|
Ruan Xiao'er
Ruan Xiao'er, also known as Ruan the Second, is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Tai Sui Who Stands His Ground", he ranks 27th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Background The novel depicts Ruan Xiao'er as muscular and having a chiseled face, a wide mouth, a cold gleam in his eyes and some yellow hair on his chest. He is the elder brother of Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi. They live in Shijie Village (石碣村; in present-day Liangshan County, Shandong), where they make a living by fishing in waters around the Liangshan Marsh. All three are good swimmers and fight well in water. Of the three, Ruan Xiao'er is the only one married with children. Becoming an outlaw Wu Yong recommends involving the three Ruan brothers when Chao Gai, headman of Dongxi village in Yuncheng County, seeks his advice on whether to hijack valuables in transportation to the Grand Tuto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tai Sui
Tai Sui is a Chinese term for the stars directly opposite the planet Jupiter ( ''Mùxīng'') during its roughly 12-year orbital cycle. Personified as deities, they are important features of Chinese astrology, Feng Shui, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism to a lesser extent. The 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac are based on divisions of the Jovian orbital cycle, rather than—as with the western zodiac—the apparent motion of the sun relative to the celestial sphere. The star thought to oppose Jupiter during each year of the cycle was personified as a Heavenly General () or Cycle God. These were believed to assist the Jade Emperor in controlling the mortal world. In the Warring States period, Tai Sui had become gods in the popular astronomy, but there is no record of worshiping the Tai Sui in the documents before the Han dynasty, with the earliest record found in Wang Chong's Lunheng. There are several legends related to it, usually about people disrespecting or ignoring Tai Sui and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
