Demi-Gods & Semi-Devils Title Explanation

The term "Eight Legions of Deva and Nāga"[^astasena] originates from Buddhist scriptures. Many Mahāyāna Buddhist[^mahayana] sutras describe how when the Buddha expounded the Dharma[^dharma] to bodhisattvas,[^bodhisattva] bhikkhus,[^bhikkhu] and others, the Eight Legions would often be present listening to the teachings.

For example, in the Lotus Sutra’s¹ “Devadatta Chapter”:² “The Eight Legions of Deva and Nāga, both human and non-human, all witnessed from afar the dragon maiden’s attainment of Buddhahood.”

“Non-human” refers to beings who appear human but are not actually human. The “Eight Legions” are all “non-human”, comprising eight races of supernatural beings. Because they are led by “devas” and “nāgas,” they are called the “Eight Legions of Devas and Nāgas.”³

The eight groups are: first, Devas; second, Nāgas; third, Yaksha; fourth, Gandharvas; fifth, Asuras; sixth, Garudas; seventh, Kinnaras; eighth, Mahoragas.

“Deva”⁴ refers to heavenly gods. In Buddhism, heavenly gods do not hold the highest position. They simply enjoy greater and longer-lasting happiness than humans. Buddhism recognises that all things are impermanent, and even devas die when their lifespan ends. Before death, heavenly gods display five signs of decay: their garments become soiled and greasy, the flowers on their heads wilt, their bodies emit foul odours, sweat appears under their arms, and they become restless in their seats (the fifth is sometimes stated as “celestial maidens depart”). These “Five Signs of Deva Decay” represent the greatest sorrow for devas. Śakra⁵ leads all the devas.

“Nāga”⁶ refers to dragon deity. Dragons in Buddhist scripture resemble those in Chinese legends, though they are legless and great serpents are sometimes also called dragons. In fact, the Chinese concept of dragons and dragon kings partly derives from Buddhist scripture. Buddhist texts mention five dragon kings, seven dragon kings, eight dragon kings, and so forth.

Ancient Indians held dragons in great reverence, believing that amongst aquatic creatures, dragons possessed the greatest strength, whilst amongst terrestrial creatures, elephants possessed the greatest strength. Therefore, they honoured people of supreme virtue with the title “dragon-elephant”.⁷ For example, “dragon-elephant from the West” refers to great masters or eminent monks from the western regions. Ancient Indians believed rain occurred when dragons drew water from the ocean and scattered it across the earth. Chinese people adopted this belief, with almanacs noting how many dragons were drawing water, indicating the year’s rainfall abundance.

Amongst the dragon kings (or Nāgarāja in Sanskrit)⁸ there was one called Nāgarāja Sāgara,⁹ whose youngest daughter transformed into male form at age eight on Gṛdhrakuṭa (Vulture Peak)¹⁰ where Śākyamuni¹¹ expounded the Dharma. She manifested the appearance of becoming a Buddha (Indians favoured males over females, believing female bodies could not attain Buddhahood, requiring transformation into male form prior). When she attained Buddhahood, people and the Eight Legions of Devas and Nāgas all witnessed it.

“Yaksha”¹² refers to a type of spirit in Buddhist scripture, appearing in terms such as “Eight Great Yaksha Generals” and “Sixteen Great Yaksha Generals”. The original meaning of “yaksha” describes a deity that devours ghosts, with connotations of swiftness, bravery, agility, and secrecy. The commentary on the Vimalakirti Sutra¹³ states: “Kumārajīva¹⁴ said, ‘There are three types of yaksha: first, those on earth; second, those in the sky; third, celestial yakshas.’”

When we mention “yaksha” nowadays, we generally refer to evil spirits. However, in Buddhist scripture, many yakshas were benevolent, with the Eight Great Yaksha Generals tasked with “protecting all beings”.

“Gandharva”¹⁵ is a type of deity that consumes neither alcohol nor meat, nourishing itself only on fragrances, serving as one of Śakra’s musician deities, with bodies emitting strong perfume. “Gandharva” also means “elusive and unpredictable” in Sanskrit. Magicians are also called “gandharvas,” and mirages are called “gandharva cities”. Both fragrance and music are ethereal and elusive, difficult to grasp.

“Asura”¹⁶ represents a rather special type of deity. Males are extremely ugly, whilst females are extremely beautiful. The Asura King often leads his troops to battle Śakra, because asuras have beautiful women but lack fine food, whilst Śakra has fine food but lacks beautiful women. They envy and contend for what each other has, engaging in tremendous battles that turn heaven and earth upside down. We often call catastrophically bombed battlefields with corpses strewn everywhere “asura grounds”¹⁷ because of this.

These great battles typically end with the Asura King’s defeat. After one crushing defeat, with nowhere to flee in both heaven and earth, he transformed himself and hid within the hollow threads of lotus roots. The Asura King had a violent, stubborn, and jealous temperament. When Śākyamuni expounded “Four Foundations of Mindfulness”, the Asura King started teaching “Five Foundations of Mindfulness”. When Śākyamuni preached “Thirty-seven Wings to Enlightenment”, the Asura King perversely added one, teaching “Thirty-eight Wings to Enlightenment”.

