Muzha
Chinese · demigod · mythic · Recorded classification
Second of Li Jing's three sons by Lady Yin and elder brother of Nezha (younger brother of Jinzha). In Fengshen Yanyi a disciple of the Chan-sect immortal Puxian Zhenren (Daoist form of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra) at White Crane Cave on Mount Jiugong, wielding the paired Wu Gou swords for the Zhou. In Journey to the West he is translated into the Buddhist attendant Hui'an (惠岸 / Mucha 木叉, 'Moksha'), disciple of Guanyin, who helps subdue Sun Wukong (ch. 6) and the demon Red Boy (ch. 42–43). This Daoist-to-Buddhist translation is a transformation rather than a death. His mother is the Lady Yin (殷夫人).
Parentage
- father: Li Jing
Domains
- war
- guardianship
- compassion and deliverance
Powers
- Wield the paired Wu Gou swords
- Work shape-shifting transformations of the Chan sect
- Subdue demons as Guanyin's attendant
Epithets
- 惠岸 'Beneficent Shore', his dharma-name as the disciple-attendant of Guanyin in Journey to the West.Wu Cheng'en, Xiyouji (Journey to the West), c. 1592 (primary)
- 木叉 Variant writing of his name read as Sanskrit mokṣa / pratimokṣa ('liberation'); the basis of the English form 'Moksha'."Muzha (mythology)," Wikipedia (Mucha 木叉, short for Pratimokṣa in Chinese; also rendered Moksha) (reference work)
Relations
- sibling: JinzhaElder brother; the eldest son of Li Jing and disciple of Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun.Xu Zhonglin, Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods), c. 1567–1620 (primary)
- sibling: NezhaYoungest brother (the lotus-reborn Nezha). One-way edge: chinese_nezha carries no relations array yet, so the reciprocal is to be added on Nezha.Xu Zhonglin, Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods), c. 1567–1620 (primary)
Sources
- existence: Xu Zhonglin, Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods), c. 1567–1620 (Muzha, second son of Li Jing, disciple of Puxian Zhenren) (primary); Wu Cheng'en, Xiyouji (Journey to the West), c. 1592, ch. 6, 40–43 (Muzha as Guanyin's disciple Hui'an) (primary); Meir Shahar, Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and His Indian Origins (Univ. of Hawai'i Press, 2015) (secondary); "Muzha (mythology)," Wikipedia (second son of Li Jing and Lady Yin; Hui'an / Mucha / Moksha) (reference work)