Star Generals: 36 Tiangang Stars (三十六天罡)
In Chinese culture, it is believed that three groups of stars are involved in subduing demons. The North Dipper has 36 Heavenly Spirits called the 36 Tiangang Stars (36颗天罡星) and 72 Earthly Spirits called the 72 Disha Stars (72颗地煞星). Another group is called the 28 Heavenly Mansions (二十八宿).
The 36 Tiangang Stars are Heavenly Generals that arise from the worship of the North Dipper. These generals protect the Heavenly courts and the deities so they are quite strong.
The 36 Star Generals and their associations
There are two main pieces of literature that popularised the worship of these star generals – “Shui Hu Zhuan” (水浒传) and “Feng Shen Bang” (封神榜). At the same time, it is said that the 36 Tiangang Stars were also used to name the thirty-six cities after the Yellow Emperor defeated Chi You and united the entire land.
36 Tiangang StarsShui Hu Zhuan (水浒传)Feng Shen Bang (封神榜)Tian Kui Star (天魁星)Song Jiang (宋江)Gao Yan (高衍)Tian Gang Star (天罡星)Lu Jun Yi (卢俊义)Huang Zhen (黄真)Tian Ji Star (天机星)Wu Yong (吴用)Lu Chang (卢昌)Tian Xian Star (天闲星)Gong Sun Sheng (公孙胜)Ji Bing (纪丙)Tian Yong Star (天勇星)Guan Sheng (关胜)Yao Gong Xiao (姚公孝)Tian Xiong Star (天雄星)Lin Chong (林冲)Shi Gui (施桧)Tian Meng Star (天猛星)Qin Ming (秦明)Sun Yi (孙乙)Tian Wei Star (天威星)Hu Yan Zhuo (呼延灼)Li Bao (李豹)Tian Ying Star (天英星)Hua Rong (花荣)Zhu Yi (朱义)Tian Gui Star (天贵星)Chai Jin (柴进)Chen Kan (陈坎)Tian Fu Star (天富星)Li Ying (李应)Li Xian (黎仙)Tian Man Star (天满星)Zhu Tong (朱仝)Fang Bao (方保)Tian Gu Star (天孤星)Lu Zhi Shen (鲁智深)Zhan Xiu (詹秀)Tian Shang Star (天伤星)Wu Song (武松)Li Hong Yu (李洪玉)Tian Li Star (天立星)/Tian Xuan Star (天玄星)Dong Ping (董平)Wang Long Mao (王龙茂)Tian Jie Star (天捷星)/ Tian Jian Star (天健星)Zhang Qing (张清)Deng Yu (邓玉)Tian An Star (天暗星)Yang Zhi (杨志) Li Xin (李新)Tian You Star (天佑星)Xu Ning (徐宁) Xu Zheng Dao (徐正道)Tian Kong Star (天空星)Suo Chao (索超)Dian Tong (典通)Tian Su Star (天速星)Dai Zong (戴宗)Wu Xu (吴旭)Tian Yi Star (天异星)Liu Tang (刘唐)Lv Zi Cheng (吕自成)Tian Sha Star (天杀星/天煞星)Li Kui (李逵)Ren Lai Pin (任来聘)Tian Wei Star (天微星)Shi Jin (史进)Gong Qing (龚清)Tian Jiu Star (天究星)Mu Hong (穆弘)Dan Zhao (单招)Tian Tui Star (天退星)Lei Heng (雷横)Gao Ke (高可)Tian Shou Star (天寿星)、Li Jun (李俊)Qi Cheng (戚成)Tian Jian Star (天剑星)Ruan Xiao Er (阮小二)Wang Hu (王虎)Tian Ping Star (天平星)Zhang Heng (张横)Bu Tong (卜同)Tian Zui Star (天罪星)Ruan Xiao Wu (阮小五)Yao Gong (姚公)Tian Sun Star (天损星)Zhang Shun (张顺)Tang Tian Zheng (唐天正)Tian Bai Star (天败星)Ruan Xiao Qi (阮小七)Shen Li (申礼)Tian Lao Star (天牢星)Yang Xiong (杨雄)Wen Jie (闻杰)Tian Hui Star (天慧星)Shi Xiu (石秀)Zhang Zhi Xiong (张智雄)Tian Bao Star (天暴星)Jie Zhen (解珍)Bi De (毕德)Tian Ku Star (天哭星)Jie Bao (解宝)Liu Da (刘达)Tian Qiao Star (天巧星)Yan Qing (燕青)Cheng San Yi (程三益)
The Transformation of the 36 Tiangang (天罡三十六法)
The 36 Tiangang Stars are also featured in “Xi You Ji” (西遊記). It began to become popular during the Song and Ming Dynasties. By the Qing Dynasty, they are recorded in “Li Dai Shen Xian Tong Jian” (歷代神仙通鑑). Taoists believed that the 36 Tiangang represents transformation while the 72 Disha represents the manifestation. Hence, the Tiangang changes according to the mind while the 72 Disha is affected by Yin-yang, the Five elements, Nine Courts (九宮) and Bagua.
