Who are the Nine Yin Warriors?

The Nine Yin Warriors/九阴军 or the Nine Nether Realm Vanguards are a squad of Hell beings who serve as torturers, interrogators and guards in Hell. They are also known as the Nine Abandoned Ones or the Nine Forsaken Ones/九阴撂将, as it is said that they were originally deformed young infants or children who did not survive childbirth or were left to die by their parents. From a medical standpoint, their strange appearances actually DO match certain real-life neonatal deformities, which lends truth to this story.

They consist of the Yin-Yang Ghost/阴阳鬼, who is their leader and can manipulate fortune and misfortune, allowing him to jinx, bless or alternate between the two in the blink of an eye...



... the Long-Tongued Ghost/长舌鬼, who, like the Pokemon Gastly, paralyses with a mere lick of his tongue...



... the One-Eyed Ghost/单眼鬼, whose excellent vision detects supernatural beings and mortals alike at a myriad of ranges and can pierce concealment...



... the One-Eared Ghost/独耳鬼, whose superb hearing detects supernatural beings and mortals alike at a myriad of ranges and can pierce concealment...



... the Eye-Devouring Ghost/吞眼鬼, who, similar to Tenebraug from the Ghostbusters, robs his victims of their eyesight...



... the Fire-Eating Ghost/食火鬼, who breathes deadly magical fire...



... the Melodious Ghost/文音鬼, who can control minds with songs from his flute...



... the Long-Eyebrowed Ghost/长眉鬼, whose eyebrows are essentially razor sharp cables that he can use as whips by swinging his head around...



... and the Soul-Pursuing Child/追魂童, whose magic sack acts like the Ghost Trap from Ghostbusters, sucking in spirit beings he wishes to capture like a vacuum cleaner sucks in dirt.

i only know when before nine emperor coming, storm and heavy rain will fall.. every year also same... so mystery

Public service announcement: Guan Yin's birthday falls tomorrow.

Lol thanks for the PSA. I will try to be vegetarian for tomorrow.

ah yes Guan Yin's Birthday tomorrow, will definitely go vegetarian tomorrow
Can enlighten me what's the difference between what the usual Chinese tradition does vs. the Real Buddhist tradition for this occasion?
Also, why does she have 3 birthdays? (Or at least I think I remember seeing somewhere about that)

Being vegetarian isn't a must, in all honesty; as long as your heart is pure, whatever you eat or don't eat is of little consequence, if at all. Dropping by your nearest Guan Yin temple and earnestly wishing her a happy birthday (complete with vegetarian offerings, if you can) will suffice.

Pure Buddhist tradition focuses on Avalokitesvara, the genderless Bodhisattva whom Guan Yin is a female manifestation of; their reverence of Avalokitesvara involves plenty of sutra-chanting, which isn't really an aspect of Chinese folk worship.

Chinese folk religion focuses on the Princess Miao Shan legend (which I've already mentioned earlier) as Guan Yin's origin story, and involves traditional Chinese methods of worship such as the burning of incense; Guan Yin may make her presence felt today via a medium, as well, which is an religious aspect that Buddhism does not subscribe to.

Only one of the three 'birthdays' is her true birthday (the 19th of the 2nd lunar month, which falls today). The others are feast days that mark the day she took her vows as a nun (the 19th of the 9th lunar month) and the day she attained enlightenment (the 19th of the 6th lunar month).

Well I guess I'm a little used to the Buddhist aspect, so going vegetarian is ok for me.
Besides, it's good for health and environment too.

I'm currently overseas, so no chance of any temple nearby here. But thanks for the suggestion.

马府千岁


為瞭解「開臺馬府」神尊的靈源及歷史功業，信眾們把握住「開臺馬府」降靈問事時機，請「開臺馬府」指示祂的相關訊息，經多年來的降靈指示，祂是海外線的神祇，擁有八千年的靈，在千年以前曾下凡人間。
祂自稱：「我府有九粒神頭頂宇宙，十八神手開天地，本是只有靈，靈則轉主，後在三清開凡間天。我府本是化天馬一隻，會飛天、也會鑽地，會轉、會翻，在還沒有朝代就有我，後來由玉皇皇兄(天公)請我輔佐天庭，玉皇登天後我府再回宇宙，飄飄渡渡遊凡間再遊去。從此玉皇皇兄封稱我「馬府爺」，我就自稱「馬府」。我府本是北巡神駕，遊北駕再南渡海道來。我府化相有打花臉、白線邊、花貢線、眼神邊是血光線此線叫血光花面線、鬍鬚長、全甲全鱗盤身、中手頂日月、雙手右手拿珠左手拿缽、前中手盤十合掌串田中、雙腳踩雙獅。護法神駕文官是現今南勢王，武官有三頭六臂，現投凡佛教是陀羅尼佛。我的金身是由一位壯丁，將我的畫像帶在身邊，後來叫人雕刻神尊，奉祀於東北泰山中。歷代帝王在改朝換代或天下太平、國泰民安，且天降祥瑞之時前往泰山封禪祭拜天地，當前往玉皇頂設壇祭天，途經那裡會去祭拜。明末顏思齊之父遊居東北經商，得知我府是先天海外無極神駕，為歷代皇帝求拜之神，而從小廟攜出在船上、海上雲遊經商，每逢八月十五日祭天地。三百九十多年前隨顏思齊等漂漂渡海到水林鄉後尖山，古時叫做尖山崙，奉祀在顏厝寮。清朝後、日據時代，我的金身都放置於當時的保正(村長)處，由各庄、厝、寨，每年擲筊輪流參拜。最後，我定居在水林鄉土厝村陳厝寮



A brief introduction of the above mentioned deity.
Ma fu qian sui is an entity whom has said to have 8000 years of existence in cultivation. Even longer accounts of his existence dates back to pre-historic times before heaven – earth and hell was separated. His existence is said to be immeasurable.
After Pan gu created separated the heavens from the ground , ma fu qian sui is said to have manifested into a heavenly horse , a unicorn in western contexts. He had the ability to soar through the heavens and rummage through the depths of hell. Also , the ability to flip , and turn.
Upon the accession of the Jade Emperor , he ( jade emperor ) requested that ma fu qian sui to dedicate his service to the heavenly celestial court. He was then conferred the title , duke of the ma residence or 马府爷.
Ma fu qian sui’s appearance as told by him , he has 18 arms and 9 heads . With each hand carrying a weapon , he was hailed a deity that dynastic monarchs prayed for safety and abundance for their empire / kingdom.


