Erlang Shen
Erlang Shen (Chinese: 二郎神; pinyin: Èrláng Shén; Wade–Giles: Êrh-lang Shên; lit. 'Second-Lad God'), also known as Erlang of Guankou (灌口二郎; Guànkǒu Èrláng; Kuan-kʽou Êrh-lang) and the Lord of Sichuan (川主; Chuānzhǔ; Chʽuan-chu), is a Chinese god with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.
| Erlang Shen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 二郎神 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 二郎神 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Second-Lad God | ||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Nhị Lang Thần | ||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 二郎神 | ||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||
| Hangul | 이랑진군 | ||||||||
| Hanja | 二郞眞君 | ||||||||
Erlang Shen may be a deified version of several semi-mythical folk heroes who helped regulate China's torrential floods dating variously from the Qin, Sui, and Jin dynasties. A later Buddhist source identifies him as the second son of the Northern Heavenly King Vaishravana.
In the Ming semi-mythical novels Creation of the Gods and Journey to the West, Erlang Shen is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. In the former, he assists the Zhou army in defeating the Shang. In the latter, he is the second son of a mortal and the Jade Emperor's sister Yaoji. In the legend, he is known as the greatest warrior god of heaven.