Xian
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| Base Info | |
| Moe Point | Xian |
|---|---|
| Type | Species |
| Related Moe Points | immortality, Taoist priest, yōkai |
Xian are a category of deities unique to Chinese culture, and a moe point in ACG subculture.
Introduction
The xian are Taoist supernatural beings, but they are also known as shenxian. They have immortality and divine properties, generally they are practicing Taoist priests, or they may be absorbed into the Heavenly Court due to their merits in life. Different canonical texts have different ways of dividing the xian, commonly, they are classified into five types: tianxian, shenxian, dixian, renxian, and guixian. In different dynasties, the image of the xian is also different. For example, in the Han Dynasty, it was believed that those who could achieve the status of xian would grow feathers and fly to the skies. After the Han Dynasty, most xian looked like mortals, of course, there are also shenxian with animal bodies like the 28 Constellations.
Taoist xian are of mixed origins, there are absorbed native deities such as the Queen Mother of the West; there are deities from other religions such as Nezha, Vaisravana, etc; there are also historical Taoist priests who became xian, such as Zhang Tianshi, or Guan Di, there are also gods that have been ordained by emperors, for example, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Great Ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, had massively ordained the City God; many of the gods are ordained because they were loved by people during their lives, for example, Lishui City God Bai Jikang, Handan Maguxian City God Yue Fei, etc. However, not all gods are good, for example, it is written in the Book of Sojourn that Jiang Ziwen was ordained as a deity by Sun Quan because of his evil deeds.
Unlike in Buddhism, where theoretically all Buddhas are neither male nor female, Taoist xian are gendered. The difference between a xian and a god is that a xian becomes immortal on their own, either by cultivation, karma, or chance. Xian all have a Taoist cultural background, contained in the canonical texts of Taoism, but no one would call Pangu Nuwa a xian. In modern times, the differences between gods and xian would become smaller.
Xian in modern cultural works are less often featured in foreign works, mostly appearing in Chinese web novels and in adaptations of novels about gods and demons, represented by Journey to the West. Such works are usually big free IPs from China, Journey to the West in itself can have countless derivative forms in animation, comics, games, film, etc.
