真武上帝 [玄武大帝] The True Warrior Sovereign (the Mysterious Warrior Sovereign)

真武上帝 [玄武大帝]
The True Warrior Sovereign (the Mysterious Warrior Sovereign)
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The third day of the third lunar month in the Chinese calendar (26th March 2020 in the Gregorian) marks the divine birthday of the True Warrior [Zhen Wu], who is also called ‘the Deity of Martiality’. He is a deity known for his powers of healing and exorcism. Thus, it is only fitting that there is a herbal formula named after him in his honor, the True Warrior Decoction [zhen wu tang], dealing with water accumulation due to Spleen and Water Yang deficiency.
The Mysterious Warrior [xuan wu], an alternative name for him, also corresponds to one of the four animals of the four cardinal directions, namely the North. In this respect he is characterized by a serpent coiling around a tortoise, which as a depiction can be seen frequently in Mount Wu Dang, since he is the patron saint of that very same mountain range:

『武当山，古名太和山。相传混沌初分之时，镇守九州北方之神真武在此修行，得成正果，遂有“非真武不足以当之”之说，武当山因此而得名。』

Mount Wudang’s ancient name is “Great Peace” [tai he 太和]. Legend has it that at the time of the the initial parting of the “Primeval Chaos” [hun dun 混沌] the Spiritual Being ‘True Warrior’ [zhen wu 真武] was cultivating here and achieved the upright fruits [of self-cultivation]. Following he said: “If it is not the True Warrior [wu 武], it is not sufficient for undertaking [dang 当] [the important role of this mountain]. Wudang obtained its name for this reason.

Below you find a legend revolving around the True Warrior from a small book called ‘Legends of White Horse Mountain’. This mountain’s peak, Heavenly Horse Peak, is one of the 72 peaks making up the Wu Dang mountain range. Purple Cloud Press is intending to make available all the legends in the near future through a publication:

龟蛇神将的由来
The Origin of the
Turtle and Snake Spirit Generals
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Legend has it, that in order to cultivate the Dao and become an immortal, the True Warrior Great Sovereign [1], rode on his White-Dragon Horse and roamed about in the four [cardinal] directions, seeking a place to cultivate. When his roaming brought him to the White Horse Mountain, with its majestic appearance, imposing and magnificent, its steep cliffs and precipitous rock faces, with over ten thousand fathoms in height [2]. With its numerous mountain ridges tall and spacious facing Yang [3], gentle slopes winding and wriggling, with its continuously green and luxuriant forests, arrays of the full bloom of wild flowers, thousand enchanting kinds of appearances, it was truly a good place to cultivate and refine. Thereof he at once built a thatched hut on the mountain summit. For entire days, he was otherworldly, submerging his Heart-Mind in cultivation and refinement. Even though mosquitoes bit him, and his stomach was rumbling with hunger, they all did not stir him the slightest.

After a considerable period of time, Dragon King of the Northern Sea was moved by [his cultivation effort]. Therefore, this Dragon King Elder sent as envoy the two generals, Turtle-General and Snake-General, who swam upstream against the current of the Du-River and arrived at White Horse Mountain to assist the Ancestral Master Elder. The Snake-General was in charge of food and lodging, while the Turtle General was in charge of standing guard and escorting [the master]. Eventually, when the Ancestral Master Elder cultivated and refined to the realm where he was able to exist his Spirit and enter the transformations [4], he then tacitly employed his Spirit Gong. Where his feet fell on the ground, White Horse Mountain shook, resulting in the Earth moving and the mountains rocking. Where he brandished his Spirit fist, the interconnected mountains were at once smashed into fragmented and disintegrated pieces.

The Ancestral Master Elder made a divination by a pinch of his finger [5],he came to understand that despite this mountain’s graceful sceneries, it is ultimately not a place to bear the upright fruit [6] of cultivation. After surveying comprehensively at the celestial phenomena, he ascended Mount Wu Dang. [Yet], the Ancestral Master Elder thought in affection about the White Horse Mountain’s graceful sceneries; thus, he transformed the physical bodies of the two generals, the Turtle-General and the Snake-General, into bodies of stone, which stayed behind on White Horse Mountains highest peak, behind the Ancestral Master’s hall, and next to the flower cliff and the Qin [7] platform. As for their true bodies, they followed the True Warrior Great Sovereign to ascend Mount Wu Dang.

-Collated by Cheng Dao Zhong

[1] The True Warrior [zhen wu真武], also called ‘the Mysterious Warrior’ [玄武] is the patron saint of Mount Wu Dang and a temple [yu dian玉殿] has been erected in his honor on the Heavenly Horse Peak above the Five Immortals Temple. See also appendix under the True Warrior.
[2] A fathom [仞] is a unit of length roughly equal to 7-8 Chinese feet or cubit.
[3] Yang [阳] denotes the sunny side of a mountain.
[4] To exit with one’s Spirit and enter transformations [chu shen ru hua 出神入化] also means to reach perfection.
[5] Literally bending his fingers to calculate a divinisation. This most likely refers to a method where one utilizes the palm to form hand seals and to cast a fortune-telling.
[6] The upright fruit [zheng guo 正果] is to achieve the upright sainthood through one’s efforts and insight.
[7] The Qin [琴] refers to the Gu Qin[古琴] which is an ancient Chinese string instrument, often translated as zither.. See also chapter 12, ‘ Platform of Playing the Zither’ [fu qin tai抚琴台] for the full legend.