Of the various fire-gods, Ch’ih Ching-tzu, the principle of spiritual fire, is one of the five spirits representing the Five Elements.  He is Fire personified, which has its birth in the south, on Mount Shih-t’ang.  He himself and everything connected with him—­his skin, hair, beard, trousers, cloak of leaves, etc.—­are all of the colour of fire, though he is sometimes represented with a blue cap resembling the blue tip of a flame.  He appeared in the presence of Huang Lao in a fire-cloud.  He it was who obtained fire from the wood of the mulberry-tree, and the heat of this fire, joined with the moisture of water, developed the germs of terrestrial beings.

The Red Emperor

Chu Jung, though also otherwise personified, is generally regarded as having been a legendary emperor who made his first appearance in the time of Hsien Yuan (2698-2598 B.C.).  In his youth he asked Kuang-shou Lao-jen, ‘Old Longevity,’ to grant him immortality.  “The time has not yet come,” replied Old Longevity; “before it does you have to become an emperor.  I will give you the means of reaching the end you desire.  Give orders that after you are dead you are to be buried on the southern slope of the sacred mountain Heng Shan; there you will learn the doctrine of Ch’ih Ching-tzu and will become immortal.”

The Emperor Hsien Yuean, having abdicated the throne, sent for Chu Jung, and bestowed upon him the crown.  Chu Jung, having become emperor, taught the people the use of fire and the advantages to be derived therefrom.  In those early times the forests were filled with venomous reptiles and savage animals; he ordered the peasants to set fire to the brushwood to drive away these dangerous neighbours and keep them at a distance.  He also taught his subjects the art of purifying, forging, and welding metals by the action of fire.  He was nicknamed Ch’ih Ti, ‘the Red Emperor.’  He reigned for more than two hundred years, and became an Immortal, His capital was the ancient city of Kuei, thirty li north-east of Hsin-cheng Hsien, in the Prefecture of K’ai-feng Fu, Honan.  His tomb is on the southern slope of Heng Shan.  The peak is known as Chu Jung Peak.  His descendants, who went to live in the south, were the ancestors of the Directors of Fire.

Hui Lu

The most popular God of Fire, however, is Hui Lu, a celebrated magician who, according to the Shen hsien t’ung chien, lived some time before the reign of Ti K’u (2436-2366 B.C.), the father of Yao the Great, and had a mysterious bird named Pi Fang and a hundred other fire-birds shut up in a gourd.  He had only to let them out to set up a conflagration which would extend over the whole country.

Huang Ti ordered Chu Jung to fight Hui Lu and also to subdue the rebel Chih Yu.  Chu Jung had a large bracelet of pure gold—­a most wonderful and effective weapon.  He hurled it into the air, and it fell on Hui Lu’s neck, throwing him to the ground and rendering him incapable of moving.  Finding resistance impossible, he asked mercy from his victor and promised to be his follower in the spiritual contests.  Subsequently he always called himself Huo-shih Chih T’u, ‘the Disciple of the Master of Fire.’