THE XIAN
Official Name: Xian
Nicknames: Chinese Gods, Taoist Gods, The Gods of China, et al
Former Aliases: No known former aliases
Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases
First Appearance: Thor I #301
Origin: Thor I Annual 8
==Origin==
Dimension of Origin: Ta-Lo
Habitat: Earth-like
Gravity: Earth-like
Atmosphere: Earth-like
Population: 200-300 range (estimated)
Other
Associated Dimensions:
Ta-Lo is the other-dimensional realm of the Chinese gods, the highest of the thirty-six heavens in the Chinese cosmology.
The
other names of these realms are as yet unknown, but Ta-Lo is known to include Yu
Ch'ing, ruled by the sky-god, Yu-Huang, who succeeded Yuan Shih Tian-Long. The
second heaven of Shan Ch'ing is ruled by Ling Pao, the god of time, and the
third heaven is ruled by Lao Tzu, the god of immortality. Ta-Lo also includes
the realm of Feng-Tu, reserved for the shades ("astral spirits") of mortals who
have died.
==History==
History: The Xian or Gods of China are a race of superhumanly powerful
humanoid beings who were once worshipped as gods in the Ancient Chinese Empire from around
2000 BC when the empire first came to power to 1911 when the Empire was dissolved
in favor of a new Communist regime. They still have worshippers today, but some of
the Chinese gods are worshipped from behind new roles under Buddhism and modern Taoism.
The Xian dwell in the other-dimensional realm of Ta-Lo, a collective series of
inter-connected worlds in inter-dimensional space adjacent to Earth; Ta-lo is
connected to Earth by means of Chien Mu, a celestial ladder connected to an
interdimensional nexus somewhere on or near Mount K'un
L'un in Western China. Mount K'un L'un is also the home of a small colony of
humanoid aliens of extra-terrestrial origin who crashed on Earth in prehistoric
times and who live in a city out of phase with the Earth's dimension. Several of
the Xian and the K'un L'uns share common names, suggesting that they might have
served as representatives of the gods or that the Ancient Chinese merely
confused then with their gods. The exact relationship and connection between the
Xian and the K'un L'uns is as yet unrevealed.
The precise origin of the Chinese gods, like that of all of Earth's pantheons of
gods, is unrevealed and often contradictory with the numerous stories developed by
their worshippers existing separately in several regions on earth isolated by
topographic boundaries. According to ancient myths, the Xian are descended from the
primordial giant Pan-Ku, who was born from a great cosmic egg conceived by Yin and
Yang, the female and male principles of the universe. It is believed that Yin, the
female principle, was
actually Gaea,
the primordial earth mother who had survived the destruction of the Elder Gods,
the first sentient beings to coalesce out of the rich biosphere of the planet.
Many of the Elder Gods were destroyed by Atum, who had been born from
Gaea after mating with the Demiurge, the sentient biosphere of the planet. As
the Demogorge, Atum slew many of the Elder Gods although many of them escaped
into other dimensions. Hou-Tu, the primordial earth-mother who mated with Pan-Ku to
give birth to the gods of China, is also credited with being another form of Gaea.
According to ancient Chinese myths, Pan-Ku was assisted by a number of divine creatures in
forming the land that would be modern-day China. These creatures resembled normal
animals but had divine functions; taking the appearance of a tortoise, a phoenix, a
dragon and and unicorn, later becoming images of symbolic importance to the Chinese people.
It is also conceivable that these creatures became the symbols for the four
ruling Xian families from whom the Chinese gods are descended. Pan-Ku meanwhile grew so massive after several years that he could no longer
hold a human form and became a being of pure energy and departed his physical
body, dying as a result. In his more advanced form, his body became one with
earth, and the land of China while his head became one with the heavens, his eyes
represented by the sun and the moon.
