Lan Caihe

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A woodcut of Lan Caihe.
A woodcut of Lan Caihe.

Lan Caihe (藍采和; pinyin: Lán Cǎihé; Wade-Giles: Lan Ts'ai-ho) is the least known of the Eight Immortals. Lan Caihe's age and sex are unknown. The deity could be a hermaphrodite, but in the form most well-known he is a young effeminate boy or youth carrying a bamboo flower basket.

He was from Tang Dynasty. His/her behaviour was out of norm and known for its bizarreness. He wore only shorts and thin shirts in winter, and thick jacket and long pants in summer. He walked with one foot bare and another with shoe.

[edit] Depiction

He is variously portrayed as a youth, an aged man, or a girl; in modern pictures generally as a girl. His distinctive emblem is a flower-basket, often carried slung on a hoe over his shoulder. The basket contains various flora associated with ideas of longevity.

Eight Immortals
Immortal Woman He | Royal Uncle Cao | Iron-crutch Li | Lan Caihe | Lü Dongbin | Han Xiang | Elder Zhang Guo | Zhongli Quan