Chinese mythology: The Mystery of He Xiangu becoming an immortal

He Xiangu was the only woman among the Eight Immortals, and she was among the Eight Immortals, just like a little red in the evergreen bush, which was very eye-catching. It is said that He Xiangu was originally called He Xiugu and was a native of Lingling, Hunan. Legend has it that when she was born, there was a faint purple qi that hung over her home, and a group of cranes flew up and down in the purple qi. After a while, a sika deer with a healthy sika deer flew into the He family with a little girl wearing a red belly pocket and a small pigtail, and He Xiangu was born at this time.

He Xiangu's father opened a tofu factory, and He Xiangu helped her father take care of business from an early age. When she was fourteen years old, He Xiangu ran to the wild to play and came to the edge of a clear and transparent stream. He Xiangu was playing by the stream, when she suddenly heard someone calling her, she looked up and saw that standing in front of her were three very strange people: one holding an iron cane in his hand and wearing a blond hairband on his head; the other was a white-bearded grandfather, riding upside down on the back of a small white donkey; and another, wearing a cloth robe, with a long sword hanging from his waist, a handsome wind god, and a Dao bone fairy wind. The three of them asked her how to walk some of the roads near her, as well as some questions about the local landscape, and He Xiangu answered them one by one very cleverly, and all three of them were satisfied. Before leaving, the man with the iron cane gave her a peach with a fresh and watery spirit, the grandfather riding a small donkey gave her a scarlet jujube, and the man with the long sword on his waist picked it up from the stream next to him, took out a piece of mica that shone with multicolored luster, gave it to her, and let her eat it.

Strange to say, since eating these three things, He Xiangu would never feel hungry again, and her spirit was better than before. Later, the three immortals took her to a mica mountain near her home and taught her how to pick and eat mica tablets. Since then, she has often gone to the mountains alone to eat mica and adjust her breath. Gradually, she felt that her body was getting lighter and lighter, and she could walk like a fly on the steep mountain road. He Xiangu also learned to collect herbs and treat people's diseases; in addition, she could also predict the misfortunes of some people. Later, people gradually forgot her real name He Xiugu, and they all called her Why Xian Gu. Those three immortals, it turned out to be the Iron Abduction Li, Zhang Guolao, and Lü Dongbin among the Eight Immortals, who heard that she had a wise heart and specially came to enlighten her.

He Xiangu's fame grew, and later spread to the then empress Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian was originally very interested in Buddhist Dao Immortalism, and when he heard of He Xiangu's miracle, he sent officials to Lingling to invite her, and He Xiangu followed the officials to luoyang, the eastern capital at that time. While waiting for the water, she suddenly disappeared. The officials were in a hurry and searched around, but they couldn't find anything. At dusk, the crowd was sitting by the river in sorrow, when suddenly He Xiangu flew down from the sky and told them, "I have been to the palace, I have seen the empress, and you can return to the dynasty and resume your life." After saying that, he drifted away.

The envoys returned to the palace and asked, and sure enough, it was so. He Xiangu not only came to see Wuhou that afternoon, but also talked with her for half a day. He Xiangu advised Empress Wu to be pure-hearted, cultivate hard, and do more good deeds and accumulate merit. He Xiangu's advice was very humane and enlightened, which deeply inspired Empress Wu.

Then one day, He Xiangu suddenly saw that in the distant sky, the iron crutch Li was standing in the middle of a five-colored auspicious cloud, waving his crutch, as if summoning her. As soon as her heart moved, her body suddenly became very light, and gradually it flew up and rose into the sky. At this moment, one of her beaded shoes fell to the ground. The next day, there was an extra well where the shoes fell, and the water inside was very clear and sweet.

It is said that many years later, He Xiangu, who had become an immortal, once went to a lychee garden in Guangdong and accidentally hung her green clothing belt on one of the lychee trees. Since then, the fruits of this tree have been exceptionally delicious. Because this kind of lychee from the top to the root, with a faint green line marks, and grow in Zengcheng, Guangdong, so it is named "Zengcheng Hanging Green", which is a famous product in the lychee. People say that this is the result of infecting He Xiangu's "immortal qi". To this day, in Lingling and Zengcheng and other places, there are temples dedicated to He Xiangu, and people are very grateful for her kindness.