Yang Jian
Yang Jian or Jian Yang may refer to:
Erlang Shen, or Yang Jian, is a god in Chinese folk religion and Daoism, associated with water (mainly flood control), warriorhood, hunting, and demon subdual. He is commonly depicted as a young man with a third, truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead, wielding a three-pronged spear, and being accompanied by his loyal hunting dog, Xiaotian Quan.
The origin of Erlang is complex. He is most commonly believed to be the deification of Li Erlang, the second son of Li Bing, a hydraulic engineer of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). Later stories identify him as the deification of Yang Jian, the nephew of the legendary Jade Emperor. He is also identified with several other folk heroes associated with controlling floods.
In the Ming-era semi-mythical novels Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West, Erlang Shen is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. In the former novel, 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 Yunhua, as well as an enemy-turned-ally of the Monkey King. In his legends he is known as the greatest warrior god of heaven, and was a disciple of Yuding Zhenren, who taught him fighting and magical skills such as the 72 Earthly Transformations.
Historical figures
[edit]- Emperor Wen of Sui (541–604), personal name Yang Jian, founder and emperor of the Sui dynasty
- Yang Jian (Sui prince) (585–618), Sui dynasty prince and Emperor Wen's grandson
- Yang Jian (Song dynasty) (died 1121), Song dynasty eunuch politician
Sportspeople
[edit]- Yang Jian (rower) (born 1981), Chinese rower
- Yang Jian (footballer) (born 1988), Chinese footballer
- Yang Jian (diver) (born 1994), Chinese diver
Others
[edit]- Erlang Shen, personal name Yang Jian, a mythological Chinese God
- New Gods: Yang Jian, 2022 animation film based on the character of Erlang Shen
- Jian Yang (politician) (born c. 1961), China-born New Zealand politician
- Jian Yang (geneticist), statistical geneticist, Ruth Stephens Gani Medalist
See also
[edit]- Yangjian, a town in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
- Yang Jiang (1911–2016), Chinese dramatist, writer, and translator
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