Erlang Shen
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Erlang Shen (二郎神), named Yang Jian (杨戬), is a Chinese God with a third true-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.
A warring deity, he wields a Sān Jiān Liǎng Rèn Dāo (三尖两刃刀 - "Three-Point Double-Blade Knife") and always has his faithful Xiàotiān quǎn (啸天犬 - "Howling Celestial Dog") by his side. This dog helps him subdue evil spirits.[1]
[edit] Origin
Er-lang Shen may be a deified version of several semi-mythical folk heroes who help regulate China's torrential floods, dating variously from the Qin, Sui and Jin dynasties. A later Buddhist source identify him as the second son of the Northern Heavenly King Vaishravana.
In the Ming semi-mythical novels Creation of the Gods and Journey to the West Er-lang Shen is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. In the former he assisted the Zhou army in defeating the Shang. In the latter, he is the offspring of a mortal and the Jade Emperor's sister.
He was a filial son that entered the Chinese underworld to save his deceased mother from torment.
In another well-known tale, Bao Lian Deng, Erlang had a sister known as the Holy Mother of Mount Hua. She married a mortal, Liu Yan Cheung, who was a scholar and had a son by the name of Chen Xiang. She was admonished by the Jade Emperor for this unlawful human-deity union and imprisoned under Mt Hua. When Chen Xiang came of age, he split the mountain with an axe to free his mother, but not before facing people who repeatedly tried to undermine his mission, most notably his own uncle Erlang.
[edit] Journey to the West
He fought Sun Wukong near the start of the Journey to the West. Erlang, who is titled as being either True Lord, or Illustrious Sage, is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. Erlang made his first appearance when he had been ordered by the Jade Emperor (in which Erlang was also with his seven elite sages whom he called his brothers) to subdue Sun Wukong, who was to be punished for his havoc in heaven. This is the description of the True Lord Erlang when Sun Wukon had first seen him:
His bearing was refined, his visage noble,
His ears hung down to his shoulders, and his eyes shone.
The hat on his head had three peaks and phoenixes flying,
And his robe was of a pale goose−yellow.
His boots were lined with cloth of gold; dragons coiled round his socks;
His jade belt was decorated with the eight jewels,
At his waist was a bow, curved like the moon,
In his hand a double−edged trident.
His axe had split open Peach Mountain when he rescued his mother,
His bow had killed the twin phoenixes of Zongluo.
Widespread was his fame for killing the Eight Bogies,
And he had become one of Plum Hill's seven sages.
His heart was too lofty to acknowledge his relatives in Heaven;
In his pride he went back to be a god at Guanjiang.
He was the Merciful and Miraculous Sage of the red city,
Erlang, whose transformations were numberless.
Throughout the course of Erlang's duel between Sun Wukong, he had been the stronger adversary. After Many transformations that were performed in their duel (Sun Wukong fleeing as a fish; Erlang and Sun Wukong becoming larger birds, and so forth). Near the conclusion of the battle, he managed to see through Sun Wukong's disguise (as a temple) using his third-eye. He was defeated, but eventually defeated Wukong through teamwork with several other gods; Lao Tzu personally had dropped his refined golden ring that had hit Sun Wukong on the head, giving Erlang a chance to bring him down, and Erlang's dog bit him in the leg. After Sun Wukong had been captured, he and his heavenly soldiers would burn random areas of the Bloom Mountains. Erlang would once again be seen far later into the novel, in which he would assist Sun Wukong through chance by fighting against a certain ancient Dragon King and his allies.
[edit] As a filial deity
In Chinese belief, Erlang will punish unfilial children by striking them with thunder strike as a punishment from Erlang and his black dog, hence the Chinese parent saying "Being smiten by lightning for being unfilial and ungrateful" towards unruly children.
