Gonggong

Serpent-bodied water god whose rage broke Mount Buzhou and tilted the heavens.

Domains

• water
• floods

Powers

• Topple the heaven-pillar Mount Buzhou
• Unleash catastrophic floodwaters

Epithets

• 共工 Chinese · Gònggōng · namethe Joined-Labor (water-work) godShanhaijing (primary)
• 康回 Chinese · Kānghuí · literaryalternate name in the Chuci 'Tianwen'Chuci, 'Tianwen' (Heavenly Questions) (primary)

Relations

• enemy: ZhurongGonggong is defeated by the fire-god Zhurong and in his rage breaks the pillar Mount Buzhou, tilting the heavens.Huainanzi, Tianwen xun (Gonggong battles Zhurong and strikes Mount Buzhou) (primary); Birrell, Chinese Mythology (1993), pp. 96-98 (secondary)
• descendant of: ZhurongA separate Shanhaijing genealogical stratum makes Gonggong the offspring of Zhurong; recorded as a descent relation rather than parentage given the conflicting battle tradition.Shanhaijing, Hainei Jing ('Zhurong begat Gonggong', 祝融生共工) (primary)

Sources

• existence: Huainanzi, Tianwen chapter, 2nd c. BCE (primary); Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), c. 4th c. BCE–2nd c. CE (primary)