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52-514: Fengshen is the romanization of several Chinese words, (Chinese: 封神 ; lit. 'Investiture of god', or simplified Chinese: 风神 ; traditional Chinese: 風神 ; lit. 'Wind God') may refer to: Investiture of the Gods ( Fengshen Bang ), a Chinese epic fantasy novel written during the Ming Dynasty Hoshin Engi

104-436: A lineage surname . His were Jiang ( 姜 ) and Lü ( 呂 ), respectively. He had two courtesy names , Shangfu ( 尚父 ; "Esteemed Father") and Ziya ( 子牙 ; lit. "Master Ivory , Master Tusk "), which were used for respectful address by his peers. The names Jiang Shang and Jiang Ziya became the most common after their use in the popular Ming-era novel Fengshen Bang , written over 2,500 years after his death. Following

156-415: A pipa ). Bewitched by his concubine Daji , who is actually a vixen spirit disguised as a beautiful woman, King Zhou of Shang oppresses his people and persecutes those who oppose him, including those who dare to speak up to him. Ji Fa (King Wu of Zhou), assisted by his strategist Jiang Ziya , rallies an army to overthrow the tyrant and restore peace and order. Throughout the story, battles are waged between

208-825: A Japanese anime loosely based on the Investiture of the Gods Dongfeng Fengshen , a Chinese automobile marque owned by Dongfeng Motor Group Typhoon Fengshen (2002) , a Category 5 super typhoon which took place in the West Pacific in July 2002 Typhoon Fengshen (2008) , a Category 3 typhoon which killed more than 1,300 people in June 2008, primarily in the Philippines See also [ edit ] Feng Sheng (disambiguation) List of wind deities Topics referred to by

260-430: A charm to Bi Gan. One night, during a banquet hosted by King Zhou, several "immortals" appear and the king is delighted to see them. The "immortals" are actually Daji's fellow fox spirits in disguise, and Bi Gan, who is also present at the banquet, senses something amiss. Bi Gan's suspicions are confirmed when the fox spirits reveal their tails unknowingly after getting drunk. Bi Gan gathers a group of soldiers and they track

312-512: A country could become powerful only when the people prospered. If the officials enriched themselves while the people remained poor, the ruler would not last long. The major principle in ruling a country should be to love the people; and to love the people meant to reduce taxes and corvée labour. By following these ideas, King Wen is said to have made the Zhou state prosper very rapidly. His treatise on military strategy, Six Secret Strategic Teachings ,

364-519: A sage would appear to help rule the Zhou state. The first meeting between King Wen and Jiang Ziya is recorded in the book that records Jiang's teachings to King Wen and King Wu, the Six Secret Teachings (太公六韜). The meeting was recorded as being characterized by a mythic aura common to meetings between great historical figures in ancient China. Before going hunting, King Wen consulted his chief scribe to perform divination in order to discover if

416-462: A set of four fictional characters. These four individuals are Wang Mo, Yang Sen, Gao Youqian, and Li Xingba; each of them are renowned as superior men. These four superior men would later be personally recruited by Grand Old Master Wen Zhong in an attempt to put an end to the threat of King Wu. This is a list of the variety of projects created by Daji throughout the novel Fengshen Yanyi by Xu Zhonglin and Lu Xixing. The Bronze Toaster, intended as

468-452: A torture and execution device, was first suggested by Daji. It is a bronze cylindrical device that is over twenty feet tall and eight feet wide. It has two wheels on each side so it can be moved around. There are three layers of charcoal over three layers of burning fire inside the device. The victims were stripped naked and tied before being placed into the pit. The pit was used to execute Grand Counselor Mei Bo . Big fans were used to intensify

520-453: A voodoo-like ritual involving building a straw effigy of his rival which is later shot at with arrows, leading to Zhao's death. In Chinese and Taoist belief, Jiang Ziya is sometimes considered to have been a Taoist adept. In one legend , he used the knowledge he gained at Kunlun to defeat the Shang's supernatural protectors Qianliyan and Shunfeng'er , by using magic and invocations. He

572-489: A while, he finally caught a large carp with a military book in its belly. King Wen saw a sage in a dream, and then heard of Lü Shang, and ordered to bring him [to the Court]. And then, when king Wu fought king Zhou , Lü Shang suggested more than 100 military gimmicks. He consumed zézhī lotus , lichen and rock-marrow [or zézhī lotus and earth-marrow], lived two hundred years, and then announced his death . Due to

