Dapeng Jinchi Mingwang (), also known as the Golden-Winged Great Peng (), is a guardian deity in

Mahayana Buddhism ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

. He is the spiritual uncle of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, who gave him a high position in heaven to guard the

Pure land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

. His origins are said to derive from an Indian bird god

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

. Peng is one of the eight demi-gods of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

(Tianlong Babu). He helps to guard Mount Sumeru and

Trāyastriṃśa The (Sanskrit; Pali ) heaven is an important world of the devas in the Buddhist cosmology. The word is an adjective formed from the numeral , "33" and can be translated in English as "belonging to the thirty-three evas. It is primarily t ...

from attack by the

Asuras Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...

. Peng appears in works of ancient Chinese literature, including ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...

'' (西游記) and ''

General Yue Fei ''General Yue Fei'' () is a Chinese historical novel written by Qian Cai in the Qing dynasty. Consist of 80 chapters, the first 61 chapters detail the life and adventures of Yue Fei, while the last 19 concern the exploits of Yue Fei's son Yue Lei ...

'' (說岳全傳). He is also mentioned in some Chinese Buddhist literature. The famous patriot General

Yue Fei Yue Fei ( zh, t=岳飛; March 24, 1103 – January 28, 1142), courtesy name Pengju (), was a Chinese military general who lived during the Song dynasty, Southern Song dynasty and a national hero of China, known for leading Southern Song force ...

(岳飛, 1103–1141), was believed by people as the incarnate of the Dapeng Jinchi Mingwang.

Legends

Legend holds that in primordial times the original

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

(

Fenghuang ''Fènghuáng'' (, ) are mythological birds found in Sinospheric mythology that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called ''fèng'' and the females ''huáng'', but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and ...

), the leader of flying beings, gave birth to the peacock

Mahamayuri Mahamayuri ( sa, महामायूरी ("great peacock"), ''Kǒngquè Míngwáng'', vi, Khổng Tước Minh Vương, ja, 孔雀明王, ''Kujaku Myōō'', ko, 공작명왕 ''Gongjak Myeongwang''), or Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī is a b ...

and to the eagle named the Golden Winged Great Peng. The peacock once consumed the Buddha who managed to escape by cutting through her stomach. The Buddha intended to kill the peacock but the deities told him to stop. The Buddha then promoted the peacock to be his godmother, which made the eagle his uncle, and gave the eagle a high position in heaven. Peng sits at the head of the Buddha's throne in the

Western Paradise Sukhavati (IAST: ''Sukhāvatī''; "Blissful") is a pure land of Amitābha in Mahayana Buddhism. It is also called the Land of Bliss or Western Pure Land, and is the most well-known of Buddhist pure lands, due to the popularity of Pure Land Budd ...

. His fiery temper was aroused when the bat-spirit Nü Tofu listened to the Buddha's sermon on the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

at Leiyin Temple with other stars. Nü Tofu was fascinated and accidentally broke wind which stained the Buddhists' pure land. As a result, Peng swooped down from the throne and snatched Nü Tofu up in his beak, killing her. The Buddha admonished Peng for transgressing Buddhist law and exiled him to earth. Later, Peng reincarnates as

and the bat-spirit reincarnates as Lady Wang (王氏) marrying

Qin Hui Qin Hui or Qin Kuai (January 17, 1090 – November 18, 1155) was a Chinese politician. He was a Chancellor of the Song dynasty in Chinese history. He was a contemporary of Yue Fei during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song. Modern historians ...