The mythological stories in Buddhist scripture mostly serve as parables. The Asura King wields great power and tremendous capability, yet enjoys engaging in acts of “I refuse to accept fate” and “let chaos reign, the more the better”. Asuras are also paranoid, as seen in Da Zhidu Lun, Volume 35:¹⁸ “Because the Asura’s heart is not upright, he constantly suspects the Buddha of aiding the devas. When the Buddha teaches the ‘Five Aggregates’,¹⁹ he suspects there are six aggregates with one withheld; when teaching the ‘Four Noble Truths’,²⁰ he suspects there are five truths with one untold.”

“Five Aggregates” refers to the “Five Skandhas”.¹⁹ The Five Skandhas and Four Noble Truths represent fundamental concepts in Buddhist teaching. When hearing the Buddha’s teachings, asuras suspect the Buddha favoured Śakra, deliberately omitting something. From the perspective of the “Six Paths of Rebirth”,²¹ devas represent the divine path and are above humans, whilst the remaining seven categories resemble asuras, possessing supernatural powers, with circumstances between humans and beasts, more wicked than humans but less wicked than beasts.

“Garuda”²² refers to a great bird, its wings adorned with a magnificent array of jewels and precious hues. On its head rests a large protuberance, known as the Cintāmaṇi (wish-fulfilling gem in Sanskrit).²³ This bird emits cries of profound sorrow and sustains itself on nagas. The classic novel The Story of Yuefei,²⁴ claims Yue Fei was the reincarnation of the “Great Golden-winged Peng Bird”, which is precisely the garuda. It must eat a nagaraja and five hundred lesser nagas each day.

When its life ends, the accumulated dragon venom within its body prevents it from feeding any longer. It then soars and plunges seven times in flight before finally reaching the summit of the Vajracakra Mountain to meet its demise. Having feasted on dragons (which were great venomous serpents) throughout its life, its body is saturated with immense toxicity. At the moment of death, this poison ignites, causing the Garuda to combust spontaneously. After its physical form is consumed by the flames, only its heart remains, transformed into a shade of pure, azure lapis lazuli.²⁵

“Kinnara”²⁶ in Sanskrit means “human yet not human”. It resembles a human in form but has a horn on its head, hence it is referred to as “human yet not human”. Skilled in song and dance, it serves as Śakra’s dance deity.

“Mahoraga”²⁷ describes a great python deity, with a human body and serpent head.

This novel takes Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils as its title, depicting a story set in the Song,²⁸ Liao,²⁹ and Dali³⁰ kingdoms during the Northern Song period.³¹

The Dali Kingdom during the Tang and Song periods, a small state in modern day central Yunnan Province, was a Buddhist nation whose emperors were devout Buddhists, often relinquishing the throne to become monks, a remarkably unique phenomenon in Chinese history. Historical records indicate that amongst Dali Kingdom emperors, Emperor Shengde, Emperor Xiaode, Emperor Baoding, Emperor Xuanren, Emperor Zhenglian, and Emperor Shenzong all abdicated to become monks.

The Southern Emperor Duan Zhixing in The Legend of the Condor Heroes was an emperor of the Dali Kingdom. Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is set before The Legend of the Condor Heroes. This novel’s story occurs during the Yuanyou³² and Shaosheng³³ eras of Northern Song Emperor Zhezong’s³⁴ reign, around 1094 CE.

These eight types of supernatural beings each possess peculiar personalities and divine powers. Though beings beyond the mortal realm, they experience worldly joys and sorrows. This novel does not contain supernatural spirits. It merely borrows the Buddhist scripture term to symbolise certain mortal characters, just as Water Margin³⁵ features Mother Yaksha Sun Erniang and Cloud-soaring Golden-winged Ou Peng.

Buddhism holds that all worldly things are impermanent. All sentient beings (including devas, humans, asuras, beasts, hungry ghosts, and hell beings), unless attaining “arhat”³⁶ status, harbour the three poisons³⁷ of “greed, hatred, and delusion” in their hearts, inevitably suffering from impermanence.

This book describes ordinary people (their emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, hate, grief, and worry are no different from normal people’s). The historical events related are generally accurate, the characters include both real and fictional figures, whilst the stories are invented, though striving for authentic character emotions.

However, many characters in the book possess extraordinary martial arts or neigong abilities (many surpassing reality, impossible in actual life), experiencing considerable supernatural encounters (some with extremely peculiar temperaments). Therefore, using Eight Legions of Deva and Nāga as the title emphasises that this work is not realist but possesses fantastical qualities, unleashing imagination (as many wuxia novels do).

The “Eight Legions of Deva and Nāga” concept is inherently mythological. When the Buddha expounded Dharma, he mostly used mythological figures as metaphors, conveying relatively abstract meanings. Abstraction allows content to be broader, encompassing greater scope, unlike concrete persons and events with specific references.

