page_title: Erlang Shen
section_title: Li Erlang
hierarchical_section_title: Erlang Shen / Origin / Li Erlang
caption_attribution_description: 中文（中国大陆）‎: 李冰之子二郎像，清源妙道真君 This is a photo of a (or part of a) Major National Historical and Cultural Site in China identified by the ID CNSC-0280-013
context_page_description: Erlang Shen or Erlang is a Chinese god with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.
  Erlang Shen may be a deified version of several semi-mythical folk heroes who helped regulate China's torrential floods dating variously from the Qin, Sui, and Jin dynasties. A later Buddhist source identifies him as the second son of the Northern Heavenly King Vaishravana.
  In the Ming semi-mythical novels Creation of the Gods and Journey to the West, Erlang Shen is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. In the former, he assists the Zhou army in defeating the Shang. In the latter, he is the second son of a mortal and the Jade Emperor's sister. In the legend, he is known as the greatest warrior god of heaven.
context_section_description: Of the various identifications of Erlang Shen the most common is Li Erlang, the second son of Li Bing, the engineer behind the Dujiangyan irrigation system.
  According to the "Story about Li Bing and His Son in Harnessing the Rivers" in Records of Guansian, Li Erlang assisted his father in the construction of the complex irrigation system that prevented the Min River from flooding and irrigated the Chengdu Plain. In thanks for the prosperity that this brought to them, the local people elevated the father and son to gods and dedicated the Two Kings Temple in their honor.
  Legend states that Governor Li Bing sent his son out to discover the source of the flooding. He spent a year exploring the county without success. One day whilst sheltering in a cave, he encountered a tiger which he slew and seven hunters who had witnessed this bravery agreed to join him in his quest.
  The group finally came to a cottage on the outskirts of Guan County (modern Dujiangyan City). From within they heard the sound of an old woman crying. The woman was Grandma Wang and she told them that her grandson was to be sacrificed to an evil dragon who was the local river god. Li Erlang reported this to his father who devised a plan to capture the dragon.
  The eight friends hid in the River God Temple and jumped out on the dragon when it arrived to claim its offering. The dragon fled to river pursued by Li Erlang, who eventually captured it. Grandma Wang arrived with an iron chain and the dragon was secured in the pool below the Dragon-Taming Temple, freeing the region from floods.
  Another legend tells of Li Erlang suppressing a fire dragon that lived in the mountains north of Dujiangyan by climbing to the top of Mount Yulei, turning into a giant and building a dam with 66 mountains then filling it with water from Dragon Pacifying Pool.
caption: Effigy of god Erlang inside the Erwang Temple in Dujiangyan, Sichuan.
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