Before his departure from earth, Pan-Ku had divided the heavens evenly between his
progeny, but they soon began to envy the attributes of domains of their siblings
and developed the art of war to try and seize power from one another. Hu,
Emperor of the North, and Shu, Emperor of the South, after years of senseless
conflict trying to gain dominion over the other eventually met each other on the
neutral property of Hundun, their brother, Emperor of the Center. Hundun was
most hospitable as he arbitrated a truce between his brothers and brought a
truce to their war. According to legend, Hundun lacked any of the traditional
orifices in his body for hearing, eating and breathing and existed solely by
mystical means. Shu and Hu out of gratitude to their brother for his hospitality
tried to bore the correct holes into him, but accidentally killed him as a
result.
Gong-Gung, Emperor of the ocean to the East, meanwhile sought to overthrow all
his brothers and went to war with Ju-Rong, the god of fire and Emperor of the West.
Their war lasted for several centuries with neither brother gaining an advantage over
the other. During the conflagration, Gong Gung shattered Mount Buzhou which supported
the heavens. The destruction of the mountain tipped the cosmic axis and resulted in a
flood that devastated China during the reign of Emperor Yao, a possible
descendant of Hundun, Emperor of Central China.
Of the first rulers of China, the original Emperors were all immortal and descended from
Pan-Ku, but their exact ancestry is undefined. The first recorded Emperors were the San
Huang, or "Three August Ones," beginning with Fu-Xi or Fu-Hsing, an earth-god, who
was also one of the San Hsing, three gods of fortune. His brothers were Lu-Hsing and Shou-Hsing,
other gods of fortune and good luck. Fu-Xi was possibly a descendant of Shu, Emperor of
the South, but this is unconfirmed. Ruling around 2950 BC, Fu-Xi united all of
China under his reign, but instead of leaving his throne to one of his progeny, he was
succeeded by Shen-Nung, the Chinese god of farming, who brought great prosperity to China,
but as Shen-Nong's son, Chi-Yu, the war-god, tried to seize the throne, he was challenged
by Yu Huang, the god
of sky. Yu Huang had been raised as a mortal, but after defeating Chi-Yu, Yu-Huang placed
his mortal brother, Yen-Ti, on the throne of China and went into self-imposed exile to
achieve mental and physical perfection. Yen-Ti was the last of the San Huang, and after his
death, he was possibly allowed dominance of the underworld as Yen-Lo Wang, the god of the
dead, but this is unconfirmed.
Yu Huang was the ancestor of the following dynasty of China, and became sovereign of
the Gods of China afterward. He chose the hero, Chuan Hsiun, to briefly rule
China when he eventually departed earth. Chuan-Hsiun was followed by Gun (Kun),
the grandson of Yu-Huang. (Some sources erroneously claim Gun was the son instead of the
grandson of Yu-Huang.) Chuan-Hsiun was also the brother-in-law of Gun, and Yao,
who followed Gun, was his nephew. It is during the reign of Yao that the flood
Gong-Gung created had occurred, and Gun saved China by stealing a spell from heaven to fortify the
canals and dams he created to protect China. He was later slain by Ju-Rong over
the theft. Shun, the adopted mortal son of Yao
ruled China afterward. Having married Yao's daughters, he had several sons with
godly attributes who descended to earth to dry the earth. Each son had the
powers of the sun, but their power was so great that they scorched the earth and
withered the crops of China.
Yi,
one of Shun's sons, slew his brothers to save the earth, but was stripped of his
immortality as penance for their deaths. His wife,
Cheng-O,
the moon-goddess, also suffered his punishment. All the later Emperors of China
were mortal as a result, although Yi and Cheng-O regained partial immortality
afterward.
The mortal descendants of the Xian revered their ancestors as gods centuries
afterward, and a few chosen mortals such as
Guan Ti
and Guan-Yin
(who was also worshipped in Japan as the goddess Kwannon) were deified into
gods as well. Several mortals were accepted by the Xian into the pantheon as
gods, including the Ba Xian or "Eight Immortals." Although an edict by the Third Host of the Celestials forbade the
Chinese Gods with trafficking with mortals, worship of the Chinese gods or
Taoism, continued well into modern times. During the encounter with the
Celestials, Yu Huang had met with the rulers of the other pantheons of earth and
became a member of the
Council
of Godheads. As per a pact with
Odin,
Chieftain of the Asgardian gods, Yu Huang donated the necessary life-energies to
Thor to
restore the Gods
of Asgard to life after the Fourth Host of the Celestials. Gradually, Taoism
and worship of the Chinese Gods was overwhelmed by other local religions in
China such as Buddhism and Confucianism. The multitude of the Chinese gods have
remained outwardly unaffected by the change, embracing the few worshippers they
have. Yu Huang still visits earth from time to time, and Yi still presides on
earth, living a mortal life as a farmer.