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624-478: Is also a prominent character in the Ming-era Investiture of the Gods , in which he is Daji's archrival and is personally responsible for her execution. The storyline present throughout the novel revolves around the fate of Jiang Ziya. He is destined to deify the souls of both humans and immortals who die in battle using the "List of Creation" (Fengshen bang, 封神榜), an index of preordained names agreed upon at

676-643: Is also mentioned in Chapter 17. Daji had chosen this Deer Gallery as an ensured way to put an end to Jiang Ziya , who had been entrusted to complete the impossible mission of creating the Deer Gallery itself. This large tower-like structure was forty-nine feet in height (double the size of the Star-Picking Belvedere), fully equipped with columns of jade, floors of marble, roofs and ceilings of legendary jewels, and railings of great pearls and sea corals. Although

728-608: Is attributed to Xu Zhonglin . The novel is a romanticised retelling of the overthrow of King Zhou , the last ruler of the Shang dynasty , by Ji Fa , who would establish the Zhou dynasty in its place. The story integrates oral and written tales of many Chinese mythological figures who are involved in the struggle as well. These figures include human heroes, immortals, and various spirits (usually represented in avatar form, such as vixens and pheasants , and occasionally as inanimate objects such as

780-515: Is considered one of the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. In the Tang dynasty he was accorded his own state temple as the martial patron and thereby attained officially sanctioned status approaching that of Confucius . Wives: Sons: Daughters: His descendants acquired his personal name Shang as their surname. In the popular Ming-era novel Investiture of the Gods, Jiang Ziya

832-523: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Investiture of the Gods The story is set in the era of the decline of the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and the rise of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). It intertwines numerous elements of Chinese mythology , Chinese folk religion , Chinese Buddhism , Confucianism , and Taoism , including deities, demons, immortals and spirits. The authorship

884-494: Is not a single fish, but the king and the great many vassals. Only those who really wish to go on the hook will be fished by me." Jiang Ziya means that he is waiting for a wise ruler who recognises his talent and needs him. Some people tell Ji Chang about Jiang and Ji Chang becomes interested in him. One day, Ji Chang pays a visit to Jiang Ziya. Jiang demands that the duke helps him pull his cart. Ji Chang does so and stops pulling after he has moved 800 steps forwards. Jiang Ziya tells

936-544: Is represented as a disciple of the Kunlun sect practicing Chan Taoism. Aside from fortune-telling, he is able to perform supernatural feats such as mounting clouds, using his internal energy to breathe out a divine fire from his mouth, releasing thunder and lightning at will, creating illusions to conceal the presence of an entire army, and through the use of ritual and incantation, of summoning wind storms to carry away hundreds of refugees, of bringing about snow in order to freeze

988-491: Is revered as a saint. Bi Gan swallows the charm given by Jiang Ziya, grabs his heart, pulls it out of his body, and presents it to King Zhou. Bi Gan does not die immediately nor sheds a single drop of blood. Instead, he walks out of the palace and follows Jiang Ziya's instructions to go straight home without looking back. When he is only a few steps away from home, a female huckster yells from behind, "Hey! Cheap cabbages without stems (hearts)!" (The "heart" rhetorically refers to

1040-595: The Duke Tai of Qi , was the founding monarch of the Qi state . He was a military general and strategist who assisted King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang dynasty and establish the Zhou dynasty . Following their victory in the Battle of Muye , he continued to serve as a Zhou minister. He remained loyal to the regent Ji Dan (Duke Wen of Zhou) during the Rebellion of

1092-534: The Wei River (near today's Xi'an ) using a barbless hook or even no hook at all, on the theory that the fish would come to him of their own volition when they were ready. King Wen of Zhou, (central Shaanxi), found Jiang Ziya fishing. King Wen, following the advice of his father and grandfather before him, was in search of talented people. In fact, he had been told by his grandfather, the Grand Duke of Zhou, that one day

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1144-487: The Shang army encamped in a mountain valley, and of conjuring a barrier made of the water of the North Sea in order to protect the Zhou capital. He is ruthless with his enemies, usually executing captive generals from the Shang side, but is loyal to the Zhou cause. When outmatched by another wielder of supernatural powers, Zhao Gongming, he employs underhanded means on the advice of another thaumaturge named Lu Ya, employing

