Myths of Fire
The Ministry of Fire
The celestial organization of Fire is the fifth Ministry, and is
presided over by a President, Lo Hsüan, whose titular designation is
Huo-tê Hsing-chün, 'Stellar Sovereign of the Fire-virtue,' with five
subordinate ministers, four of whom are star-gods, and the fifth a
"celestial prince who receives fire": Chieh-huo T'ien-chün. Like so
many other Chinese deities, the five were all ministers of the tyrant
emperor Chou.
It is related that Lo Hsüan was originally a Taoist priest known as
Yen-chung Hsien, of the island Huo-lung, 'Fire-dragon.' His face was
the colour of ripe fruit of the jujube-tree, his hair and beard red,
the former done up in the shape of a fish-tail, and he had three
eyes. He wore a red cloak ornamented with the _pa kua_; his horse
snorted flames from its nostrils and fire darted from its hoofs.
While fighting in the service of the son of the tyrant emperor,
Lo Hsüan suddenly changed himself into a giant with three heads and
six arms. In each of his hands he held a magic weapon. These were a
seal which reflected the heavens and the earth, a wheel of the five
fire-dragons, a gourd containing ten thousand fire-crows, and, in
the other hands, two swords which floated like smoke, and a column
of smoke several thousands of _li_ long enclosing swords of fire.
A Conflagration
Having arrived at the city of Hsi Ch'i, Lo Hsüan sent forth his
smoke-column, the air was filled with swords of fire, the ten thousand
fire-crows, emerging from the gourd, spread themselves over the town,
and a terrible conflagration broke out, the whole place being ablaze
in a few minutes.
At this juncture there appeared in the sky the Princess Lung Chi,
daughter of Wang-mu Niang-niang; forthwith she spread over the
city her shroud of mist and dew, and the fire was extinguished by a
heavy downpour of rain. All the mysterious mechanisms of Lo Hsüan
lost their efficacy, and the magician took to his heels down the
side of the mountain. There he was met by Li, the Pagoda-bearer,
[28] who threw his golden pagoda into the air. The pagoda fell on Lo
Hsüan's head and broke his skull.
C'ih Ching-tzu
Of the various fire-gods, Ch'ih Ching-tzu, the principle of spiritual
fire, is one of the five spirits representing the Five Elements. He
is Fire personified, which has its birth in the south, on Mount
Shih-t'ang. He himself and everything connected with him--his skin,
hair, beard, trousers, cloak of leaves, etc.--are all of the colour of
fire, though he is sometimes represented with a blue cap resembling
the blue tip of a flame. He appeared in the presence of Huang Lao
in a fire-cloud. He it was who obtained fire from the wood of the
mulberry-tree, and the heat of this fire, joined with the moisture
of water, developed the germs of terrestrial beings.
The Red Emperor
Chu Jung, though also otherwise personified, is generally regarded as
having been a legendary emperor who made his first appearance in the
time of Hsien Yuan (2698-2598 B.C.). In his youth he asked Kuang-shou
Lao-jên, 'Old Longevity,' to grant him immortality. "The time has
not yet come," replied Old Longevity; "before it does you have to
become an emperor. I will give you the means of reaching the end you
desire. Give orders that after you are dead you are to be buried on
the southern slope of the sacred mountain Hêng Shan; there you will
learn the doctrine of Ch'ih Ching-tzu and will become immortal."
The Emperor Hsien Yüan, having abdicated the throne, sent for Chu Jung,
and bestowed upon him the crown. Chu Jung, having become emperor,
taught the people the use of fire and the advantages to be derived
therefrom. In those early times the forests were filled with venomous
reptiles and savage animals; he ordered the peasants to set fire to the
brushwood to drive away these dangerous neighbours and keep them at a
distance. He also taught his subjects the art of purifying, forging,
and welding metals by the action of fire. He was nicknamed Ch'ih Ti,
'the Red Emperor.' He reigned for more than two hundred years, and
became an Immortal, His capital was the ancient city of Kuei, thirty
_li_ north-east of Hsin-chêng Hsien, in the Prefecture of K'ai-fêng
Fu, Honan. His tomb is on the southern slope of Heng Shan. The peak
is known as Chu Jung Peak. His descendants, who went to live in the
south, were the ancestors of the Directors of Fire.
Hui Lu
The most popular God of Fire, however, is Hui Lu, a celebrated
magician who, according to the _Shên hsien t'ung chien_, lived some
time before the reign of Ti K'u (2436-2366 B.C.), the father of Yao
the Great, and had a mysterious bird named Pi Fang and a hundred other
fire-birds shut up in a gourd. He had only to let them out to set up
a conflagration which would extend over the whole country.
Huang Ti ordered Chu Jung to fight Hui Lu and also to subdue the
rebel Chih Yu. Chu Jung had a large bracelet of pure gold--a most
wonderful and effective weapon. He hurled it into the air, and it
fell on Hui Lu's neck, throwing him to the ground and rendering him
incapable of moving. Finding resistance impossible, he asked mercy
from his victor and promised to be his follower in the spiritual
contests. Subsequently he always called himself Huo-shih Chih T'u,
'the Disciple of the Master of Fire.'
The Fire-emperor
Shen Nung, the God of Agriculture, also adds to his other functions
those appertaining to the God of Fire, the reason being that when
he succeeded the Emperor Fu Hsi on the throne he adopted fire as
the emblem of his government, just as Huang Ti adopted the symbol
of Earth. Thus he came to be called Huo Ti, the 'Fire-emperor.' He
taught his subjects the use of fire for smelting metals and making
implements and weapons, and the use of oil in lamps, etc. All the
divisions of his official hierarchy were connected in some way with
this element; thus, there were the Ministers of Fire generally, the
officers of Fire of the North, South, etc. Becoming thus doubly the
patron of fire, a second fire symbol (_huo_) was added to his name,
changing it from Huo Ti, 'Fire-emperor,' to Yen Ti, 'Blazing Emperor,'