He Xiangu, birth name He Qiong, is a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

pantheon. She is often seen as the only female among the Eight Immortals (though the sex of

Lan Caihe Lan Caihe ()"Lan Caihe." ''Encyclopedia Britannica.'' https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lan-CaiheDorothy Perkins. ''Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture.'' Page 140. is a Chinese mythological figure, and one of the Eight Immortals in the ...

, another of the Eight Immortals, is somewhat ambiguous). He Xiangu is believed to have lived in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

and was born in either

Lingling District Lingling District () is one of two urban districts of Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, China. It is located on the south of the city proper, and lies to the eastern border of Guangxi. The district is bordered to the north by Dong'an County and Le ...

Yongzhou Yongzhou, formerly known as Lingling, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Hunan province, People's Republic of China, located on the southern bank of the Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, and b ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

Zengcheng District Zengcheng District ( alternately romanized as Tsengshing) is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. History was established under the Qin following their conquest of t ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Legend

According to the ''Xian Fo Qi Zong'' (), He Xiangu was the daughter of He Tai (), a man from Zengcheng,

. At birth, she had six long hairs on the crown of her head. When she was about 14 or 15, a divine personage appeared to her in a dream and instructed her to eat powdered

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

so that her body might become etherealised and immune from death. She did as instructed, vowed to remain a virgin, and gradually decreased her food intake.

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

once sent a messenger to summon He Xiangu to the imperial court, but she disappeared on the way there. One day during the Jinglong era (707–710 CE) in the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of the

, she ascended to Heaven in broad daylight and became an immortal.''

Liexian Zhuan The ''Liexian Zhuan'', sometimes translated as ''Biographies of Immortals'', is the oldest extant Chinese hagiography of Daoist ''xian'' "transcendents; immortals; saints; alchemists". The text, which compiles the life stories of about 70 mytholog ...

, ii, 32, 33''

Depiction

He Xiangu's

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often ref ...

improves one's health, mental and physical. She is depicted holding a lotus flower, and sometimes with the musical instrument known as '' sheng'', or a '' fenghuang'' to accompany her. She may also carry a bamboo ladle or fly-whisk.

Modern depictions

In the television show ''

Jackie Chan Adventures ''Jackie Chan Adventures'' is an American animated television series, created by John Rogers, Duane Capizzi and Jeff Kline, and produced by Sony Pictures Television (originally as Columbia TriStar Television for the first three seasons). The car ...

'', He Xiangu was shown to be the Immortal who sealed away Tso Lan, The Moon Demon, even though show lore initially indicated that she sealed away Hsi Wu, The Sky Demon.

References

{{Eight Immortals Chinese goddesses Health goddesses Eight Immortals