Eight Immortals of Chinese Mythology
[Pa Hsien] [Ba Xian]
|
Name |
Description |
|
Li T'ieh-kuai |
"Iron-crutch Li", who always carries a crutch and a gourd; he is the emblem of the sick. |
|
Chungli Ch'uan |
Usually shown with a fan; he represents the military man |
|
Lan Ts'ai-ho |
The strolling singer, either a woman or a young boy, shown with a flower-basket; patron deity of florist. |
|
Chang Kuo-lao |
Said to have lived in the 7-th or early 8-th century, shown as a rule with his mule, and carrying a bamboo tube-drum with iron sticks; he is the emblem of old men. |
|
Ho Hsien-ku |
A woman, said to have lived in the late 7-th century, shown with a lotus blossom or flower basket, and occasionally with a peach and sheng reed-organ. |
|
Lu Tung-pin |
Born c. 755 AD, died 805 AD, shown with a fly-whisker, is dressed as a scholar, and honored as such. He also had a magic sword with which he performed freak feats, for which reason he is also the patron deity of barbers. |
|
Han Hsiang-tzu |
Said to be the nephew of the Tang Dynasty statesman and scholar Han Yu, is often shown with a flute, and patron deity of musicians. |
|
Ts'ao Kuo-ch'iu |
Said to have been connected with the Sung Imperial family, and is generally shown with castanets or a jade tablet of admission to court; patron deity of actors. |
Convention for names: Order: Last name, first name (1) Transliterated Wade-Giles (pre-1950) (2) Transliterated Pinyin (post-1950) (3) Traditional Chinese (Computer Big5 coding) Ref: A Handbook of Chinese Art, by Margaret Medley, Harper and Row, 1964
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