This post has been edited by sales.convenience: Apr 7 2015, 04:52 PM

Duke Ma is an interesting guy.

There are tales of how he was a Han Dynasty warlord who transformed himself into a fearsome nine-headed and eighteen-armed titan after a prolonged period of spiritual cultivation in the Kun Lun Mountains, in order to repel invading barbarian hordes.

But the origin story provided by the Taiwanese temples where he is primarily worshipped imply a more ancient origin - that he was there when the San Qing parted the Heavens and created the Earth, that he is the personification of a Heavenly stallion (hence his surname) and that he regards the Jade Emperor himself as not merely his lord and master, but a brother, too. In his words, "在還沒有朝代就有我" - "Before there were dynasties, there was me."

A very enigmatic and imposing Heavenly warrior.

Who are the Four Saints?

The Four Saints/四圣者 are four spirit warriors who are subordinate to Prince Na Zha (whom I have discussed earlier). They originally served his mother Lady Yin, who was a practitioner of the magic arts herself, as familiar spirits before she dispatched them to protect her son during his early years. Although both she and them soon realised that he did not really require protection, they continue to accompany him as retainers.

The Saints are differently coloured, corresponding to four of the Five Elements and Five Cardinal Directions. They consist of Liu/刘圣者 (White, Metal, West), Zhang/张圣者 (Green, Wood, East), Xiao/萧圣者 (Red, Fire, South) and Lian/连圣者 (Black, Water, North). Although they look similar to Lord Zhang, in that they carry serpents and are sometimes shown with fire wheels under their feet, they are in fact unrelated to him.

Why just four of the Five Elements and Five Cardinal Directions, you might ask? Well, that is because Na Zha, when accompanying them, represents the Fifth (Yellow, Earth, Centre). Na Zha and the Four Saints, working as a team, can function as an alternative lineup to the usual Five Camp Commander formation for provision of a temple's security and spiritual manpower (I have spoken about the Five Camp Commanders prior).

Bro' natchsider,
please check your PM. Need your help seriously. Sorry that I can't share here.

Hi sweetguy, you have mail.

thks nachtsider. by the way are you familiar with thai occult practices? any similarity and can it go along side by side with sintua worship? i mean praying together or setting up the idols at the same altar?

I know enough about Thai occult practices to tell you that they are quite different from sintua worship, not merely in terms of their rituals, but also in terms of their alignments.

Chinese folk religion is 'lawful good ', strongly geared towards the upholding of truth and justice, while Thai magic is more 'chaotic neutral' - it can be used for both upright purposes and more underhand or 'grey' dealings.

They generally do not mix well and should be kept quite separate, unless in very rare exceptions.

Why I ask because noticed that most of the mediums have these thai tatoo (sakyant) all over their body. Some of them even wear all types of thai amulets/ talismans around their neck. At one time I was very interested into thai occult practices items but slowly letting go. It's being commercialize and their amulets/ talismans are rocketeering high in the market (genuine one). Only the rich can afford to get the high end product.

The real pros know better than to blend beer and wine.

Can you tell some infor on this diety name Zhang TianZhi. I know that one sifu in KL specially enshrined his shop as His temple. They've yearly event that attract thousands of followers. Some said that the practicioners usually worshp Him at the dark side eg. mao shan.

Heavenly Master Zhang/张天师 is frequently referred to as the first Taoist Pope, one of the earliest Taoist masters and progenitor of the Five Pecks of Rice/五斗米道 sect, which preaches that immortality may be achieved by maintaining the correct balance of qi within one's body.

He is credited with inventing the practice of utilising drawn talismans for ritual purposes, or at least introducing the utilisation of this technique on a widespread basis.

Zhang is generally considered to be an upright man; some accounts present him as being slightly cunning/Machiavellian, although not to the extent of the Mao Shan practitioners.

The Mao Shan sect have their own progenitors/masters and their own protocols, which are different from that of Zhang's sect, and they do not revere him.

Note that Heavenly Master Zhang and Lord Zhang the Serpent-Queller, whom I have spoken about earlier, are not the same individual, although they share the same surname and may look slightly similar to the untrained eye.

Although both deities wield swords, Heavenly Master Zhang's familiar animal is a tiger, while Lord Zhang's is a cobra.

Thks. Bro...

Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for educating. Didn't really know the procedures when praying in temple. Few questions here:

1. The dead will have his soul collected by the Hell guards. Who is subject to this? All Chinese ppl or only Buddhist/Taoist? What about Christians or atheist Chinese?

2. Why does it always rain during 9 Emperor God time?

3. I went to a temple and there is a white Dog/Wolf statue. Wonder what is the story about the dog? Is it named 天狗?

Just to share my own experience. I went to Thean Hou Temple with my friends to ask for guidance (Kau Chim) and I got a not so good chim (with a number that i forgot). The next week I went again with another group of friends and I tried again, hoping to get better results. But the same number came out, I was stunned. Means one cannot run away from his fate.