Now that "Happily Ever After" is coming to an end, i guess i finally can post the last segment of the character guide that had been overdue for sooooo long (esp since the Chinese new Year season is coming to an end).
Lu Dongbing (played by Zhang Wenxiang)
呂洞賓 is the most widely known of the group of deities known as the Eight Immortals and hence considered by some to be the de facto leader. He is depicted in art as being dressed as a scholar and he often holds a sword that dispels evil. The kindness of Lü Dongbin is demonstrated in the Chinese proverb "dog bites Lu Dongbin" (狗咬呂洞賓 gŏu yăo~), which means an inability to recognize goodness and repay kindness with vice. The original saying proverb should actually be "苟杳呂洞賓，不識好人心", story orginating from the friendship between Gou Miao and Lu Dongbin, whom both did great favours to the other and yet it seems like a disservice initially, signifying the importance of having faith. Lü is also a very productive poet. His works were collected in the "Quan Tang Shi" (Complete Tang Dynasty Poetry).
Lu Dongbing (played by Zhang Wenxiang)呂洞賓 is the most widely known of the group of deities known as the Eight Immortals and hence considered by some to be the de facto leader. He is depicted in art as being dressed as a scholar and he often holds a sword that dispels evil. The kindness of Lü Dongbin is demonstrated in the Chinese proverb "dog bites Lu Dongbin" (狗咬呂洞賓 gŏu yăo~), which means an inability to recognize goodness and repay kindness with vice. The original saying proverb should actually be "苟杳呂洞賓，不識好人心", story orginating from the friendship between Gou Miao and Lu Dongbin, whom both did great favours to the other and yet it seems like a disservice initially, signifying the importance of having faith. Lü is also a very productive poet. His works were collected in the "Quan Tang Shi" (Complete Tang Dynasty Poetry).
Lan Caihe (played by Bryan Wong Yuan Lee) 藍采和 is the least known of the Eight Immortals. Lan Caihe's age and sex are unknown. The deity could be a hermaphrodite, but in the form most well-known he is a young effeminate boy or youth carrying a bamboo flower basket. His behaviour was out of norm and known for its bizarreness. He wore only shorts and thin shirts in winter, and thick jacket and long pants in summer. He walked with one foot bare and another with shoe.
He Xian-gu (played by Belinda Lee)何仙姑 is the only female deity of the Eight Immortals. She was the daughter of Ho T‘ai, of the town of Tsêng-ch‘êng, in the prefecture of Canton. When she was about 15 years of age, a divine personage appeared to her in a dream and instructed her to eat powdered mica, in order that her body might become etherealized and immune from death. So she swallowed it, and also vowed to remain a virgin. In the ching lung period (about 707 CE) she ascended on high in broad daylight, and became a hsien. Her lotus flower improves one's health, mental and physical. She is depicted holding a lotus flower, and sometimes with a shēng (instrument) (笙), or a fènghuáng to accompany her. She may also carry a bamboo ladle or fly-wisk.
Zhang Guolao (played by Liang Tian)
張果老 is one of the Eight Immortals. He is known as Master Comprehension-of-Profundity (通玄先生 Tōngzhào Xiānshēng). He was the most eccentric of the eight immortals, as one can see from the kung fu style that was dedicated to him — which includes moves such as delivering a kick during a back flip, or bending so far back that your shoulders touch the ground.
Li Tieguai (played by Steven Woon)
李铁拐 is the most ancient of the Eight Immortals of the Daoist pantheon. He is irascible and ill-tempered, but also benevolent to the poor, sick and the needy, whose suffering he alleviates with medicine from his gourd bottle. He is portrayed as an ugly old man with dirty face, scraggy beard, and messy hair held by a golden band, walking with the aid of an iron crutch.
Cao Guojiu (forgot actor's name)
Cao Guojiu (forgot actor's name)
曹國舅 was said to be the uncle of the Emperor of the Song Empire, being the younger brother of Empress Dowager Cao. He is shown in the official's court dress with a jade tablet. Sometimes he holds castanets. His jade tablet can purify the environment.
Zhongli Quan (forgot actor's name)
鐘離權 is one of the most ancient of the Eight Immortals, and the original leader of the group. He is also known as Zhongli of Han (漢鐘離) because he was born in the Han Dynasty. He possesses a fan which has the magical ability of reviving the dead. In Daoism, he is known as 正陽祖師 (Zhèng Yáng Zú Shī), literally the True-Yang First-Master. He is Master Cloud-chamber (雲房先生 Yún Fáng Xiān Shēng) in accounts describing his encounter with Lü Dongbin before achieving immortality.
Zhongli Quan (forgot actor's name)
鐘離權 is one of the most ancient of the Eight Immortals, and the original leader of the group. He is also known as Zhongli of Han (漢鐘離) because he was born in the Han Dynasty. He possesses a fan which has the magical ability of reviving the dead. In Daoism, he is known as 正陽祖師 (Zhèng Yáng Zú Shī), literally the True-Yang First-Master. He is Master Cloud-chamber (雲房先生 Yún Fáng Xiān Shēng) in accounts describing his encounter with Lü Dongbin before achieving immortality.
Han Xiangzi (played by Sugianto)
韓湘子 was born Han Xiang in Tang, and his courtesy name is Qingfu (清夫). He is the nephew or grandson of Han Yu, a prominent statesman. Han Xiang studied Daoism under Lü Dongbin. Once at a banquet organized by Han Yu, Han Xiang persuaded Han Yu to give up a life of officialdom. But Han Yu was adamant that Han Xiang should give up his life of Daoism, so Han Xiang demonstrated the power of the Dao by pouring cups after cups of wine from the gourd without an end. Because his flute gives life, Han became a protector of flautists.
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