Huayue Sanniang (), also known as Sanshengmu (), is a Chinese goddess who possesses a magical lotus lantern. She is a goddess of marriage and love in the Chinese folk religion.

Legends

According to a legend, Huayue Sanniang is the daughter of the

Emperor Xiyue Emperor Xiyue (or Xiyue Dadi ) is a Taoist deity of the sacred mountain Mount Hua and one of the Great Emperor of Five Mountains. It is said that the worship of Xiyue Dadi can be traced back to the Shang dynasty when he was revered as the ances ...

(西岳大帝), one of the Great Emperors of Five Mountains. At the foot of Mount Hua, the Xiyue Temple was built for Emperor Xiyue. Sanniang is enshrined in the Sanniang Hall of the Partial Hall of the

Xiyue Temple The Xiyue Temple (西岳庙) is a Chinese Taoist temple located at the foot of Mount Hua of the city of Huayin in the northwest of the Shaanxi Province. Here the emperor sacrificed to the god of Mount Hua. Its magnificence is compared to that of th ...

''The Magic Lotus Lantern''

According to the Tang dynasty folk tale '' The Magic Lotus Lantern'', she is the daughter of Yang Tianyou, a mortal and Yaoji, a goddess in the Heavenly Palace who is the younger sister of 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 ...

. One day, she fell in love with a mortal scholar, Liu Yanchang. But their love was strongly opposed by her elder brother Yang Jian (Erlang Shen). With the help of the magic lotus lantern, she defeated her brother and married the scholar. Later she gave birth to a son,

Chen Xiang Chen Xiang (born 13 December 1989), also known as Sean Chen, is a Chinese pop singer and actor. He participated in the nationwide singing contest '' Super Boy'' in 2010. In 2011, he released his first album ''Confession''. He is also known for ...

. After seven years Erlang Shen was able to locate the couple by the light of the magical lotus lantern. Erlang Shen then denies the marriage and punishes her by imprisoning under Mount Hua for her crimes. After Chen Xiang grew up, he learns of how his mother was imprisoned and determines to go to Mount Hua and rescue his mother. Chen Xiang encounters many trials during his journey. He learned martial arts skills from Daxian Pili or Lü Dongbin. After Chen Xiang defeated his uncle, he split open Mount Hua with his magical axe and rescued his mother, reuniting his family.

Influence

Films

*''Save Mother from Mountain'' (小英雄劈山救母), a 1928 Chinese film *''Breaking Open the Mountain to Rescue Mother'' (劈山救母), a 1950 Hong Kong film *''The Precious Lotus Lamp'' (寶蓮燈), a 1956 Hong Kong Cantonese opera film *''The Precious Lotus Lamp, Part II'' (1957) *''The Precious Lotus Lamp, Part III'' (1958) *''The Magic Lotus Lantern'' (寶蓮燈), a 1959 Chinese film *''Breaking Open the Mountain to Rescue Mother'' (劈山救母), a 1961 Taiwanese film *''The Lotus Lamp'' (七彩寶蓮燈), a 1963 Hong Kong Cantonese opera film *''The Magic Lamp'' (寶蓮燈), a 1964 Hong Kong Huangmei opera film *''The Lotus Lamp'' (寶蓮燈), a 1965 Hong Kong film *''The Magic Lotus Lantern'' (寶蓮燈), a 1976 Hebei bangzi film

Animation films

*''Saving Mother'' (西嶽奇童), a 1984 Chinese film *'' Lotus Lantern'', a 1999 Chinese film *''Chen Xiang'' (西嶽奇童), a 2006 Chinese film *'' New Gods: Yang Jian'', a popular Chinese animation

TV series

*''The Lamp Lore'' (寶蓮燈), a 1986 Hong Kong TV series *''The Polien Lantern'' (天地傳說之寶蓮燈), a 2001 Chinese-Taiwanese TV series *'' Lotus Lantern'', a 2005 Chinese TV series *'' Prelude of Lotus Lantern'' (2009)

References

* *{{cite book, title=The Beating of the Dragon Robe: A Repertoire of Beijing Opera; Synopses of 100 Most Popular Pieces, last=Li Nianpei, year=1988, publisher= Joint Publishing, isbn=962-04-0636-2, url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/beatingofdragonr00lini Chinese deities Chinese goddesses