The Three Ruling Gods

This legend tells of three great lords: one who rules in heaven, one who rules on the earth, and one who rules in the waters. Together they are called the Three Ruling Gods, and they are brothers.

Their father is identified at the start of the source chapter as the father of the Monk of the Yangtze River. Long ago, while he was traveling by boat on the great river, a robber threw him overboard. Yet he did not drown. A sea-spirit swam by, picked him up and carried him down to the palace of the dragons under the water. When the Dragon-King laid eyes on him, he saw straight away that this was no ordinary man, so he gave him his own daughter as a wife.

The couple had three sons. Even as small boys, the three cared more for secret wisdom than for games. When they were older, they traveled together to an island in the sea, sat down and began to meditate. They did not listen to anything, they did not look at anything, they did not say a single word and they did not stir. Birds flew down and built nests in their hair. Spiders spun webs over their faces. Worms and beetles crept into their noses and ears and out again. The brothers took no notice of any of it.

They sat like that for many years, until at last the secret wisdom was theirs and they became gods. Then the Lord appointed them the Three Ruling Gods. Heaven makes things, the earth brings things to completion, and the waters give things life, and the three brothers sent out their first, deepest power to help keep everything in its proper order. That is why they are also called the first gods, and why temples to them stand all over the land.

The tale describes a temple image with the three gods sitting side by side on a single platform. They wear tall hats like ladies’ hats, and they hold scepters, the way kings do. But the one sitting in the last seat, on the right, looks furious. His eyes glare and his face is full of anger.

It explains that expression with the following story.

When the Lord made the three brothers into gods, they had to decide where each of them would sit. The youngest brother said, “Let’s meet here tomorrow, before the sun comes up. Whoever arrives first gets the seat of honor in the middle. The next one takes the second place, and the last one takes the third.”

The two older brothers agreed. Early the next morning the youngest was the first to arrive. He sat down in the middle and became the god of the waters. The middle brother came next. He sat down on the left and became the god of heaven. The eldest brother came last of all. When he saw the other two settled in the best places, he was terribly annoyed, but he had agreed to the plan and could say nothing. His face went red with fury, his eyes bulged out like round bullets and the veins on his head puffed up like balloons. He sat down on the right and became the god of the earth.

That, says the tale, is why the image of the eldest brother has an angry face.

About this story

“The Three Ruling Gods” is chapter XXIV of Richard Wilhelm’s The Chinese Fairy Book, translated by Frederick H. Martens (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1921). Wilhelm says he wrote it down as ordinary people tell it.

Wilhelm’s note proposes a connection with the Indian Trimurti and Shiva. That is his comparative interpretation, not something established by this narrative. The edition is also inconsistent about the family connection: its opening identifies the brothers’ father as the monk’s father, while the next paragraph calls that man the Monk. The later Monk of the Yangtze-kiang chapter gives the river-attack episode to the monk’s father.

Read the original: The Chinese Fairy Book (Project Gutenberg)

Best for ages 6–8 — a short legend explaining why one temple god always looks angry.

Reading the story closely

The brothers can remain unmoved by nesting birds and crawling insects for years, yet a contest over seats provokes lasting anger. That contrast gives the solemn meditation scene a comic afterlife: supernatural attainment does not erase the ordinary desire for status.

Draw the three seats and label the arrival order and each brother’s domain. Then propose a different seating rule—age, rotating turns or chance—and consider whom it would favor. Agreement to a rule can explain why the eldest accepts his place, but it does not guarantee that he feels satisfied with the outcome.

Talk about it

• What strange things happened to the brothers while they sat meditating?
• Why couldn’t the eldest brother complain about his seat?
• Was the youngest brother’s plan fair? What would you have suggested?

Related stories

• The Monk of the Yangtze-kiang — a related legend whose hero’s father survives a river attack
• The Queen of Heaven — another Wilhelm legend about how a goddess came to be worshipped
• The Halos of the Saints — a short Wilhelm tale about holy figures