#vaisravana

[jamabushi]

[kofuku46]

Bishamon 🌸

[denkigami]

this was giving me kazubisha vibes, so i had to do it (ft. Kuraha)

my adventures with chouki

[mymindimpaired]

Yato & Yukine Doing The Thing

+

Bishamon & Kazuma doing it

[ryin-silverfish]

I recently came across a claim that Li Jing (the god) was a result of people deifying Li Jing (the Tang general) and eventually syncretizing him with the Buddhist heavenly king Vaisravana.

I want to ask if there's any supporting evidence for that theory?

Aside from the fact that there isn't really another guy named Li Jing who's as famous as the Tang general: people putting him into strange and fantastical stories were already a thing in the Tang dynasty.

Aside from the famous tale of the Dragon-Bearded Man and Red Whisk Lady, who, together with Li Jing, formed a trio of Wuxia heroes before Wuxia was a thing, there's this story in 续玄怪录 where Li Jing substitutes for a dragon king's wife and helps her dispense rain...but decided to add 19 extra drops out of misguided goodwill, and accidentally flooded the fields.

There's a theory that because of this tale's association of Li Jing with dragons, he was subsequently confused with the Devaraja of the West, Virūpakkha, who's actually in charge of dragons/Nagas in Buddhist scriptures.

And because Virupakkha and Vaisravana's Chinese transliteration both start with 毗, he was confused (again) with Vaisravana and syncretized with the deity.

(Or, Li Jing is a well-loved general known for his campaigns in the west, Vaisravana worship was huge in the Tang dynasty with a similar association with the western regions and military victories, and they got fused together due to these symbolic connections.)

JTTW Zaju is where we see the earliest connection between Li Jing and Vaisravana in text; he is referred to as 毗沙门下李天王 ("Devaraja Li, under Pishamen") and also said to hold a pagoda in later lines.

Which can be read in two ways: either this Heavenly King Li here is working under Pishamen/Vaisravana, or the Zaju writer interpreted the 门 in 毗沙门 literally, and thought he was guarding a literal gate with that name...

Anyways, despite the syncreticism between Li Jing and Vaisravana, in vernacular novels that adopt such interpretations, he doesn't just replace the Devaraja of the North, but becomes his own separate character, existing side by side with the 4 Heavenly Kings.

Which gives rise to the joke that "It's common sense that the Four Heavenly Kings is a group of five!" (四天王有五人不是常识吗)

[dragologist]

🎂🍰

Is this enough to get y'all to talk about him more?!

[twiztidskull]

Bishamonten and Kofuku from Noragami wonderfully cosplayed at Katsucon 2024

Bishamon: @cosplayingstereottype Kofuku: @akirasadoll

Apparently the final chapter of that series was released earlier this year, and there's still a few people that want a season 3 of the Anime..... Ok more than a few lol.

[tuliharja]

A sketch about Bishamon...

Artwork: @tuliharja

Note: I’m fine with reblogging, but ask me first for my permission, if you want to repost my artwork.