Lan Caihe

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lan.
Zhang Lu's painting of Lan Caihe (depicted here as a man sitting on a turtle), early 16th century
A woodcut print of Lan Caihe

Lan Caihe (Chinese: 藍采和; pinyin: Lán Cǎihé; Wade–Giles: Lan Ts'ai-ho) is a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. His/her age and sex are not clearly defined. He/she is usually depicted as a boy or girl dressed in sexually ambiguous clothing and carrying a bamboo flower basket and/or a pair of bamboo castanets. Lan was said to have been in a drunken stupor when he/she left the human world by riding on a celestial swan or crane into Heaven. One legend says that he/she became an Immortal with the help of Sun Wukong, who transferred 500 years of magical powers to him/her.

Modern depictions

In the television show Jackie Chan Adventures, Lan was shown to be the Immortal who sealed away Dai Gui, The Earth Demon. and is portrayed as a man.

See also

Media related to Lan Caihe (藍采和) at Wikimedia Commons

References

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