Gods And Goddesses: Xi Wang Mu

The Queen Mother of the West, or Xi Wang Mu, has the title of Yaochi Jinmu (Golden Mother of the Shining Lake). She is also referred simply as Queen Mother. Xi Wang Mu is the goddess of life and immortality. Many women have looked up the Xi Wang Mu, whom this goddess will protect female believers. Xi Wang Mu is the wife of the Jade Emperor.
　
The third day of the third lunar month and the eighteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Xi Wang Mu’s birthday is celebrated.
　
Often depicted holding court within the palace she resides, where it is believed she grows an orchid of peaches of immortality that ripens every three thousand years. Xi Wang Mu is also known for serving guests these peaches of immortality and wearing a headdress in which these peaches of immortality suspend from it.
　
A being known as Tetsakumi once imprisoned Xi Wang Mu in hopes of gaining a peach of immortality. Xi Wang Mu was able to get a message to the ruler of Heaven, Jade Emperor, who gave the god of fire, Zhu Rong, the title of Heavenly Executioner and the job of dealing with Tetsakumi. Zhu Rong defeated Tetsakumi eventually, gaining a mortal wound. Xi Wang Mu was saved by Zhu Rong and left unable to save Zhu Rong with a peach of immortality.
　
Xi Wang Mu is thought of having met many famous Chinese figures. Xi Wang Mu is said to have taught Yu The Great, met King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Houyi quested for immortality after he and his wife Chang E lost it, getting given a pill of immortality from Xi Wang Mu. Chan Chu stole the Elixir of Immortality from Xi Wang Mu and got punished by being turned into a three legged frog. Xi Wang Mu unintentionally offended the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, by not inviting him to a banquet, leading to Sun Wukong getting drunk.

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.

Gods And Goddesses: Nu Wa

Nu Wa is a creator goddess, goddess of mankind, marriage and mud. She is often depicted as a beautiful woman or a half serpent/dragon and half human, with the half human part of her noticeably beautiful. Nu Wa’s surname was Feng and is also known as Mi Xi. Nu Wa and Mi Xi can also be spelt as Nuwa and Mixi, with the spelling Nuwa also being a girls name meaning ’mother goddess’.  Nu Wa herself is even said to be the first empress of China.

A legend goes that Nu Wa created mankind itself, some say she even created everything but people tend to say she created mankind only. It goes that Nu Wa existed at the beginning of the world and was lonely due to the lack of both humans and animals. Nu Wa created chickens, dogs, sheep, pigs, cows, horses and eventually men with yellow clay or mud (it is notable that some say animals were already around so Nu Wa only created humans). Hand  by hand these people were individually created, but Nu Wa grew tired from creating humans this way so the clay/mud was dipped in rope and flicked it so blobs went everywhere. These blobs became the common people while the one’s made individually became nobles.

Two gods are known to have fought to see who is most powerful between the water god also known as a demon, Gong Gong, and the fire god, Zhu Rong. Gong Gong, upon losing committed suicide by hitting his head against a pillar that held up the sky causing the pillar to collapse and caused the sky to tilt towards the northwest and the earth to shift to the southeast. Due to this happening, fires and floods appeared causing much trouble. Nu Wa cut the legs of a giant tortoise off, using them as a replacement of the fallen pillar.

Nu Wa is also the sibling of the god known as Fu Xi, and the two married after getting approval from Heaven (using a smoke from a fire to seek approval or disapproval from Heaven). Nu Was and Fu Xi appear in  the Dynasty Warriors games where Nu Wa is depicted as a full human of the age of eighteen and her first appearance being in Dynasty Warriors 3.

Some minorities of South-Western China hail Nu Wa as their goddess and hold festivals, such as the Water-Splashing Festival, in her honour. The Miao people also hold Nu Wa as their traditional divine goddess.