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to teach him a lesson. In yet another rendition it is suggested that he had the crab painted on his forehead by his fellow pupils as a joke whilst he was asleep and who, at the same time, stuck two willow branches behind his ears. When he woke up his chagrin was so great that he committed suicide. Another story maintains that he was a most beautiful child and his sister-in-law in a fit of jealousy painted a crab around his mouth whilst he slept preventing his soul from returning [meaning that he died as a result because Chinese know only too well that one's soul roams far and wide whilst one is asleep]. The Jade Emperor took pity on him and, so the story goes, adopted him as one of his sons, or in another version, allowed his soul to return to his body. In yet another legend he was a Suzhou man who supported troupes of actors. Another legend, related in a Chaozhou temple in Indonesia, tells of a boy who had been working in the fields, stomach empty and very hungry. He fell asleep at the side of the field whereupon a small crab crawled into his open mouth giving him sufficient sustenance to continue. He grew up to be a good farmer, a good neighbour who helped protect his community and who loved music more than anything else. He was, however, conscripted into the army and sent north to fight the Xiongnu [Huns] of central Asia, where he rose in rank until as a marshal and undefeated he returned to his home in Fujian province. He was deified after death as a local community protector. One of the major factors of his victories over the Xiongnu had been the impressive uniforms he had provided for his men which completely over-awed the central Asian barbarians. These uniforms became the stuff of actors' outfits and because of his love for music, and as the crab had saved his life, his image has the crustacean painted around his mouth and he is now the patron of actors and musicians [Photograph 10].
The legend of the Marshal Tian, better known as San Tian Dou Yuanshuai, the third of the three Tian brothers, another form of this deity, has also been confused by devotees somewhere along the line with the well-known legend of the 360 musicians and the Pestilence Wangye. In the Tian Brother's story they were said to be musicians engaged by the Xuan Zong emperor as his music masters. The emperor, whilst sick, dreamed that their playing had restored him to good health which on waking he found to be true. He then ordered them to stop a plague which was ravaging Fujian province, which again they did and were deified by the Celestial Master Zhang, the Daoist deity.
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to teach him a lesson. In yet another rendition it is suggested that he had the crab painted on his forehead by his fellow pupils as a joke whilst he was asleep and who, at the same time, stuck two willow branches behind his ears. When he woke up his chagrin was so great that he committed suicide. Another story maintains that he was a most beautiful child and his sister-in-law in a fit of jealousy painted a crab around his mouth whilst he slept preventing his soul from returning [meaning that he died as a result because Chinese know only too well that one's soul roams far and wide whilst one is asleep]. The Jade Emperor took pity on him and, so the story goes, adopted him as one of his sons, or in another version, allowed his soul to return to his body. In yet another legend he was a Suzhou man who supported troupes of actors. Another legend, related in a Chaozhou temple in Indonesia, tells of a boy who had been working in the fields, stomach empty and very hungry. He fell asleep at the side of the field whereupon a small crab crawled into his open mouth giving him sufficient sustenance to continue. He grew up to be a good farmer, a good neighbour who helped protect his community and who loved music more than anything else. He was, however, conscripted into the army and sent north to fight the Xiongnu [Huns} of central Asia, where he rose in rank until as a marshal and undefeated he returned to his home in Fujian province. He was deified after death as a local community protector. One of the major factors of his victories over the Xiongnu had been the impressive uniforms he had provided for his men which completely over awed the central Asian barbarians. These uniforms became the stuff of actors outfits and because of his love for music, and as the crab had saved his life, his image has the crustacean painted around his mouth and he is now the patron of actors and musicians [Photograph 10],
The legend of the Marshal Tian, better known as San Tian Dou Yuanshuai, the third of the three Tian brothers, another form of this deity, has also been confused by devotees somewhere along the line with the well-known legend of the 360 musicians and the Pestilence Wangye.' In the Tian Brother's story they were said to be musicians engaged by the Xuan Zong emperor as his music masters. The emperor, whilst sick, dreamed that their playing had restored him to good health which on waking he found to be true. He then ordered them to stop a plague which was ravaging Fujian province, which again they did and were deified by the Celestial Master Zhang, the Daoist deity.
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