This book’s content frequently involves Buddhism but is not a religious novel, nor does its main purpose aim to promote Buddhism. Because many characters in the book believe in Buddhism, including ordained monks, the story inevitably touches upon Buddhism. Mahāyāna Buddhism possesses extremely broad implications, not limited to the mortal world but encompassing everything above heaven and below earth. Being human is suffering, as is being an ox or horse, being a ghost or deity, all is suffering. Mahāyāna Buddhism originally evolved from the “Mahāsāṃghika”³⁸ school of Indian Buddhism,³⁹ incorporating numerous ancient Indian folk legends and beliefs. Modern people may consider some portions superstitious and unbelievable, but ancient beliefs often serve as symbols, frequently containing broader truths.

Footnotes

1. One of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sutras. See Wikipedia. ↩

2. Chapter 12 in the Lotus Sutra. Devadatta means god-given in Sanskrit. See Wikipedia. ↩

3. Translator: The chinese characters 天龙八部 (Tiān Lóng Bābù) literally means the Eight Legions of Deva (tian) and Nāga (long). ↩

4. Celestial beings with the god-like characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived. See Wikipedia. ↩

5. Lord of the Devas. Ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven according to Buddhist cosmology. Also known as Indra. See Wikipedia. ↩

6. Semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld, and can occasionally take human or part-human form. See Wikipedia. ↩

7. 龙象 — Lóngxiàng. Honorific title for a highly virtuous or accomplished monk, symbolizing great power and wisdom. ↩

8. Dragon king in Sanskrit. See Wikipedia. ↩

9. Prominent Nāga king in Mahāyāna Buddhism. See Wikipedia. ↩

10. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha’s favorite retreat in Rajagaha. And the inspiration for the Lingjiu Palace in the novel. See Wikipedia. ↩

11. Respectful title for the Buddha meaning Sage of the Shakyas. See Wikipedia. ↩

12. The yakshas of many Buddhist stories are ugly ogres, reborn in that form because of sins committed during their past lives as humans. See Wikipedia. ↩

13. Buddhist Mahāyāna sutra. See Wikipedia. ↩

14. Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary, and translator from Kucha, present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang. Seen as one of the greatest translators of Chinese Buddhism See Wikipedia. ↩

15. Supernatural beings connected with trees and flowers and fly through the air, are known for their skill as musicians. See Wikipedia. ↩

16. Power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas. See Wikipedia. ↩

17. 修罗场 — Xiūluó Chǎng. Literally asura ground/field. Metaphor for a horrific, chaotic battlefield. ↩

18. Massive Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise and commentary on the The Sūtra of Transcendental Wisdom in Twenty-five Thousand Lines. See Wikipedia. ↩

19. Skandha refers to the five aggregates of clinging in Buddhism. See Wikipedia. ↩ ↩²

20. Four Noble Truths are the truths of the noble one (the Buddha), a statement of how things really are when they are seen correctly. See Wikipedia. ↩

21. Six Paths of Rebirth. See Wikipedia ↩

22. Gigantic golden-winged predatory birds that are enemies of the Nāgas. See Wikipedia. ↩

23. A wish-fulfilling jewel resembling a pearl. See Wikipedia. ↩

24. 精忠岳传 — Jīngzhōng Yuèzhuàn. Classic novel written by Qian Cai during the Qing dynasty. See Wikipedia (Chinese). ↩

25. Deep blue-to-violet metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense colour. See Wikipedia. ↩

26. Part human and part bird, and have a strong association with music and love. See Wikipedia. ↩

27. Huge primordial subterranean serpents who are cousins to the Nāga, and associated with instrumental music. See Wikipedia. ↩

28. 宋 — Sòng. Dynasty ruled by the Han Chinese under the House of Zhao from 960 to 1279 CE, referred to as Northern Song before losing the northern territories to Jin invasion, and Southern Song after the capital moved south. See Wikipedia. ↩

29. 遼 — Liáo. Powerful Khitan empire that ruled over northeast China, Mongolian Plateau, northern part of Korean Peninsula, southern parts of Russian Far East, and northern tip of North China Plain from 916 to 1125 CE. See Wikipedia. ↩

30. 大理国 — Dàlǐ Guó. Kingdom in southwest China, modern-day Yunnan, ruled by the Bai people of the Duan Clan from 937 to 1253 CE. See Wikipedia. ↩

31. 北宋 — Běi Sòng. Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), before the Jin conquest forced the court south. See Wikipedia. ↩

32. 元祐 — Yuányòu. Northern Song Emperor Zhezong’s reign, around 1094 CE. See Wikipedia. ↩

33. 绍圣 — Shàoshèng. Northern Song Emperor Zhezong’s reign, around 1094 CE. See Wikipedia. ↩

34. 哲宗 — Zhézōng. Northern Song Emperor Zhezong (1077-1100 CE). See Wikipedia. ↩

35. 水浒传 — Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn. One of the Four Great Classical Chinese Novels, attributed to Shi Naian. See Wikipedia. ↩

36. Title for a Buddhist monk who has attained Nirvana. See Wikipedia. ↩

37. 贪嗔痴 — Tān Chēn Chī. Three Poisons: greed/attachment, hatred/aversion, and ignorance/delusion. See Wikipedia. ↩

38. One of the early Buddhist schools from which Mahāyāna evolved. See Wikipedia. ↩

39. See Wikipedia. ↩