Juling Shen () is a gigantic river god in

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

. He is usually associated with the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

Splitting Mount Hua

It is said that Juling Shen split

Mount Hua Mount Hua () is a mountain located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi Province, about east of Xi'an. It is the "Western Mountain" of the Five Great Mountains of China and has a long history of religious significance. Originally classified as ...

into two halves with his hands and feet so that the

could flow to the east. One half became Mount Hua; the other became Mount Shouyang () in the east. Imprints of his palm can still be seen on Mount Hua. This legend appears in

Zhang Heng Zhang Heng (; AD 78–139), formerly romanized as Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Han dynasty. Educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, he achieved success as an astronomer, ma ...

's "Rhapsody on the Western Capital" (). In ''

Commentary on the Water Classic The ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (), or ''Commentaries on the Water Classic'', commonly known as ''Shui Jing Zhu'', is a work on the Chinese geography in ancient times, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancient ...

'',

Li Daoyuan Li Daoyuan (; 466 or 472 in Zhuo County, Hebei – 527) was a Chinese geographer, writer, and politician during the Northern Wei Dynasty. He is known as the author of the ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (''Shuijingzhu''), a monumental work o ...

cites a passage from the much earlier '' Guoyu'' describing the same story. However, this quote is not found in the extant version of ''Guoyu''. It is possible that Li was actually citing another ancient text, ''Ancient Tales'' (). This legend is also found in Wang Wei's poem "Hua Mountain" ().

In ''Journey to the West''

In 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 ...

novel ''

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 ...

'', Juling Shen is one of the first generals sent down 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 ...

to capture 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, ...

. He is easily defeated by the latter. The commander of the heavenly army Li Jing wants to behead him for the defeat, but spares him after

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 ...

intervenes. In the

Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...

''Havoc in Heaven'' (), based on this episode, Juling Shen is very clumsy in his movements.

References

{{reflist Chinese deities Journey to the West characters