Huayue Sanniang (), also known as Sanshengmu (), is a goddess associated with Mount Hua in Chinese mythology and folk religion. Later traditions identify her as a daughter of the Emperor Xiyue (), the deity associated with Mount Hua. Her story developed from an account of the Huayue goddess in the Tang-dynasty collection Guang yi ji () into the later legend of Liu Chenxiang (沉香) splitting Mount Hua to rescue his mother. In early versions, the Huayue goddess is not identified with Erlang Shen's sister, and the story does not include Chenxiang or the mountain-splitting episode.
Legends
Huayue goddess
The earliest literary account later associated with Huayue Sanniang is the story of the Huayue goddess () in the Tang-dynasty collection Guang yi ji () by Dai Fu (戴孚). The story concerns a scholar travelling to the capital for the imperial examinations who meets a woman at an inn. She identifies herself as a princess and later lives with the scholar in Chang'an. They remain together for seven years and have two sons and a daughter. The woman eventually tells him that she is not human and asks him to marry another woman. When the scholar later asks about her identity, she says, "I am the third daughter of Huayue" (), and disappears.
In later traditions, the Huayue goddess is identified as the third daughter of the Emperor Xiyue (), the deity associated with Mount Hua. These traditions give her the title Huayue Sanniang () or Sanshengmu (). Her family is also expanded in later versions, which give her brothers associated with Mount Hua. This genealogy should be distinguished from the Tang Guang yi ji, which describes her only as the third daughter of Huayue.
The Guang yi ji account does not mention the name Sanniang, Liu Chenxiang, or the later story of a goddess being imprisoned beneath Mount Hua. A Chinese academic study of the Chenxiang tradition notes that the Tang story concerns the goddess and a mortal scholar, while the Chenxiang story developed in later literary and theatrical works.
Another Tang story, preserved in Dai Fu's Guang yi ji, concerns the scholar Wang Xun, who visits a temple on Mount Hua and becomes captivated by the statue of the mountain goddess's third daughter. The story likewise belongs to the early Huayue goddess tradition and does not identify the goddess with the later Yang Jian form of Erlang Shen.
Development of the Chenxiang story
The story of Liu Chenxiang developed later than the Tang account of the Huayue goddess. According to a study published by the Renmin University of China's Institute of Qing History, lost Song-dynasty and Yuan-dynasty works, including Liu Xi Chenxiang Taizi (), Pihua shan jiumu (), and Chenxiang Taizi Pihua Shan (), are among the earliest known works associated with the Chenxiang story. The earliest surviving texts that contain substantial portions of the story include Ming-dynasty Fujian theatrical works such as the Puxian opera Liu Xi ().
The Jiajing-period collection Fengyue Jinnang () preserves part of the Chenxiang story. Its surviving text contains the Maodian Union () section, which describes the union between Liu Xi and the Huayue goddess. The surviving Puxian opera Liu Xi preserves a more complete version of the story and is associated with earlier theatrical traditions.
In the Puxian Liu Xi, the scholar Liu Xi (刘锡) visits the temple of Huayue Sanniang while travelling to the capital for the examinations. After their marriage, Sanniang becomes pregnant and gives birth to Chenxiang while imprisoned. Chenxiang later learns of his mother's situation and sets out to rescue her. The story ends with Chenxiang freeing Sanniang and the family being reunited.
In this version, the Erlang who opposes Sanniang is Huayue Erlang, a figure associated with Mount Hua, rather than the Sichuan deity Erlang Shen. The Puxian text therefore preserves a different genealogy from later versions that identify Sanniang's brother with Yang Jian.
The Lotus Lantern tradition
The story of Chenxiang developed into the Lotus Lantern () tradition, with substantial differences among literary and theatrical versions. The Qing-dynasty Chenxiang Treasure Scroll (), for example, presents Chenxiang as a child who eventually rescues his mother from imprisonment beneath Mount Hua. In this version, Chenxiang is thirteen when he splits the mountain, and Lü Dongbin acts as his teacher and gives him a sword.
The relationship between Sanniang and Erlang also changes in later versions. Earlier Chenxiang texts distinguish Huayue Erlang from the better-known Erlang Shen, whereas later adaptations identify Sanniang's brother with Yang Jian and make him the principal opponent of Chenxiang. A scholarly account of the tradition describes the Chenxiang story as developing through successive theatrical, narrative, and popular versions rather than as a single fixed legend.
The well-known episode in which Chenxiang splits Mount Hua to rescue his mother is commemorated by the natural rock known as the Axe-splitting Rock (斧劈石) on the Western Peak of Mount Hua. The rock is associated with the legend in local cultural and tourism sources.
Later theatrical versions
The Chenxiang story continued to change in regional opera. The Puxian Liu Xi and other Ming-dynasty Fujian theatrical works preserve versions that differ from later Lotus Lantern dramas. Some versions contain the imprisonment of Sanniang and the rescue of her by Chenxiang, while others omit the mountain-splitting episode.
A famous modern version is the Hebei bangzi opera The Lotus Lantern (), created in 1959 and first performed in 1960. It was adapted from the traditional opera Pihua shan jiumu () and other versions of the story. In this version, Sanniang is the wife of the mortal Liu Yanchang and the mother of Chenxiang, while her brother is Yang Jian, also known as Erlang Shen.
Conflation with Erlang Shen
The relationship between Huayue Sanniang and Erlang Shen is not consistent across versions of the legend. The Tang Guang yi ji story describes the heroine only as the third daughter of Huayue and does not identify her as the sister of Yang Jian or as the daughter of the Jade Emperor.
Later Chenxiang stories initially used a different Huayue Erlang. The Puxian Liu Xi, for example, presents him as a figure associated with Mount Hua. In later Lotus Lantern versions, however, Huayue Sanniang's brother becomes Yang Jian, the better-known Erlang Shen. The two traditions were therefore combined in later retellings.
The modern identification of Sanniang as Yang Jian's sister is especially prominent in popular versions of Lotus Lantern. It should therefore not be projected back into the Tang Guang yi ji account.
Worship
Huayue Sanniang is worshipped at Mount Hua. A shrine to her is located at Xiyue Temple, where a hall dedicated to her is associated with the temple complex of the deity of Mount Hua. Modern accounts of the site describe images of Sanniang and her son Chenxiang in the hall.
In popular culture
Films
Save Mother from Mountain (), a 1928 Chinese film Breaking Open the Mountain to Rescue Mother (), a 1950 Hong Kong film The Precious Lotus Lamp (), a 1956 Hong Kong Cantonese opera film The Precious Lotus Lamp, Part II (1957) The Precious Lotus Lamp, Part III (1958) The Magic Lotus Lantern (), a 1959 Chinese film Breaking Open the Mountain to Rescue Mother (), a 1961 Taiwanese film The Lotus Lamp (), a 1963 Hong Kong Cantonese opera film The Magic Lamp (), a 1964 Hong Kong Huangmei opera film The Lotus Lamp (), a 1965 Hong Kong film The Magic Lotus Lantern (), a 1976 Hebei bangzi film
Animation films
Saving Mother (), a 1984 Chinese film Lotus Lantern, a 1999 Chinese animated film Chen Xiang (), a 2006 Chinese animated film New Gods: Yang Jian, a 2022 Chinese animated film
Television
The Lamp Lore (), a 1986 Hong Kong television series The Legend of the Magic Lotus Lantern (), a 2001 Chinese-Taiwanese television series Lotus Lantern, a 2005 Chinese television series Prelude of Lotus Lantern, a 2009 Chinese television series
See also
Erlang Shen Liu Chenxiang Lotus Lantern
References