Immortals who live with men and the gods

The Pa Hsien include seven humans who have achieved immortality and one being, Lan Ts'ai Ho, who was demoted to the rank of immortal from the gods. Some of the eight are historical personages, generally from the Tang dynasty. Of the eight, six are men, one is a girl, and one is sexually ambiguous in the sense of actually being both genders. The Pa Hsien are reputed to live on various mountains on earth or in heaven. They interact with gods and humans, coming out on top in any situation. They trick and play jokes on gods and humans alike, but they also act as patron saints and use their unique powers for the good of mankind. Generally, their action results in victory over oppression or misfortune.

The Eight Immortals can be found throughout Chinese culture: in Taoist popular literature; as decorations on furniture, porcelain, and glassware; and as characters in literature, drama, and, nowadays, film. Perhaps more important, they live on as characters in a wealth of orally transmitted stories, satires, legends, and folktales, appearing both separately and together.

Each of the Pa Hsien is distinct in personality, appearance, and activity.  Each possesses an identifying object, a particular function, and a special cause.  Each guards and is associated with one of the Eight Trigrams, symbols that denote the four cardinal directions and the “corner directions” (northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest).

The Eight Immortals appear in many stories.  The legend “Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea” (Pa Hsien kuo hai) is typical. While crossing a sea in their travels on earth, the Eight Immortals used various objects – in most cases the ones that symbolize them – as vessels to ride on.  Each made a successful crossing, though by different means and in different ways.  The title of the episode is used today as a proverbial phrase to mean to succeed in a task, or to tackle a problem by different methods.

One of the most popular stories is that of the Jade Emperor’s birthday.  The eight act as a group, yet each demonstrates his individuality.

The Jade Emperor’s birthday. It was the day of the Jade Emperor’s birthday.  Each god and immortal was expected to bring a tribute as a birthday gift in expectation of an elevation in rank.  Ti Kuai Li thought that the rank of immortal was quite high enough for himself and the other seven and refused to bring a gift.