Relationships to Other Pantheons: The Xian or Chinese Gods share Buddhist
ties with both the
Kami
(Japanese Gods) and the
Devas,
or Hindu gods of India. In fact, several Hindu gods such as
Ganehsa
and Lakshmi
have been revered in China and Japan under alternate names. Through the Council
of Godheads, Yu Huang has strengthened several ties with the gods of the west
first established by Marco Polo's exploration of Mongolia in the 13th Century.
Chinese sailors carried Taoism through much of the Pacific of the
Oceanic
Gods, and archaeologically, Chinese traders might have had an influence on
the tribes of North and Central America, most notably the Mayans and Aztecs who worshipped the
Gods
of Mexico, but this is unconfirmed.
==Characteristics==
Body Type: Humanoid
Average Height: 6' 0"
Average Weight: 450 lbs
Eyes: Two
Hair: Normal
Skin: Normal
Limbs: Two
Fingers: Five with opposable thumb
Toes: Five
Special Adaptations: The Chinese Gods are exceptionally long-lived, but
they are not immortal like the
Olympian
Gods, and like the Asgardians
rely on drinks from the p'an-t'ao to sustain their youth and vitality. They are physically more durable than human beings; their
skin, bone and tissue being three times more durable and dense than similar tissue in human
beings.
==Powers==
Strength Level: The average male
Chinese god possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) about
30 tons under optimal conditions; the average female Chinese goddess can lift
(press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Powers: The Chinese Gods possess superhuman strength, stamina,
longevity and resistance to harm. They are also inclined to tap and manipulate
mystical energies for feats of magic, mostly for altering their appearance,
communicating over long distances, teleporting through dimension barriers and
casting spells. The scope of their powers mostly limited to one object, idea or
field, usually tied into their personality. For example, as
the Chinese god of farms, Shen Nong has dominance
over the earth, harvest and implements of farming, whereas, Yi, the Chinese god
of the sun can generate intense light and heat equal to a small sun.
Known Abilities: The Chinese Gods are versed in a full range of martial arts
superior to most forms of unarmed combat on earth, such as ninjitsu, tae kwan
do, judo or karate. They also have skills equal to their fields of expertise,
Chi-Yu, the war-god is well-versed in weapons, and Yu-Qiang the sea-god is an
expert boatman in sailing and maneuvering on the ocean.
==Miscellaneous==
Type of Government: Imperial
Level of Technology: Magic
Cultural Traits: The Xian were worshipped as gods by the people of
Ancient China which at its zenith included parts of Thailand, Mongolia, Burma,
Indochina and even Korea. Their civilization greatly resembles the
Imperial-style of China without any of the influence of Western Civilization.
Their government though Imperial consists of a large bureaucracy of gods
divided into several ministries controlling certain subjects, such as storm,
medicine, water, time, mountains, exorcisms, war, literature, finances, public
works and the underworld to prevent any one deity to gain too much power over
any one area of worship.
Names of Representatives:
Chang Mu,
Cheng Hsian,
Cheng-O,
Chih-Nu,
Chi-Yu,
Er Lang,
Gan Jiang,
Guan Ti,
Guan-Yin,
Lei Kung, Monkey,
Shen-Nong,
Shou-Hsing,
Sien Tsian,
Xi Wang Mu,
Yen-Lo Wang,
Yi the Sun-God,
Yu-Ti,
Yu Huang,
Yu Qiang,
Zhu Rong, et al.
==Trivia==
==Recommended Reading==