Chinese Mythology

A wise white beast that taught the Yellow Emperor the names and natures of all supernatural creatures — knowledge used to protect humanity from spirits.

Originally Heng'e, wife of the archer Yi. She swallowed the stolen elixir of immortality and floated to the moon, where the jade rabbit keeps her company; Mid-Autumn moon worship and China's lunar program bear her name.

The supreme scaled beast, deer-horned and eagle-clawed, able to shrink or fill the sky, climbing to heaven at the spring equinox and diving into the deeps in autumn; master of rain and emblem of emperors.

Chief of the Nine Li tribes, bronze-headed and iron-browed with eighty-one brothers. He raised a great fog against Huangdi at Zhuolu, and even in defeat was worshipped as the god of war.

He tamed the great flood by dredging instead of damming, passing his own gate three times in thirteen years without entering, mapped the Nine Provinces, cast the Nine Tripods, and fathered the Xia dynasty.

A powerful warrior god with a truth-seeing third eye, nephew of the Jade Emperor. He is famed for defeating Sun Wukong in combat and for controlling floods.

King of birds — feng the male, huang the female — clothed in the five colors, perching only on wutong trees and drinking only from sweet springs. Its cry at Mount Qi heralded the rise of Zhou.

First of the Three Sovereigns, serpent-bodied like his consort Nüwa. He devised the eight trigrams from the patterns of sky and earth, taught net-fishing, and instituted marriage rites.

Primeval water god who, defeated in his contest with Zhuanxu for the throne, rammed Mount Buzhou in fury, snapping the pillar of heaven — which is why the stars drift northwest and the rivers run southeast.

A deified historical general from the Three Kingdoms period, worshipped as the God of War and patron of righteousness, loyalty, and brotherhood. His red face symbolizes his intense devotion to honor.

The Bodhisattva of Compassion who hears the cries of all beings in the world. She is one of the most beloved deities in East Asian Buddhism, embodying unconditional mercy and the motherly aspect of divine love.

When ten suns rose together and scorched the crops, the archer Yi shot down nine and slew the monsters ravaging the land; the elixir he won from the Queen Mother was taken by his wife Chang'e.

Legendary Chinese woman warrior who disguised herself as a man to take her aged father's place in military conscription, serving undetected for years. Heroine of the short narrative poem the Ballad of Mulan.

Xuanyuan, first of the Five Sovereigns, who defeated Yandi at Banquan and Chiyou at Zhuolu. The calendar, writing, and music were credited to his reign; he rose to heaven on a dragon.

The supreme ruler of Heaven and lord of all gods. He governs the cosmos through a vast celestial bureaucracy, determining the fate of mortals and immortals alike.

The great mythic mountain of the far west, the High God's capital on earth and home of the Queen Mother of the West; to climb its successive terraces was to gain deathlessness and reach heaven.

The god of thunder who punishes evildoers and hidden crimes with his thunderbolts. He appears as a fearsome creature with a bird's beak, claws, and blue skin, carrying drums that create thunder.

The dragon kings who rule the waters and send the rain, most famously the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas led by Ao Guang of the Eastern Sea. They govern as officials of the heavenly bureaucracy under the Jade Emperor, and their temples stood in villages across China wherever farmers prayed for rain.

The goddess of the sea and protector of sailors, fishermen, and all who travel by water. Originally a human girl from Fujian Province with miraculous powers, she was deified after her death.

A fierce child warrior deity born after three years and six months of pregnancy. He killed a dragon prince, defied his father, and was reborn from lotus flowers to become one of Heaven's greatest warriors.

A mountain and sea beast that once terrorized villages at the turn of the year. Driven off by loud noise, fire, and the color red — the origin of Lunar New Year customs.

Serpent-bodied creator goddess who molded the first humans from yellow clay, smelted five-colored stones to mend the broken sky, and is paired with Fuxi as ancestor of humankind.

The primordial giant of Chinese creation myth, born inside a cosmic egg. He held sky and earth apart for eighteen thousand years, and his dying body became the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers.

Sacred peaches from the garden of Xi Wangmu that ripen only once every few thousand years. Eating one grants longevity approaching immortality.

A one-horned beast with a deer's body and ox's tail that steps on no living grass and appears only under sage rulers; word that a lin had been caught made Confucius lay down his brush.

The Azure Dragon of the East, one of the Four Symbols guarding the cardinal directions. Associated with spring, wood, and the rising sun.

The magical golden-hooped staff of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. It can change size from a massive pillar to a needle small enough to hide behind an ear, weighing 17,550 pounds.

A monkey born from a magical stone who acquired supernatural powers through Taoist cultivation. After wreaking havoc in Heaven, he was imprisoned for 500 years before redeeming himself as the protector of the monk Tang Sanzang on the journey to retrieve Buddhist scriptures.

The supreme goddess of immortality who rules from her paradise on Mount Kunlun. She grows the Peaches of Immortality that ripen once every 3,000 years and hosts the legendary banquet of the gods.

Goddess of the Kunlun heights, first pictured with leopard's tail and tiger's teeth, later transformed into the stately Queen Mother whose peaches of immortality ripen once in three thousand years.

The Flame Emperor Shennong, who fashioned the plow, taught agriculture, and tasted a hundred herbs, meeting seventy poisons in a single day. After Banquan his people merged with Huangdi's.

The domestic deity who resides in the kitchen and reports on each household's conduct to the Jade Emperor at the end of each year. Families make sweet offerings to ensure his favorable report.

Fire Regulator under Emperor Ku, deified as god of fire and the south, beast-bodied and riding two dragons. Mount Heng's highest peak bears his name, and house fires were once called 'Zhurong's calamity'.