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THE IMMORTAL EIGHT MEN
The
leggendary inseparable immortal eight men coming from TAOISTA culture
are
also present in the HUNG GAR system with some particular technique they
suggested. Among
the eightb men, three would be historical caracters, the other five were born
from popular legends. Thesecaracters
met once a year on the mountains of the KUNLUN SHAN between TIBET and
the XINJIANG place where XI
WANG MU important mythological Chinese God who,
in
the traditional iconography, rides a CRANE symbol of longevity and
chairs the meetings immortal eight
men.
ZHONGLI
QUAN
He
is the Chief of the Immortal eight man. He is represented with a beard
and a large belly, he hands a fan he
uses to
drive out evil spirits and to raise from the dead. In the Chinese
art he is represented with fishing
symbol of longevity. It seems that this character
really lived about 2000 years ago at
the time of the
HAN dynasty. He discovered the secret of alchemy and turned lead into silver
to help poor people.
When
he got old, he retired on the mountains Yang Jiao living as a hermit. At
the end of his earthly
life a CRANE took him to the paradise of the immortal ones.
LI
TIEGUAI
He
is
represented as a lame beggar with a hip-flaskmade from a pumpkin in his
hand; magical medicative vapors pour
from it and in the other hand he has an iron stick Laozu gave him to help him to
walk
He
studied immortality, his teacher was XI WANG MU the legend says that
his spirit can go out
from his body
becomig
impalpabile. His body than can because smaller and take his real size as he
likes. People say that, once, while
he was sleeping he left his spirit going around as he wonted; his disciples
thinking he was died burned his body.
When his spirit came back it had to look for another one to toke shelter. It
found the body of a dead lame beggar
and it took his features.
LU DONGBIN
This
immortal man was born about the 7th or 8th century A. D.
in the region of SHANXI and it is said he lived 380 years
thanks to the secrets of immortality typical of theTaoist philosophy that
Zhongli Chuan transferred to him with
the techniques of alchemistical manipulation. He
is recognizable
for his typical taoist hat and his magical sword he used to goup and
travelled by air and earth. His
task was "to clean out" China of the monstrous animals and demons (of
his time) cutting
off their heads with his
sword. Lu Dongbin was honoured by the Empereor Huizong and the nobles of the
Empire for his heroic deeds and
for saving China from the many calamities.
The
nickname Dongbin (in habitant of the cove) comes from the lonely places
where he loved living and take shelter
in meditation; he had a good fame as a writer and learned man.
ZHANG GUOLAO
He is one
of the three man who really lived. He was
born in the 700 ( 7th century ), he is
described as a bashfuland lonely
person so much to refuse the several invitations to the Imperial Court;
moreover it is said that the first time he accepted
the invitation he suddenly died.
He
lived as an heremit on the mountain of the SHANXI, he symbolizes the
old age and he is represented as a bearded man with a hat trimmed with a feather
of phoenix. Among his magical
powers he had the gift of invisibility and resistance to any kind of poison
(this practice was very followed bythe
taoist men but it
caused many dead ones). He rode a white ass that could cover several
leagues a day the same
ass, by night, made
magically flat and folded as a sheet of paper than put into Zhang’s
bag. In the morning Zhang
made the paper wet with spit and as if by magic it became ass again. It is
said owes his immortality to a little
ball made of mud Li Tieguai gave to Zhang, it had the power to revive fish.
As other fishermen tried to steal it, he
swallowed it and became immortal.
HE XIANGU
She
is the woman of the group. She looks like a fairy who whirls round the
mountains, picking fruits to give them to
her mother. She was, probably,
the
daughter of a tradesman of HUNAN, it is said when she was born she had six
hairs
and she hasn’t had any more. The girl had delicate and kind features a
stalk of lotus and a flower on the back, it
let her read the human soul (mind ). She is sometime represented dressed with
leaves and a sceptre or fishing-rod
of longevity in her hand; she is the patroness of the family.
It is
told that she became immortal,while going the empress WU ZETIAN who had
invited her to Court.
HAN XIANGZI
He
is Lu Dongbin’s favourite disciple, he is the patron of the musicians;
in fact he is represented playing a flute.His favourite
activity was wandering in the middle of the wood where, playing a flute, he
bewitched the animals; it is seid
it
could grow trees and wonderful flowers in a short time and in a tinypiece
of land. He owes his immortality to a
fall from a tree when he together with Lu Dongbin visited the prodigious fisherman.
He is the picture of youth and,
like an unprepared young man, he does’n know the value of money and he
wastes it happily.
LAN
CAIHE
He
is the ambiguos immortal man, having the fame of ermafrodite. He is often
represented with female features, playing
a flute or playing the cymbols as a street artist. The
other picture, the male one, shows him like a barefooted old man
bagging for alms resting on a stick. He had contradictins
behaviour he used to go around bare in winter and wrapped in furs in summer. He
is the patron of florist
and story-tellers. He is represented with a blue dress and carrying
a
basket with flowers or fruits on his arm. When he has female features, she
is, sometimes, a singer who foretells the future
in songs.
CAO GUOJIU
He
is the patron of actors, his
hairstyle is typical of the mandarin ones, he has a sceptre in his hand and,
rarely, a fly-flap.
People say, that before retiring into his hermitage among the mountains, he had
been a senior official of the
SONG dynasty, being the brother of the empress CAO HU. He
was made immortal by the other seven ones who, living
in the seven out of the eight higher caves, chose him as the eighth immortal
man, thinking him worthy for his
decision to dedicate himself to the lonely meditation because of his shame of
being the brother of a murderer.
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