Gods And Goddesses: Zhu Rong

Zhu Rong is the god of fire and the ruler of the southern hemisphere who can be recognised as a man in armour, wielding a sword and riding a tiger. He is said to be one of the gods who helped separate Heaven and earth.

Zhu Rong has to be most famous for battling Gong Gong who is said to be either a water god or water demon. It is said that Gong Gong had done some lovely flood causing and even the son of Zhu Rong himself, not only that but Gong Gong apparently wanted to seize the throne of Heaven to which is said why Zhu Rong and Gong Gong fought. The battle between the two is said to have started in Heaven which lasted for days, eventually the two fell to earth and Zhu Rong won.

While Zhu Rong did win against Gong Gong and returned to Heaven victorious, Gong Gong did sort of commit suicide that in turn caused one very large flood.

Those who have read Romance of Three Kingdoms may remember Lady Zhurong (or Madam Zhurong as she is sometimes called), a wife of a chieftain called Meng Huo. It is Lady Zhurong who is said to be a descendant of Zhu Rong himself and like many characters of Romance of Three Kingdoms appears in the Dynasty Warriors games where Lady Zhurong is called Zhu Rong.
In other media Zhu Rong appears on a card, the card game in question in which he appears in is Anachronism.

Zhu Rong himself is said to have been an official in charge of fire under the Yellow Emperor and the son of a tribal leader. Zhu Rong is said to have been known as Li or Chu Jung as a child who was tall and intelligent yet had a bad temper. Zhu Rong is also said to have used fire in war, even helping the Yellow Emperor win a battle at a place called Zhuolu Plain using fire attacks.

Another person discovered the method of making fire by drilling wood by didn’t know much about keeping or utilizing fire so Zhu Rong, seeing as he had a special bond with fire, became an expert in managing fire, using fire itself for cooking, heating, lighting and driving both insects and beasts away.
Zhu Rong is even said to have discovered the method of creating fire by hitting two stones together.

A lovely person called Tetsakumi is said to have imprisoned the Queen Mother of the West, hoping to get a peach of immortality. Queen Mother of the West was able to get a message to the ruler of Heaven, Jade Emperor, who gave Zhu Rong the title Heavenly Executioner and sent him to deal with Tetsakumi. Tetsakumi tried to avoid Zhu Rong as much as possible, which included sacrificing the lives of others and thanks to this Zhu Rong got so enraged by the deaths that Heaven shook.

Zhu Rong did eventually get to deal with Tetsakumi but got a mortal wound during the battle with Tetsakumi, Queen Mother of the West tried to save Zhu Rong by feeding him a peach of immortality which did not work. The Jade Emperor decreed that Zhu Rong shall be eternally reincarnated until he learnt to control his own temper, where if done he will gain his place as the god of fire and Heavenly Executioner once again.

There are some monks living in mountainous regions who are said are trying to search for the child who is the reincarnation of Zhu Rong for the purpose of guiding the child so he can get his place in Heaven.