Ao Bing () is a character in the classic Chinese novel ''

Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Cons ...

'' (''Fengshen Yanyi''). He is a dragon prince and the third son of the East Sea

Dragon King The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the '' lóng'' in Ch ...

Ao Guang Ao Guang (; or ) is the Dragon King of the East Sea in Chinese folklore. He featured prominently in different works including ''Fengshen Yanyi'' and ''Journey to the West''. ''Fengshen Yanyi'' According to the ''Fengshen Yanyi'', after the passa ...

of the Crystal Palace. He has two brothers named Ao Jia and Ao Yi. Both of them are older than him. Ao Bing was originally revered as a rain god who would bestow the rain at his command upon any individual in need, but, as time passed, his father became corrupt, and soon the people were living in fear of the stormy malevolence of Ao Guang and his three sons. After the divine child-hero

Nezha Nezha ( 哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" () after he became a deity. Origins According to Meir Shahar, Nezh ...

had slain the

yaksha The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...

Li Gen and been seen creating tremors that threatened to destroy the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King, Ao Bing set out (with his father's consent) to confront Nezha, riding upon a great green beast and accompanied by his father's troops. Ao Bing duly confronted Nezha and met with a most uncouth reception, prompting him to bellow in rage "You self-righteous cur! Li Gen was sent to us by the

Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the three ...

of Heaven himself and yet, in your madness and insolence, you killed him without remorse. Defend yourself, you dog!" Hero and dragon prince wasted no more breath in words, but flung themselves instead into furious combat, Ao Bing wielding his mighty silver spear and Nezha his death-dealing magic scarf. After the exchange of many bitter blows, Nezha was finally able to overcome his adversary by unleashing a blazing fireball at him from his magic scarf and then trampling his head underfoot before he could recover from the blow. In his death agony, Ao Bing was forced to reveal his true (dragon) form and he died burning inwardly with hatred for his youthful opponent. After the defeat of the shang Jiang Ziya made him into the god of the parsol star.

In popular culture

* The character increased in popularity in 2019 with the stereoscopic, computer-animated feature film, ''

Ne Zha Nezha ( 哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" () after he became a deity. Origins According to Meir Shahar, Nez ...

'', was more successful, setting numerous all-time records for

box-office A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...

grosses, including third-highest-grossing of all films in China and highest-grossing animated film from outside the United States. * In the 2022 mobile game Dislyte, the character "Long Mian" is chosen as Ao Bing's "avatar", blessed with his powers.

References

* ''

'' Chapter 12 pages 141 - 143 Investiture of the Gods characters {{novel-char-stub