He Xiangu
Chinese · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
The lone female of the Eight Immortals, bearer of the lotus.
Domains
- immortality
Powers
- Purify and heal with a magic lotus
Epithets
- 何仙姑 'Immortal Maiden He' — the lone woman of the Eight ImmortalsMing Eight Immortals tradition (Dongyou ji) (secondary)
Relations
- companion: Lü DongbinHe Xiangu and Lu Dongbin are both members of the Eight Immortals (Baxian).Yetts, 'The Eight Immortals', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1916) (secondary); Yang & An, Handbook of Chinese Mythology (2005), s.v. Eight Immortals (secondary)
- student: Lü DongbinIn several legends Lu Dongbin instructs He Xiangu and gives her the immortality-conferring peach/mica.Yetts, 'The Eight Immortals', JRAS (1916) (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Yuan-Ming Eight Immortals corpus (secondary)