Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
The Perfected Warrior (Zhenwu), Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, is also called Xuantian Shangdi, the Great Emperor Xuanwu, the True Lord Who Aids the Sage and Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, the Heavenly Worthy Who Vanquishes Demons, the Preceptor of Jade Emptiness, the Patriarch Who Subdues Demons of the Nine Heavens, and the Limitless Patriarch; his full title is the Great Emperor Zhenwu Who Vanquishes Demons. He is the god of the north in Chinese myth and legend, and one of the most renowned honored deities of the Jade Capital among the Taoist immortals. Zhenwu was originally the Dark Warrior (Xuanwu), the deity who assisted the legendary ruler Zhuanxu. The principal deity worshipped in the Wudang Mountains of Hubei is Zhenwu, recorded in the Taoist scriptures as “the Divine Lord Zhenwu Who Guards Heaven, Numinously Responsive, and Aids the Sage,” or “the Divine Lord Zhenwu” for short. Among the Chinese people he is called the Heavenly Worthy Who Vanquishes Demons, the Patriarch of Repaid Kindness, and the Patriarch with Unbound Hair.
Zhenwu has a most martial image: a hundred feet tall, with his hair hanging loose and wearing golden chain armor, he stands with his hand on his sword, treading on a five-colored numinous tortoise, his eyes like lightning. At his side stand the two generals Tortoise and Snake, and the Golden Boy and Jade Maiden who record the merits, faults, good, and evil of the Three Realms.
The Wondrous Scripture of Divine Incantations from the Original Biography of Zhenwu, Great Sage of the Dark Heaven, Spoken by the Most High records that Zhenwu is the eighty-second transformation body of Lord Lao the Most High (Taishang Laojun). He was born in the Palace of Pure Joy of the Kingdom of Pure Joy, in the Heavenly Palace Without Desire in the realm of Daluo, as the son of the king. Queen Shansheng of Pure Joy dreamed that she swallowed the sun and conceived, and after fourteen months of pregnancy she gave birth to a prince. The king and queen loved him dearly and named him Taixuan. Taixuan showed a brilliant gift from an early age, and by the age of ten he could read all kinds of books and remember everything at a glance. The king and queen treasured him as the apple of their eye, but Taixuan wished only to practice cultivation, his whole heart set on the Tao. When he grew up, he left his home, bade farewell to his parents, and entered the Wudang Mountains, devoting himself to cultivating the Tao. After 42 years his merit was complete and his practice fulfilled, and he ascended to heaven in broad daylight. The Jade Emperor issued an edict appointing him Taixuan to guard the north.