, during the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. Under Qin Hui's poisonous plot, Lady Wang killed Yue Fei in revenge. According to martial arts master Liang Shouyu's book, " Dapeng is a great bird that lived in ancient China. Legend has it, that Dapeng was the guardian that stayed above the head of Gautama Buddha. Dapeng could get rid of all evil in any area. Even the

Monkey King The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong ( zh, t=孫悟空, s=孙悟空, first=t) in Mandarin Chinese, is a legendary mythical figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' ( zh, ...

was no match for it. During the Song dynasty, the government was corrupt and foreigners were constantly invading China. The Buddha sent Dapeng to earth to protect China. Dapeng descended to Earth and was born as Yue Fei."Liang, Shou-Yu, Wen-Ching Wu, and Denise Breiter-Wu. ''Qigong Empowerment: A Guide to Medical, Taoist, Buddhist, Wushu Energy Cultivation''. The Way of the Dragon, Limited, 1996 ()

''Journey to the West''

Peng is an antagonist in the 16th-century Chinese classic novel

. He is a demonic eagle born from the primordial Phoenix. The Buddha gave the Eagle a high position in Heaven which only served to fuel his ego. For an unknown reason, the Eagle transformed himself into a humanoid form, the Golden Winged Great Peng, ate all residents of the Lion Camel Kingdom, ruled it for 500 years, and befriended the Azure Lion Demon and the Yellow-Toothed Elephant Demon to eat

Tang Sanzang Tang Sanzang () is a central character in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. Tang Sanzang is based on the historical Buddhist monk Xuanzang. He is also widely known by his courtesy name, Tang Seng, () or Sanzang (). ...

. Great Peng's powers and position of being the Buddha's uncle fuel his ego as he regarded himself above everyone else. He is armed with a '' ji'' and can fly over great distances. Peng has a Flask of Yin and Yang Essence (陰陽二氣瓶) which can suck in unsuspecting victims. Peng made several plans to capture Tang Sanzang and his companions, and successfully captured Sun Wukong himself. After many humiliating failures under the hand of the three demon kings, Wukong approached the Buddha for help and learned the backstory about Peng. After Wukong and the three demons battle, both the Lion and the Elephant are forced to revert to their original forms, and the Buddha shows up to subdue Peng and return him to Vulture Peak. After his defeat at the Buddha's hand, Peng admits that he enjoys his demonic life eating humans, but after listening to the Buddha, Peng has no choice but to abandon his evil ways, redeeming himself in the process. After some struggle, the eagle Peng agrees to become a protector of Buddhist law. Much later, Sanzang and his companion received scriptures, and the Buddha, knowing them to be the scriptures without text, ordered the eagle to chase them and destroy the fake scriptures, which the eagle does promptly. As such, Chinese fiction portrays Peng as a powerful demon king that submits to the Buddha and perches above his throne as a hot-tempered guardian deity.

''Shurangama Mantra''

The

Shurangama Mantra The Shurangama or Śūraṅgama mantra is a dhāraṇī or long mantra of Buddhist practice in East Asia. Although relatively unknown in modern Tibet, there are several Śūraṅgama Mantra texts in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. It has strong as ...

is a dhāraṇī or long

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

of Buddhist practise in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. The 302nd line of the mantra pertains to the Great Golden Winged Peng bird, the Garuda, and its retinue which includes all species of birds. The Great Golden Winged Peng is the king among birds. The Peng bird feasts exclusively on dragons. His wing-span measures an astounding 330

yojanas A yojana (Sanskrit: योजन; th, โยชน์; my, ယူဇနာ) is a measure of distance that was used in ancient India, Thailand and Myanmar. A yojana is about 12–15 km. Edicts of Ashoka (3rd century BCE) Ashoka, in his Major R ...

(3,960 to 4,950 km). When Peng flaps his wings, the sea waters part clear to the deepest seabed.

Overview

A literary motif appearing in ''Journey to the West'' and ''The Story of Yue Fei'' depicts the bird deity Peng as a demon-turned-Buddhist guardian who sits above the Buddha's throne. The

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

examples suggest that Peng was considered a common element of the Buddha's enlightenment Torana (arched gateway). In effect, the bird god is a guardian of the faith who watches over the world from an exalted position high atop the Buddha's throne.

References

{{reflist Chinese deities Chinese gods Birds in religion

Legends

''Journey to the West''

''Shurangama Mantra''

Overview

See also

References