Mythology And Legends -- Chinese God YuQiang

Hello everyone. Today, let's talk about the story of a Chinese deity, Yu Qiang. Yu Qiang was the grandson of the Huangdi, with long black hair. He had two green snakes on his ears, and had a human face with a fish body. He rode on two black dragons named Dongshui, traversing the skies and the earth. Due to his fondness for wearing black robes, he was known as the Black Emperor. As one of the three sovereigns, Yu Qiang possessed the ability to control all the winds in the world, earning him the title of Wind God. As the Wind God, Yu Qiang governed the divine wind, Unkind Wind. This wind, primarily associated with death, could spread plagues and cause harm to people, leading to Yu Qiang being also known as the Plague God. Yu Qiang was also known as Xuan Ming. He presided over a territory spanning from the Nine Marshes to the Great Dusk, including the regions of Northern Command and Dingling, totaling 12,000 LE. In this domain, there were vast accumulations of ice, snow, hail, frost, and sleet. Along with extensive seawater, hence Yu Qiang was revered as the Sea God. With incessant rainfall and snowfall throughout the year, Yu Qiang could freely manipulate the precipitation in this area, earning him the title of Rain God as well. Yu Qiang was the Winter God of ancient China. Wherever he and his dragon, Winter Snow, passed, ice, snow, hail, frost, and sleet followed, marking the sudden arrival of winter. Snowflakes filled the sky, the north wind chilled to the bone, trees withered, and the land turned into a world of ice and snow. However, the freezing temperatures killed the underground pests and their eggs, while the thick snow insulated the soil, allowing moisture to penetrate and nourish the earth, creating a fertile environment for the next year's crops. Therefore, in ancient times, people held a winter festival every year. On the day of the ceremony, people wore black clothes and worshipped northward in the snowy fields, offering meat, fruits, and other offerings to Yu Qiang. They prayed for Yu Qiang to make the not too cold that year, while also beseeching him to eradicate pests from the land, ensuring fertility and a bountiful harvest in the coming year. Later, as turmoil engulfed the mortal realm and chaos reigned, Yu Qiang, along with Jumang, Zhurong, and Ruxu, assisted one of the three sovereigns, Fuxi. They helped to govern the heavens and earth, restore cosmic order, and create life. The four of them each governed one of the four cardinal directions in the mortal realm, collectively known as the Four Directional Gods of the ancient earth. Yu Qiang was in charge of the entire northern frontier, hence was titled the Northern God. Afterwards, the Four Directional Gods, along with the great goddess Hutu, were also named the Five Elemental Gods. Yu Qiang, due to his control over the element of water, was therefore also known as the Water God. He forever watches over humanity. That's it for today's story. See you in the next one.