1196-591: The Three Guards ; following the Ji Dan's punitive raids against the restive Dongyi , Jiang was enfeoffed with the land of Qi. He established his seat at Yingqiu (in modern-day Linzi , Zibo , Shandong ). He is also celebrated as one of the main heroes in the Investiture of the Gods . The first ruler of Qi bore the given name Shang . The nobility of ancient China bore two surnames , an ancestral temple surname and

1248-446: The basis of the text in the Six Secret Teachings . When King Wen met Jiang Ziya, at first sight he felt that this was an unusual old man who is angling with a straight hook hanging out of water, and began to converse with him. He discovered that this white-haired fisherman was actually an astute political thinker and military strategist. This, he felt, must be the man his grandfather was waiting for. He took Jiang Ziya in his coach to

1300-444: The beginning of time by the leaders of the three religions. This list is housed in the "Terrace of Creation" (Fengshen tai, 封神臺), a reed pavilion in which the souls of the deceased are gathered to await their apotheosis. In the end, after defeating the Shang forces, Jiang deifies a total of 365 major gods, along with thousands of lesser gods, representing a wide range of domains, from holy mountains, weather, and plagues to constellations,

1352-466: The court and appointed him prime minister and gave him the title Jiang Taigong Wang ("The Great Duke's Hope", or "The expected of the Great Duke") in reference to a prophetic dream Danfu, grandfather of Wenwang, had had many years before. This was later shortened to Jiang Taigong. King Wu married Jiang Ziya's daughter Yi Jiang, who bore him several sons. After King Wen died, his son King Wu , who inherited

1404-513: The cover on Nüwa’s statue. He notices that the statue of the goddess is very attractive. The lewd king spouts blasphemy before the statue, declaring "It would be wonderful if I could marry her". He writes poems on the walls to express his lust for the goddess. He has offended Nüwa unknowingly and Nüwa foresees that King Zhou is destined to be the last ruler of the Shang dynasty. She sends the thousand year old vixen spirit , nine-headed pheasant spirit and jade pipa spirit to torture King Zhou, because

1456-487: The cyclical nature of time, and the five elements. There are two xiehouyu about him: Liexian Zhuan , a book on Taoist immortals, contains his short legendary biography: 呂尚者冀州人也。 生而內智，預見[or 豫知]存亡。 避紂之亂，隱於遼東四[or 三]十年。 適西周，匿於南山，釣於溪[or 磻溪, or 卞谿]。 三年不獲魚，比閭皆曰：「可以止矣。」 尚曰：「非爾所及也。」 已而，果得大鯉，有兵鈐在腹中。 文王夢得聖人，聞尚，遂載而歸。 至武王伐紂，尚作陰謀百餘篇。 服澤芝地衣石髓[or 澤芝地髓]， 具二百年而告亡。 有難而不葬。 後子葬之，無屍， 唯有《玉鈐》六篇在棺中云。 呂尚隱釣，瑞得赬鱗。 通夢西伯，同乘入臣。 沈謀籍世，芝體煉身。 遠代所稱，美哉天人。 Lü Shang

1508-430: The duke that his future kingdom (the Zhou dynasty ) will exist for 800 years. Ji Chang wishes to pull the cart for a few more steps but he is too exhausted to move forward. Jiang Ziya becomes the chancellor of Zhou afterwards and assists Ji Chang in building his kingdom. From the prophecy revealed by the oracle bones, Jiang Ziya predicts that King Zhou's loyal and benevolent courtier, Bi Gan , will die soon. He gives

1560-513: The elevation of Qi to a duchy , he was given the posthumous name 齊太公 Grand ~ Great Lord of Qi , on occasions left untranslated as "Duke Tai". It is under this name that he appears in Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian . He is also less often known as "Grand Lord Jiang" ( 姜太公 ; Jiang Taigong), Taigong Wang ( 太公望 ), and the "Hoped-for Lü" (Lü Wang; 呂望). as Jiang Ziya was seen as

1612-419: The fact that many surrendered or revolted, enabled Zhou to take the capital. King Zhou set fire to his palace and perished in it, and King Wu and his successors as the Zhou dynasty established rule over all of China. As for Daji, one version has it that she was captured and executed by the order of Jiang Taigong himself, another that she took her own life, another that she was killed by King Zhou. Jiang Taigong

