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The mage in bus cult centre in the village of Pai-chiao ft, between Amoy and Changchou, is swathed in silken robes making it impossible to note any iconographical detail. Images of his parents and his elder brother, but none of his only sister, stand on a secondary altar in the cult centre together with a large metal bowl in which it is claimed that Wu Pen had concocted his herbal remedies. Caretakers in the cult centre point out the site in the village of the house in which Wu Pen had been born and lived out much of his life, and also the place at the end of the village where the sea once lapped the shore long before a series of land reclamations left Pai-chiao ft from the open sea.
In legend Pao-sheng Ta-ti has thirty-six warriors who carry out his orders under two senior soldiers, General Tieh [or Chao] # [#]19¤ and Marshal Kang. Such retinues have been observed in a number of temples dedicated to Pao-sheng Ta-ti in Fukien, Taiwan and in SE Asia, either with him or on side altars, or in a great number of temples painted individually across one of the temple's side walls as a large mural.
A large tablet dedicated to his parents stands on the rear hall altar of a large temple dedicated to him in Tainan city. One smaller image portrays him with a bowl in his hand and a dragon with a pearl in its mouth before his feet?. Two major statues, at floor level, flanking the altar on which Pao-sheng Ta-ti is the main deity, were identified as Chang Sheng-che ' * P K and Chiang Hsien-kuan Il about whom none of the temple staff could offer any information. They would appear to be Pao-sheng Ta-ti's assistants or guardians. However, in Taiwan other pairs of guardian generals have been identified. These have included Generals Chien and Chao MA and Marshals Kao and Yin á KIM.
Also in the Tainan temple two assistants on the main altar table are Ts'ai-yeh T'ung-tzu X RM and Tsuo Chih T’ung-tzu, 1⁄2 Youths who Collect the Herbs and Compound the Medicines.
Legends about Pao-sheng Ta-ti's origins, powers of magic and his ability to cure the sick abound. He was regarded not only as a powerful mediumistic protective deity who provided effective prescriptions, he was also believed able to stave off floods or bring much needed rain. He is said to have saved the city of Changchou from plague, and again later from starvation during a prolonged drought. He was also summoned to Court where, either in about AD 1030 he cured the Empress Wen or in AD 1408 when the wife of the Ming emperor suffered from sore nipples.