Erlang Shen: Three Eyes or Two?
Popular media often portrays the badass himself, Erlang shen (二郎神), with a third eye on his forehead. This is the same for modern religious statues.
Modern translations of Journey to the West treat this as a fact. For example, chapter six of Anthony C. Yu’s (Wu & Yu, 2012) edition reads: “Scanning the place with his phoenix eye [鳳目] wide open, Erlang at once discovered that the Great Sage had changed into a small sparrow perched on a tree” (p. 182)
But the original Chinese does not indicate whether his supernatural sight is singular or plural: “二郎圓睜鳳目觀看，見大聖變了麻雀兒，釘在樹上。”
In addition, the term, also written “鳳眼”, is used elsewhere in the novel to describe the way a character’s eyes look. For instance, chapter ten states the following about two imperial gate guards:
This one had phoenix eyes facing the sky to frighten the stars: The other had round eyes glowering like lightning and the shining moon [這一個鳳眼朝天星斗怕，那一個環睛映電月光浮。] (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 249). [1]
Most importantly, Ming-era depictions of Erlang do not portray him with a third eye. For example, this detail is from a 15th-century version of a series of paintings commonly referred to as Searching the Mountain (搜山圖).
This detail is from Mr. Li Zhuowu’s Literary Criticism of Journey to the West (late-16th or early-17th-century), which was published shortly after the standard edition of the novel.
So the term is likely referring to both of Erlang’s eyes having supernatural vision, much like Sun Wukong’s “Fiery Eyes and Diamond/Golden Pupils” (火眼金睛). But the god’s association with the third eye solidified by at least the Qing as one illustrated edition of Investiture of the Gods depicts him as such.
I’m indebted to my friend Irwen Wong for asking me about Erlang’s eye(s). Otherwise, I would never have noticed this.
1) I’ve altered the translation slightly. It originally read “brown eyes” (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 249). But the “環” of 環睛 means “round” in this context as Phoenix Eyes are viewed as thin.
Wu, C., and Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (vol. 1). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
