Erlang Shen
Erlang Shen (äº?é??ç¥?), named Yang Jian (æ?¨æ?¬), is a Chinese God with a third true-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.
A warring deity, he carries a three-pronged, two-edged polearm and has a Celestial Hound that follows him around.
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, Erlang's father is the scholar Lau Yin Cheung a scholar and his mother is the Holy Mother of Mount Hua. She was admonished by the Jade Emperor for this unlawful human-deity union and imprisoned under Mt Hua. When Erlang came of age, he split the mountain with an axe to free his mother.
Journey to the West
He fought Sun Wukong near the start of the Journey to the West. It was a battle where both deities pit transformation skills. Near the conclusion of the battle, he managed to see through Sun Wukong's disguise (as a temple) using his third-eye.
See also: Chinese mythology
-This article has been brought to you by BambooWeb and Wikipedia-