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1664-529: The fire during the execution of Mei Bo. The Bronze Toaster was only mentioned in Chapter 6. The Snake Pit, another torture device, was first introduced in Chapter 17. The 25-feet wide snake pit was dug beneath the Star-Picking Belvedere. Venomous spiders and exceedingly venomous snakes were put into the pit. Once this pit was finally constructed, seventy-two unfortunate maidens, with their hair shaved and clothes stripped, were tied and thrown into

1716-437: The fox spirits back to their den and kill all of them. Bi Gan uses the foxes' hides to make a cloak and presents it to King Zhou. Daji is horrified and saddened when she sees the cloak, and she secretly plots vengeance on Bi Gan. Not long later, Daji tells King Zhou that she has a heart attack and only a "delicate seven-aperture heart" ( 七巧玲瓏心 ) can relieve her agony. No one in the palace has that type of heart except Bi Gan, who

1768-760: The goddess was very angry when she saw that King Zhou could enjoy himself for 28 years. The king becomes obsessed with the spirits, who disguise themselves as beautiful women, and starts to neglect state affairs and rule with cruelty. The people suffer under his tyranny and eventually join Ji Fa to rise up and overthrow him. King Zhou places Ji Chang , the Western Duke, under house arrest in Youli ( 羑里 ) for almost seven years. Ji Chang's eldest son Bo Yikao comes to Zhaoge (present-day Hebi , Henan) to plead with King Zhou to release his father. Daji falls in love with Bo Yikao and requests

1820-463: The king to permit Bo Yikao to teach her how to play the guqin . Daji attempts to seduce Bo Yikao but he rejects and ridicules her. The irate Daji complains to King Zhou that Bo Yikao molested her and insulted the king through his music. The king is furious and he has Bo Yikao executed, minced into pieces and made into meat pies, and served to his father. Ji Chang knows divination and has already foreseen his son's fate. He suppresses his sorrow and consumes

1872-485: The king would be successful. The divinations revealed that, "'While hunting on the north bank of the Wei river you will get a great catch. It will not be any form of dragon, nor a tiger or great bear. According to the signs, you will find a duke or marquis there whom Heaven has sent to be your teacher. If employed as your assistant, you will flourish and the benefits will extend to three generations of Zhou Kings.'" Recognizing that

1924-534: The kingdoms of Shang and Zhou, with both sides calling upon various supernatural beings – deities, immortals, demons, spirits, and humans with magical abilities – to aid them in the war. Yuanshi Tianzun ("Primeval Lord of Heaven") bestows upon Jiang Ziya the Fengshen bang , a list that empowers him to invest the gods of Heaven. The heroes of Zhou and some of their fallen enemies from Shang are eventually endowed with heavenly ranking and essentially elevated as gods , hence

1976-586: The meat cakes. After that incident, King Zhou lowers his guard against Ji Chang and allows the latter to return home. Ji Chang builds up his forces and plans to avenge his son. Jiang Ziya is an apprentice of master of the Kunlun Mountains Yuanshi Tianzun . He leaves his master at the age of 72. He only uses a straight fishhook without bait, three feet above the water, for angling. His neighbours are puzzled by his odd method of fishing. They ask him out of curiosity. Jiang replies, "What I'm angling

2028-460: The novel is now seen as one of the great vernacular epic novels of Chinese literature, it has received some criticism from literary critics of the past. In comparing the work to other major Chinese novels, Lu Xun remarked in his 1924 book A Brief History of Chinese Fiction that Fengshen Yanyi "lacks the realism of Water Margin and the imaginative brilliance of Journey to the West ." The book

2080-560: The pit to feed the snakes. This torturing device was mentioned multiple times after Chapter 17. The Wine Pool and Meat Forest were introduced in Chapter 17. The Wine Pool was located on the left side of the Snake Pit, while the Meat Forest was on the right, thus forming a small park before the Star-Picking Belvedere. Fifty maidens and fifty eunuchs were chosen and tied together to form 50 pairs. Each individual pair would then get thrown into

