Topic Archive

Myths about Ra

Explore myths connected by the recurring theme of Ra across cultures, characters, and sacred places.

413 myths currently featured for Ra.

The Monk Fahai Kidnapping Xu Xian and Hiding Him in the Jinshan Temple

🐉 Chinese MythologyJinshan Temple, Zhenjiang, ChinaXu Xian • Bai Suzhen • Fahai

Driven by a rigid belief that spirits and humans must never coexist, the powerful Buddhist monk Fahai abducts the young scholar Xu Xian and imprisons him within the Jinshan Temple. This act of spiritual interference forces Xu Xian's wife, the White Snake spirit Bai Suzhen, to wage a catastrophic war against the monastery. The ensuing battle between divine Buddhist magic and the elemental...

Bai Suzhen Inadvertently Scaring Xu Xian to Death by Revealing Her True Snake Form

🐉 Chinese MythologySuzhou, Jiangsu, ChinaBai Suzhen • Xu Xian • Xiaoqing

During the Dragon Boat Festival in Suzhou, the white snake spirit Bai Suzhen is pressured by her husband Xu Xian into drinking Realgar wine, which weakens her human disguise. As she rests, she involuntarily reverts to her true form as a giant white serpent, and when Xu Xian discovers her in the bedroom, the shock is so great that his heart fails and he dies instantly. This tragic event leads...

Bai Suzhen and the Green Snake Xiaoqing Transforming into Beautiful Human Women

🐉 Chinese MythologyWest Lake, Hangzhou, ChinaBai Suzhen • Xiaoqing • Xu Xian

This legendary tale follows Bai Suzhen, a powerful white snake spirit who transforms into a beautiful woman to experience human life and love in the mortal realm. Accompanied by her loyal companion Xiaoqing, a green snake spirit, she settles by the scenic West Lake in Hangzhou where she meets and marries the kind-hearted scholar Xu Xian. However, their happiness is threatened by the monk...

The White Snake Bai Suzhen Gaining Immortality After 1,000 Years of Cultivation

🐉 Chinese MythologyMount Emei, Sichuan, ChinaBai Suzhen • Xu Xian • Xiaoqing

The legend of Bai Suzhen follows a thousand-year-old white snake spirit who achieves human form through rigorous spiritual cultivation on Mount Emei. After falling in love with the mortal Xu Xian, she must overcome the interference of the monk Fahai and prove her virtue to achieve true immortality. Her story is a profound exploration of the intersection between the spiritual and human worlds,...

Buddha Identifying the Six-Eared Macaque, Allowing the Real Wukong to Strike Him Down

🐉 Chinese MythologyMount Emei, Sichuan, ChinaSun Wukong • Six-Eared Macaque • Tang Sanzang

In an epic confrontation between the true Monkey King and an identical impostor, the Six-Eared Macaque, neither gods nor mirrors can distinguish the two until they seek the Buddha's wisdom. The Buddha reveals that the impostor is a Rare Primate with the power to hear all and mimic anything, stripping away his disguise. Once his true nature is exposed and he is trapped under a golden bowl, the...

The Six-Eared Macaque Impersonating Sun Wukong

🐉 Chinese MythologyMount Emei, Sichuan, ChinaSun Wukong • Six-Eared Macaque • Tang Sanzang

The Six-Eared Macaque is a powerful supernatural primate who attempts to usurp Sun Wukong's place in the pilgrimage to the West by mimicking his every attribute. Their conflict is so profound that even the highest deities and magical artifacts cannot distinguish the true Monkey King from the impostor. The saga concludes only when the Buddha identifies the macaque's true nature, leading to the...

Sun Wukong Diving into the Bottomless Pit to Rescue His Master from the Mouse Spirit

🐉 Chinese MythologyBottomless Pit Proxy, Shanxi, ChinaSun Wukong • Tang Sanzang • Zhu Bajie

After the Tang Priest is kidnapped by the Golden-Nosed White-Haired Mouse Spirit, Sun Wukong must descend into a subterranean labyrinth known as the Bottomless Pit. Discovering that the demon has ties to the Heavenly Court, Wukong seeks the help of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing and Prince Nezha to liberate his master. The tale highlights the struggle between Wukong's sharp...

The Spider Demons of Pan'si Cave and the Capture of Tang Sanzang

🐉 Chinese MythologyPan'si Cave Proxy (Pansidong), Sichuan, ChinaTang Sanzang • Sun Wukong • Zhu Bajie

While traveling toward the Western Heaven, the monk Tang Sanzang is captured by seven spider spirits disguised as beautiful sisters who trap him with magic silk. After a series of comical and dangerous encounters involving the Monkey King and Pigsy, the pilgrims must face the spiders' brother, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord, to save their master.

Sun Wukong Transforming into a Bug and Flying into Princess Iron Fan's Stomach

🐉 Chinese MythologyFlaming Mountains, Turpan, ChinaSun Wukong • Princess Iron Fan • Tang Sanzang

To cross the impenetrable Flaming Mountains, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, must secure the magical Banana Leaf Fan from the vengeful Princess Iron Fan. When she refuses and attacks him, Monkey uses his 72 transformations to shrink into a tiny bug, enters her body through her tea, and causes such internal chaos that she is forced to surrender the fan.

Sun Wukong Borrowing the Magical Plantain Fan to Extinguish the Flaming Mountains

🐉 Chinese MythologyFlaming Mountains, Turpan, ChinaSun Wukong • Tang Sanzang • Zhu Bajie

Sun Wukong and his companions encounter the impassable Flaming Mountains during their journey to the West. To cross, Wukong must borrow the mystical Plantain Fan from Princess Iron Fan, leading to a series of deceptions and battles. After several attempts involving transformations and divine intervention, the monkey king successfully uses the fan to extinguish the eternal flames.