Wudaxian


The Wǔdàxiān, also known as Wǔdàjiā and Wǔdàmén, meaning the "Five Great Genii", are a group of five zoomorphic deities of northeastern Chinese religion, and important to local shamanic practices. They are the localised adaptation of the Five Forms of the Highest Deity of common Chinese theology.

Names and meanings

In some places of Hebei, the cult comprises four instead of five zoomorphic gods, including the Fox, the Weasel, the Hedgehog and the Snake Gods. While the Fox God and the Weasel God always remain the two prominent members of the cult, the other positions vary in some regions including the Tiger, the Wolf, the Hare and the Turtle Gods.
Li Qingchen, a scholar of Tianjin, explained the images of the Five Great Immortals as follows:
As gods of wealth, the Five Immortals are also known by the epithet of "Little Wealth Gods". The Five Immortals have both male and female form, usually represented twosomes.

Huxian—Fox Immortal

Húxiān, also called Húshén or Húwáng is possibly the most important of the Five Immortals in northeast China. Nagao Ryuzō, a Japanese sinologist, observed that the Fox Gods "enjoy such popularity to be worshipped by almost every household in north China and Manchuria". Henry Doré documented the worship of the Fox God in the northern parts of Jiangsu and Anhui. In parts of Hebei, to every newborn is assigned his own běnshén manifestation of Huxian, usually a female for a boy and a male for a girl. After these boys and girls get married, their patrons will be represented sitting together. In his survey of popular shrines and temples in Manchuria, Takizawa Shunryō found the number dedicated to Fox Gods overwhelming.
The deity can be represented as either male or female, but is most frequently identified as the female Húxiān Niángniáng whose animal form is a nine-tailed fox. She is the Chinese equivalent of the Japanese Shintō cult of Inari Ōkami, both god of the foxes or collective representations of the fox sprites.
The fox deity is also represented as a couple of gods, male and female, called the Great Lord of the Three Foxes and the Great Lady of the Three Foxes. As a goddess, the Fox Immortal is related to Xīwángmǔ, the great goddess guardian of Mount Kunlun.

Huangxian—Weasel Immortal

Huángxiān is the Weasel God, and is identified as an incarnation of the pan-Chinese Yellow Deity and Huáng Dàxiān. Another name which indicates the collective personification of weasels is "Great Lord of the Two Yellows".

Shexian—Snake Immortal

The Snake God is either called Shéxiān, Liǔxiān, or Chángxiān. Alternatively he is Mǎngxiān. Considered an incarnation of the Dragon God, the snake traditionally represents generation and activity. As such, it is also associated to Fuxi and Nüwa, respectively the snake-bodied patron of heaven and patroness of earth, who represent the two forces who concur in the birth of things.

Baixian—Hedgehog Immortal

The Báixiān is the Hedgehog God. He is primarily worshipped as a medical deity to prevent and cure diseases. One of his female forms is Báilǎo Tàitài.

Heixian—Crow Immortal

The Hēixiān is a function occupied by different zoomorphic deities. The most common one is the Wūyāxiān and another popular one is the Huīxiān, although the latter is said to be a misinterpretation of the former. The position can be taken also by the Lángshén.