2132-468: The pool and would be asked to drink the pool's wine while performing swimming tricks. Once each pair is readily drunk, they would be put into the Meat Forest to enjoy an abundance of cooked duck, roasted pig, etc. By sunset a few pairs would then be beaten to a bloody pulp and secretly fed to Daji to ease her need for human flesh. This method of torture, created by Daji, was first mentioned in Chapter 17, as well as multiple times afterward. The Deer Gallery

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2184-436: The result of this divination was similar to the result of divinations given to his eldest ancestor, King Wen observed a vegetarian diet for three days in order to spiritually purify himself for the meeting. While on the hunt, King Wen encountered Jiang fishing on a grass mat, and courteously began a conversation with him concerning military tactics and statecraft. The subsequent conversation between Jiang Ziya and King Wen forms

2236-409: The ruler's power. Jiang was an expert in military affairs and hoped that someday someone would call on him to help overthrow the king. Jiang disappeared, only to resurface in the Zhou countryside at the apocryphal age of seventy-two, when he was recruited by King Wen of Zhou and became instrumental in Zhou affairs. It is said that, while in exile, he continued to wait placidly, fishing in a tributary of

2288-521: The sage – whom King Wen of Zhou 's ancestor Revered Uncle Ancestor Lei ( 公叔祖類 ) (also titled 太公 "Great ~ Grand Lord") had prophesied about and hoped for – to help the Zhou prosper. The last ruler of the Shang dynasty, King Zhou of Shang , was a tyrant who spent his days with his favorite concubine Daji and executing or punishing officials. After faithfully serving the Shang court for approximately twenty years, Jiang came to find King Zhou insufferable, and feigned madness in order to escape court life and

2340-577: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Fengshen . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fengshen&oldid=1055722567 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Chinese-language text Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text Short description

2392-413: The stem of the plant.) Bi Gan turns around, then asks the huckster in curiosity, "How can there be cabbages without stems?" The woman puts on an evil grin and replies, "You're right, sir. Cabbages cannot live without stems just as men cannot live without hearts." Bi Gan shouts, collapses, and dies. The huckster is actually the jade pipa spirit in disguise. The Foursome of Nine Dragon Island ( 九龙岛四圣 ) are

2444-459: The throne, decided to send troops to overthrow the King of Shang. But Jiang Taigong stopped him, saying: "While I was fishing at Panxi, I realised one truth – if you want to succeed you need to be patient. We must wait for the appropriate opportunity to eliminate the King of Shang". Soon it was reported that the people of Shang were so oppressed that no one dared speak. King Wu and Jiang Taigong decided this

2496-427: The title of the novel. The novel features many stories in which various supernatural beings enter the human realm and change the fates of mortals and the course of history with their magical powers. The following are some of the better-known of its component anecdotes. King Zhou visits the temple of the ancient Chinese goddess Nüwa to offer incense and pray. As he was doing so, there came a gust of wind which blew up

2548-521: Was also translated to Dutch as Feng Shen: De Verheffing tot Goden by Nio Joe Lan ( Jakarta , 1940). The novel has a significant impact on Chinese and Japanese popular culture . It has been adapted in various forms, including television series, manhua , manga , and video games. Some of the more notable adaptations are listed below: Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( fl.  12th century BC – 11th century BC), also known by several other names , also known by his posthumous name as

2600-591: Was from Jizhou . Born with inherent wisdom, he could foresee life and death. Avoiding the chaos of king Zhou , he has been hiding in Liaodong for 40 [or 30] years. Then at Western Zhou he fled to Nanshan , and fished in mountain creeks [or in Panxi , or in Bianxi]. For three years he hadn't caught any fish, and the villagers told him, "You maybe should stop". But he said: "That's not what you can understand". And after

2652-511: Was made duke of the State of Qi (today's Shandong province), which thrived with better communications and exploitation of its fish and salt resources under him. As the most notable prime minister employed by King Wen and King Wu, he was declared "the master of strategy"—resulting in the Zhou government growing far stronger than that of the Shang dynasty as the years elapsed. An account of Jiang Ziya's life written long after his time says he held that

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2704-468: Was the time to attack, for the people had lost faith in the ruler. The bloody Battle of Muye then ensued some 35 kilometres from the Shang capital Yin (modern day Anyang, Henan Province). Jiang Taigong charged at the head of the troops, beat the battle drums and then with 100 of his men drew the Shang troops to the southwest. King Wu's troops moved quickly and surrounded the capital. The Shang King had sent relatively untrained slaves to fight. This, plus

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