Introduction of General Xiang Bi & Zhu Tou (道教護法象鼻豬頭雙使者簡介)

A lot of People had been asking/finding out from Jave on these 2 interesting Generals of Taoism, why these 2 Generals got an Elephant head and a Pig Face.

After finding indepth into our Taoist Records, finally Jave is able to do a simple write up on them.

According to our Taoist Records, Xiang Bi (Elephant Head 象鼻使者) & Zhu Tou (Pig Face 豬頭使者) were being recorded far before Tang Dynasty in the Ritual Books on “Summoning of Celestial Marshals for the Guiding of the Ritual Premises (佈壇召請法兵儀式)”.

In the Books, they mentioned that Xiang Bi & Zhu Tou were 2 subordinates of Heavenly Marshal Zhao Gong Ming (龍虎玄壇趙天君) and part of the “Hei Sha Jun aka Black Entities Spiritual Armies” of the Northern Celestial Heavenly Military Department (北極天兵), which was directly under Heavenly Emperor Zi Wei & Tian Huang (紫微及天皇大帝).

Besides that, whenever the Five Dukes of Ceasing & Spreading Plagues aka Wu Bing Ling Gong (瘟疫部主宰五部靈公) appeared, Xiang Bi & Zhu Tou were also appeared by their side to assist in assisting in the Punishing of the Bad-doers and Saving the Good-beings.

In Song Dynasty, these 2 Generals were quite well known and in most of the Taoist Rituals/Ceremonies, their Titles were appeared whereas later part, they were being mix-up with the 2 Assistants or Daughters of Dou Mu Yuan Jun (斗姆元君之護法/女兒) known as Qing Yang Tuo Luo (擎羊陀羅二聖者).

In Ming Dynasty, after the re-arranging of the Taoist Deities System, these 2 Generals were being forgotten and were somehow being known as 2 “Imported Deities” from the Indian Hinduism Deities System during Tang Dynasty.

So do they have names?

Yes, in Taoist Records, there were 2 sets of Names being recorded for them:

First Set:

Known as Yang Zhang (楊章) for Xiang Bi and Geng Zhong (耿忠) for Zhu Tou.

Actually this Set of Names were referring to Qing Yang Tuo Luo at Song Dynasty, whereas later, some Taoist Contexts included them into the Heavenly 36 Generals Group (後被收入進道教三十六天罡名列).

Second Set:

Known as for Li Jie (李潔) for Xiang Bi and Zhang Deng (張登) for Zhu Tou.

This Set of Names appeared in the “Summoning of Celestial Marshals for the Guiding of the Ritual Premises (佈壇召請法兵儀式)” and from what Jave know while practising the Lv Shan Spiritual Skills, this Set was being imported into Lv Shan Spiritual Skills Record in late Ming Dynasty (後收入進道教閭山門派玄法之中).

So what is their Major Task?

With the Records shown, the Major Task of these 2 Generals were to assist Heavenly Marshal Zhao Gong Ming in issuing Spiritual Armies to stand by at the respective Points/Boundary, preventing any form of Black Magic/Negative Entities from Invading while a Ritual/Ceremony was on-going.

Besides that, once these 2 Generals were being provoked by any form of the Negative Energies, both of them were transformed into Gigantic-form and with a blow, they were eliminate or cleanse all the Nasty Entities.

So meaning that the placement of the 2 Boys of Ushering Wealth and Collecting of Gems standing beside Zhao Gong Ming are not correct?

Can say so.

If we will to understand the whole background of Zhao Gong Ming and the actual Task of Zhao Gong Ming, it is not difficult to know that, actually Zhao Gong Ming is associated with Wealth in the Mortal World but not Distributing Wealth to the Mortals for No Reason. And this is why, by placing the 2 Assistants of Zhao Cai Jin Bao (招財進寶童子), it may seems inappropriate. If anyone whom can place Xiang Bi & Zhu Tou by the side of Zhao Gong Ming, it will be more Official and allowing the Actual Culture to pass-down.

So can Normal Devotees honour them?

Of cos can, but it is unnecessary to Honour them at Home as, this combination is usually mend for Big Temples, Taoist Schools or Places that practise Taoist Spiritual Skills.