Page 517 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

H EBO 477

guo Reign Period; 978; j . 42) describes him as a man who learns moral and
spiritual lessons. InJia Shanxiang's f1 ~ ~ Gaodao zhuan ~ ill {-W (Biographies
of Eminent Taoists; ca. I086), he is said to have retired after having received
an elixir from a mysterious Elder. Based on that story, a thirteenth-century
local history presents him as a seller of drugs who lived hundreds of years,
then "ascended to immortality."

Russell KIRKLAND
ID Kirkland 1989; Kirkland 1992b; Kirkland 1992- 93, 160--{)5

* TAOISM AND THE STATE

Hebo

Count of the River

Hebo is the deity who controls the Yellow River. His surname is Ping 1'J.!& (or
Bing o./<) and his given name Yi ~, or variously, his surname is Lii g and his
given name Gongzi 0.:r. Some sources say that Ping Yi 1'J:§ ~ is his wife.
The Hebo myth has a long history. The Zhushu jinian 11 TIt fo.\c iF (Bamboo
Annals; originally ca. 300 BCE) contains the story of a fight between Hebo
and Luobo 1!{s, deity of the Luo River. In the Mu tianzi zhuan f~ .:r~
(Biography of Mu, Son of Heaven; trans. Mathieu 1978, 17), the mountains
of Yangyu ~?ff (sometimes identified as a place in Shaanxi) are identified as
Hebo's capital, while in the Shanhai jing LlJ fflJ ~~ (Scripture of Mountains and
Seas; trans. Mathieu 1983, 492) it is said to be an abyss three hundred fathoms
deep and wide. Hebo is portrayed there in human form, riding two dragons.
In the Tianwen 7C P'"~ (Heavenly Questions) poem of the Chuci ~ ~ (Songs of
Chu; trans. Hawkes 1985, 122- 51) there is a verse that asks, "Why did Yi shoot
Hebo and take the goddess of the River Luo to be his wife?" The commenta-
tor Wang Yi .:E~ (second century CE) cites the tale about when Hebo, having
taken the form of a white dragon, was frolicking on the banks of the river,
when Yi ~ the Archer saw him and shot him in the left eye.
The biography of HuaJi m fi in the Shiji (Records of the Historian;j. 126)
refers to another episode involving Hebo that took place during the Warring
States period. It was an annual custom in the town of Ye ~r) in the state of
Wei ~ (Henan) to throw a beautifully adorned young girl into the river to
become the bride of Hebo. Ximen Bao iZ9 ~~ ~f.J, however, who had become
the magistrate of Ye, devised a plan to bring this evil custom to an end. This