attained to a profound knowledge of celestial mysteries, she shone with heavenly light, could cross the seas, and pass from the sun to the moon.  She also had a kind heart for the sufferings of humanity.  The King of Chou Yue, in the north, married her on hearing of her many virtues.  They had nine sons.  Yuean-shih T’ien-tsun came to earth to invite her, her husband, and nine sons to enjoy the delights of Heaven.  He placed her in the palace Tou Shu, the Pivot of the Pole, because all the other stars revolve round it, and gave her the title of Queen of the Doctrine of Primitive Heaven.  Her nine sons have their palaces in the neighbouring stars.

Tou Mu wears the Buddhist crown, is seated on a lotus throne, has three eyes, eighteen arms, and holds various precious objects in her numerous hands, such as a bow, spear, sword, flag, dragon’s head, pagoda, five chariots, sun’s disk, moon’s disk, etc.  She has control of the books of life and death, and all who wish to prolong their days worship at her shrine.  Her devotees abstain from animal food on the third and twenty-seventh day of every month.

Of her sons, two are the Northern and Southern Bushels; the latter, dressed in red, rules birth; the former, in white, rules death.  “A young Esau once found them on the South Mountain, under a tree, playing chess, and by an offer of venison his lease of life was extended from nineteen to ninety-nine years.”

Snorter and Blower

At the time of the overthrow of the Shang and establishment of the Chou dynasty in 1122 B.C. there lived two marshals, Cheng Lung and Ch’en Ch’i.  These were Heng and Ha, the Snorter and Blower respectively.

The former was the chief superintendent of supplies for the armies of the tyrant emperor Chou, the Nero of China.  The latter was in charge of the victualling department of the same army.

From his master, Tu O, the celebrated Taoist magician of the K’un-lun Mountains, Heng acquired a marvellous power.  When he snorted, his nostrils, with a sound like that of a bell, emitted two white columns of light, which destroyed his enemies, body and soul.  Thus through him the Chou gained numerous victories.  But one day he was captured, bound, and taken to the general of Chou.  His life was spared, and he was made general superintendent of army stores as well as generalissimo of five army corps.  Later on he found himself face to face with the Blower.  The latter had learnt from the magician how to store in his chest a supply of yellow gas which, when he blew it out, annihilated anyone whom it struck.  By this means he caused large gaps to be made in the ranks of the enemy.

Being opposed to each other, the one snorting out great streaks of white light, the other blowing streams of yellow gas, the combat continued until the Blower was wounded in the shoulder by No-cha, of the army of Chou, and pierced in the stomach with a spear by Huang Fei-hu, Yellow Flying Tiger.