Mythical Chinese psychic beings identified in Dazu Rock Carvings

Here we go....they aren't Gods. They are Generals

www.templeculture.com...

Not main deities themselves, Qian Li Yan and Shun Feng Er usually appear as Mazu's companions and guardians.
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It is generally believed that they were brothers, warriors in life who sacrificed themselves in battle and became demons. Upon encountering Mazu, they both fell in love with her, and suggested they fight her for the right to marry her. However, Mazu used her exceptional skill in martial arts to defeat them both, forcing them to become her guardians

a reply to: Byrd

Well, since Bryd - from whom I've learnt a lot here in ATS and have a lot of respect for - have asked, I've to dig out my ATS account and respond, though not as a Chinese scholar I'm afraid.

千里眼 [QianLiYan] & 順風耳 [ShunFengEr] were the eldests of ten brothers in Chinese folklore, each with his own superpower. 千里眼, literally means, one whose eyes can see a thousand li away and, likewise, 順風耳 is one whose ears could hear from a thousand li away. 千里眼 & 順風耳 have since become a common way to describe one who has superior vision/hearing in the Chinese language.

Chinese gods/demons/deities are not quite the same as their Western counterparts and hence, the terms are used quite loosely. Gods/demons/deities are just different levels one attains/descends based on one's karma. It's only through Enlightenment, according to Chinese' belief, that one can escapes from the cycles of life-and-death.

In this case, both brothers did overcome the numerous hardships and challenges in their lives and become one of the Chinese gods/deities. But bear in mind, even that itself is still subjected to karma's dictated cycles of life-and-death, and not immortality as exemplified by the gods in western civilisations.

Hope this helps in one way or another.

PS. You can find more information and photos of the site by googling these four characters, 大足石刻, or The Stone Carvings of DaZu [lit. Bigfoot].

Thanks to you and BigFatFurryTexan for the followups!

originally posted by: JustThisOnce

千里眼 [QianLiYan] & 順風耳 [ShunFengEr] were the eldests of ten brothers in Chinese folklore, each with his own superpower. 千里眼, literally means, one whose eyes can see a thousand li away and, likewise, 順風耳 is one whose ears could hear from a thousand li away. 千里眼 & 順風耳 have since become a common way to describe one who has superior vision/hearing in the Chinese language.

Now that's an interesting factoid! As i suspected, these beings aren't really gods of psychic phenomenon.

Chinese gods/demons/deities are not quite the same as their Western counterparts and hence, the terms are used quite loosely. Gods/demons/deities are just different levels one attains/descends based on one's karma. It's only through Enlightenment, according to Chinese' belief, that one can escapes from the cycles of life-and-death.

I forget that this point has to be made when talking about "demons." "Demon" is a term scholars use, a holdover from the 1800's or so, to describe non-corporeal beings that have some sort of spiritual power that can manifest in the world (gosh, don't I sound like I swallowed a dictionary?) They are not necessarily evil. I have seen djinn (genies) and afrits (etc) also labeled demons. We need a better term, but I think for now we're stuck with this old-fashioned term.

Great info!

"Demon" is a term scholars use, a holdover from the 1800's or so, to describe non-corporeal beings that have some sort of spiritual power that can manifest in the world (gosh, don't I sound like I swallowed a dictionary?) They are not necessarily evil.

Thank you! That's educational. For non-native English speakers like myself, it certainly does take a while to fully understand the different concepts of spirits/souls and the like when it's not differentiated in exactly the same way for other cultures. Now I'm learning that demons are not necessarily evil.

I do want to apologise for misspelling your name in my earlier post, as well as the error in the literal translation of the name, 順風耳, which actually means the ability to hear as far as the wind carries. Imagine my horror when I read what I wrote the other night. Lessons learn, when reading ATS to sleep, one should really refrain from posting.