ne Zha tried his new weapon on the waters of the Eastern Sea, it caused such tremors that Ao Guang sent one of his military officers to his water palace to investigate the causes of the tremors and to punish them. When the officer met Ne Zha, they fought a battle in which the officer was miserably inferior. Ao Guang then sent his own son to do the job, but he was also killed. Driven by anger, Ao Guang complained to Ne Zha’s parents and the Jade Emperor and threatened a deluge to flood Ne Zha’s hometown. In order to honor his family and to save his city, Ne Zha offered himself up as a sacrifice. The Dragon King was satisfied, and Ne Zha committed suicide and had his remains sent to his family.

As a memorial , Ne Zha’s mother had a temple built secretly , which became very popular. However, Li Jing had the temple demolished again as he still felt that the family's honor was too badly tarnished by Ne Zha. Meanwhile, Ne Zha was resurrected by his teacher after he put his soul in a replica, immortal body made from lotus flower roots. Ne Zha also got two weapons from him, the wind-fire wheels and the fire spear . Because of the destruction of his temple, Ne Zha and his father fought each other until two heavenly beings intervened and ended the argument.

Ne Zha versus Sun Wukong

Ne Zha, his father and brothers later assisted King Wu to establish the Zhou Dynasty during the end of the corrupt and violent Shang Dynasty .

The trip to the west

Ne Zha also plays a supporting role in the Chinese novel “ The Journey to the West ”. After Sun Wukong disregarded his duties as the protector of the heavenly horses in the Jade Palace, felt them to be inferior and then broke out of the Jade Palace with the horses, the Jade Emperor demanded Li Jing, who is now known as the Pagoda-bearing Heavenly King and his Son, now known as Prince Ne Zha, Great Deity of the Seas, to hold the Monkey King accountable. After Li Jing's envoy lost to Sun Wukong and returned defeated, Li Jing wanted him killed for his defeat, but Ne Zha intervened and demanded that he fight Sun Wukong himself instead and restore his honor.

In the fight with Sun Wukong, Ne Zha turned into a fighter with three heads, six arms and six weapons, but the Monkey King mimicked him and changed into the same form. After an equal and relentless battle, Ne Zha was forced to retreat after Sun Wukong conjured a doppelganger , attacked Ne Zha from behind, and wounded his shoulder. Then Ne Zha and Li Jing asked the Jade Emperor to send more troops to hunt down the Monkey King.

Appearances in the media

  • Ne Zha is a playable character from MOBA ’s Smite .
  • Nezha is a playable character from the third-person shooter ’s Warframe .
  • The Chinese children's film of the same name, Prince Nezha's Triumph Against Dragon King (1979) , contains a modification of the story of Fengshen Yanyi in the fight against Ao Guang.
  • There is a Google doodle by Ne Zha on the occasion of the 35th birthday of the film Prince Nezha's Triumph Against Dragon King (1979) .
  • Ne Zha is a main character in the Chinese series Gods of Honor , also based on Fengshen Yanyi .
  • Ne Zha has an appearance in the fight against Sun Wukong in the film The Monkey King (1965) .
  • In 2019 the animated film Ne Zha ( 哪吒 之 魔 童 降世 ) was released, one of the most successful films of 2019 , which became the most successful animated film in China and achieved the highest grossing internationally for a non-English-language animated film.

literature

  • Wu Cheng'en: The Journey to the West (Translated), Reclam, Philipp, jun. GmbH, Verlag (October 12, 2016), ISBN 978-3150108796
  • Creation of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi), New World Press; Edition: 1 (November 1992), ISBN 978-7800051340

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Wu Cheng − en: Journey to the West , accessed on November 14, 2016
  2. ↑ a b c Nezha 哪吒 , Chinatownology, accessed November 13, 2016
  3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120426005333/http://asia.haifa.ac.il/pdf/dep-seminar-meir-sahar.pdf
  4. ↑ Shen Gongbao and the Consequences of Envy , Epoch Times, March 12, 2012, accessed November 14, 2016
  5. ↑ Stories: Ne Zha - The Most Extraordinary Boy in Chinese Mythology , Shen Yun Performing Arts, accessed November 14, 2016
  6. ↑ Lu Ming: Nezha and Mazu: Two Chinese Legends About the Sea , CRI Online, January 14, 2011, accessed November 14, 2016
  7. ↑ Chinese mythology: Ao-Kuang , Godchecker, April 29, 2013, accessed November 14, 2016
  8. ↑ George Bryan Souza: The Boxer Codex: Transcription and Translation of an Illustrated Late Sixteenth-Century Spanish Manuscript Concerning the Geography, History and Ethnography of the Pacific, South-east and East Asia , Brill, 2015, ISBN 9789004301542 , p. 638
  9. ↑ 三 太子 的 故事 之 大鬧 東海 , TaiwanSchoolNet, accessed November 14, 2016
  10. ↑ Ne Zha Third Lotus Prince , Smitegame, accessed November 14, 2016
  11. ↑ Nezha Profile Page , Warframe, accessed January 12, 2019
  12. ↑ Nezha Conquers the Dragon King , 3D Car Shows, accessed November 14, 2016
  13. ↑ 35th birthday of "Nezha fights the dragon king" , GOOGLE, May 30, 2014, accessed on November 14, 2016
  14. ↑ The King of the Apes (1965) , IMDb, accessed November 14, 2016
  15. ↑ Amid Amidi: American Audiences Don't Have To Wait Long To See The Chinese Blockbuster 'Ne Zha' In Theaters. In: Cartoon Brew. August 16, 2019, accessed on September 2, 2019 .