Reversing creation (斡旋造化): The most powerful technique. It is able to reverse the formation of the sky and earth or create something from nothing. This was used by Nv Wa to create humans.
Reversing Yin-yang (顛倒陰陽): To reverse the order of the sky and earth or the sun and moon. Able to mess up true and false. It is the reverse path of all creations.
Moving stars and constellations (移星換斗): To change the order of the Heavenly Mansions. One can remove one’s existence yet be alive at the same time. To change time and the movement of the sun and moon.
Going back in time (回天返日): To observe the past, present and future of the multiverse without any blockage
Summoning rain and wind (喚雨呼風): To summon huge winds and heavy rains. To get rid of rain. To cause blizzards and hail. To move on clouds and rain.
Shake mountains and move lands (振山撼地): To cause earthquakes and move lands. To break up mountains and rivers.
Moving in fogs and clouds (駕霧騰云): To travel from the North Sea to Cangwu. To fly.
Split rivers and create land (劃江成陸): To split rivers, lakes and seas, and turn them into land.
Emit golden light (縱地金光): To become light and travel ten thousand li in a short moment.
Move rivers and seas (翻江攪海): Using the celestial bodies to control the waves and create floods.
Turn soil to metal (指地成鋼): To turn a patch of land to metal. To travel in the ground.
Manipulating the Five Elements (五行大遁): Among the Five Elements techniques, there are offensive and defensive techniques. There are also methods to change elements.
Using Six Jia (六甲奇門): To defeat ghosts and deities. [See Six Jia and Six Ding]
Seeing the future (逆知未來): To observe the past, present and future and understand heavenly secrets without any divination.
Break mountains and move stones (鞭山移石): To break up mountains and move huge stones.
Raise the dead (起死回生): To raise the dead.
Travel anywhere (飛身托跡): To project one’s body outwards and travel anywhere without obstacles. To manifest one’s body anywhere one desires.
Absorb Qi (九息服氣): To absorb the Qi of creation to enhance one’s powers or recover.
Take out one’s life essence (導出元陽): To remove the flames of life from one’s body.
Defeat dragons and tigers (降龍伏虎): To defeat ferocious beasts with huge strength
Fix skies and bathe suns (補天浴日): The ability to fix skies and bathe suns. To purify the sun’s powers.
Move mountains and fill seas (推山填海): To push down mountains and fill the seas.
Turn stone to gold (指石成金): To turn anything to gold or other high value metals.
Stand without shadow (正立無影): To become invisible and walk without a physical body or shadow. To hide any traces of breath.
Born in many forms (胎化易形): To be born as a baby or an old person, a man, a woman or different facial features. To change all creations.
Change size (大小如意): To become big or small, strong or weak whenever desired.
Bloom flowers (花開頃刻): To cause flowers to bloom or wither in an instant. To rapidly grow plants and create fruits.
Soul travelling (游神御氣): To have out-of-body experiences and travel.
See everything (隔垣洞見): To observe all the worlds and see the birth, death, happiness and sorrow of all living things. To observe fortune and see through all lies. To shoot light at enemies.
Return winds to extinguish fire (迴風返火): To reverse the direction of winds to extinguish flames.
Control the Five Thunders (掌握五雷): Heavenly Thunder (天雷) affects luck and can defeat Heavenly demons. Earthly Thunder (地雷) brings rain and sun. Water Thunder (水雷) brings storms to relieve droughts. Celestial Thunder (神雷) controls the Five Elements and is used to attack. Deity Thunder (社雷) is used to summon deities to subdue demons.
Travel in trenches and ley lines (潛淵縮地): To travel in deep waters without any obstacles. To reside in ley lines and be present in one thousand li at once.
Flying sand and rocks (飛砂走石): To create storms made from rocks and sand.
Cross seas with mountains (挾山超海): To cross the North Sea using the Tai Mountain. To cross unlimited seas.
Scatter beans to create soldiers (撒豆成兵): To turn beans into soldiers.
Pin-head and Seven Arrows (釘頭七箭): A curse technique that uses arrows to pierce a strawman. One can kill without being present and the victim has no way to escape. Not even the highest-ranked deities can survive.
Source:
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%89%E5%8D%81%E5%85%AD%E5%A4%A9%E7%BD%A1%E4%B8%83%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E5%9C%B0%E7%85%9E
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%89%E5%8D%81%E5%85%AD%E5%A4%A9%E7%BD%A1/8264956
https://www.newton.com.tw/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E7%BD%A1%E4%B8%89%E5%8D%81%E5%85%AD%E8%AE%8A
Star Generals: 28 Heavenly Mansions (二十八宿)Date21/11/2024Star Generals: 72 Disha Stars (七十二地煞)Date16/05/2024The Three Sovereigns and their descendantsDate04/04/2022Share this:
Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
X
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Like Loading…