Xuan Tian Shang Di 玄天上帝/Xuan Wu (god)

Xuan Tian Shang Di 玄天上帝/Xuan Wu (god)

Xuan Wu (玄武) (literally means The Dark Martiality or The Mysterious Martiality), posthumously known as The Dark/Mysterious Heavenly Upper Emperor (Xuan Tian Shang Di 玄天上帝), as well as True Warrior Grand Emperor (Zhen Wu Da Di 真武大帝), and commonly known as The Northern Emperor (Bei Di 北帝) or Emperor Lord (Di Gong 帝公) or Teh Kong in Hokkien dialect; is one of the higher ranking Taoist deities, and one of the more revered deities in China. He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements (worshipped by those wishing to avoid fires), and capable of great magic. He is particularly revered by martial artists, and is the patron saint of Hebei, Manchuria and Mongolia. Since the third Ming Emperor, Zhu Di, claimed the help of Zhen Wu in his war to take over the Ming Empire, monasteries were built under the Imperial Decree in Wudang Mountains, in China’s Hubei Province, where he allegedly attained immortality. Xuan Wu is also the patron saint of Cantonese and Min Nan speakers (particularly those from Hokkien ancestry) in southern China, whose ancestors fled south following the Song Imperial House of Zhao. The Zhaos were natives of Hebei Province.
One story says that Xuan Wu was originally a prince of Jing Le State in northern Hebei during the time of the Yellow Emperor. As he grew up, he felt the sorrow and pain of the life of ordinary people and wanted to retire to a remote mountain for cultivation of the Tao.
Another says that Xuan Wu was originally a butcher who had killed many animals unremorsefully. As days passed, he felt remorse for his sins and repented immediately by giving up butchery and retired to a remote mountain for cultivation of the Tao.
One day while he was assisting a woman in labor, while cleaning the woman’s blood stained clothes along a river, the words “Xuan Tian Shang Di” appeared before him. The woman in labor turned out to be a manifestation of the goddess Guan Yin. To redeem his sins, he dug out his own stomach and intestines and washed it in the river. The river turned into a dark, murky water. After a while, it turned into pure water.
Unfortunately, Xuan Wu did indeed lose his own stomach and intestines while he washing them in the river. The Jade Emperor was moved by his sincerity and determination to clear his sins; hence he became an Immortal known with the title of Xuan Tian Shang Ti.
After he became an immortal, his stomach and intestines after absorbing the essences of the earth, it was transformed into a demonic turtle and snake which harmed people and no one could subdue them. Eventually Xuan Wu returned back to earth to subdue them and later uses them as his means for transportation.


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