Han Xiangzi (韩湘子) is a happy immortal. He is depicted holding a lotus flower, and sometimes with a sheng (笙， a flute) to accompany him. His lotus flower improves mental or physical health of people and animals.
Lan Caihe (蓝采和) is the least known of the Eight Immortals. Lan Caihe’s age and gender are unknown. Lan is depicted often as a girl or boy, but sometimes as a woman or a man. She or he carries a flower basket. His or her behavior is out of norm and deemed strange by most people.
Lü Dongbin (吕洞宾) is the most widely known of the Eight Immortals and hence considered by some to be the de facto leader. Dressed as a scholar, he often holds a sword that dispels evil.
Cao Guojiu (曹国舅) was said to be the uncle of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. He is shown in the official’s court dress with a jade tablet which can purify the environment.
He Xiangu (何仙姑) was born with six golden hairs on her head, and she spent her life as a hermit in the mountains. In a dream, she was instructed how to achieve immortality by the other Immortals.
Zhong Liquan (钟离权) is one of the most ancient of the Eight Immortals and the leader of the group. In Daoism, he is known as Original Master Truly-yang (正阳祖师). His fan can revive the dead.
Zhang Guolao (张果老) is the last of the Eight Immortals. Known as Master Comprehension-of-Profundity (通玄先生), he claims to be several hundred years old.
Notes：1）be associated with和……联系在一起；2）crutch拐杖； 3）lame跛的；4）deem认为，视为；5）de facto事实上的；6）purify净化；7）hermit隐士；9）revive恢复；10）comprehension理解；11）profundity深奥，深刻
8.灶神
Kitchen Deity
There once was a fat mighty lord who loved to eat. His palace was full of all kinds of delicious food, and sometimes he went out to find new food.
One day he came to the house of a simple peasant woman. The mighty lord begged to taste her food so she gave him some sugar cakes, and soon he ate them all. He still was hungry and wanted more cakes, and he even threatened the woman to take her back to his palace to make cakes for him.
The woman became angry and slapped the mighty lord across the face. Her sharp blow was so strong that the mighty lord fell back and became embedded into the wall. He was completely stuck and could do nothing but watch other people eat food.
When the Jade Emperor heard this story, he appointed the mighty lord to be the Kitchen Deity (灶神). Since then, his altar has been set up somewhere near every family’s kitchen stove. As the Kitchen Deity, his responsibility is to report to Heaven what the family has done the whole year. For this reason, each family carefully minds their conduct and behavior because they are afraid that a bad report would be given to the Jade Emperor.
Each year each family renews the Kitchen Deity’s picture to make the Kitchen Deity happy. On the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, people usually offer the deity some melon-shaped candies called“candy melons (糖瓜).”This candy tastes sweet. The kitchen Deity’s mouth will be so full with sugar that when he makes his report, everything will sound good. Others believe that the candy is so sticky that it will keep his mouth shut when he gives his report.
Notes：1）mighty巨大的；2）threaten威胁；3）slap掌掴；4）appoint任命；5）renew更新；6）sticky粘的
9.龙王
The Dragon King
In ancient China, the unicorn, phoenix, tortoise, and dragon were regarded as the Four Spiritual Animals (四灵) that symbolized auspicious signs. The image of the dragon has the head of an ox, the horn of a deer, the eyes of a shrimp, the claws of a hawk, the body of a snake, and the tail of a lion. Besides, scales and shells cover the whole body. The dragon can walk on land, swim in water, and fly among the clouds.
In ancient times Chinese emperors claimed that they were the incarnation of the dragon, symbolizing power and dignity. The common people under their jurisdiction should respect emperors as the incarnation of virtue and strength.
In Chinese mythology, there are four grand Dragon Kings that rule the Four Seas (四方之海) and manipulate the clouds and rain. In addition, there are many little Dragon Kings that reside in other waters, taking charge of local weather for crops. In ancient times, people built up shrines or temples dedicated to either grand or little Dragon Kings. Whenever floods or droughts occurred, local people believed that the Dragon King was in a rage, punishing all local living creatures. People would go to the Dragon King temple where they prayed in front of the dragon image, burning incense and providing food offerings, and wishing that the Dragon King would expel floods or droughts and bring good weather for harvests.
Notes：1）unicorn麒麟；2）hawk鹰；3）incarnation化身；4）ju-risdiction管辖；5）reside居住；6）in a rage一怒之下；7）expel驱逐
10.阎王
Yan Wang in the Nether World
In Chinese folk belief, the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) acts as the executive ruler of all supernatural beings, so Heaven and the Nether World are both under his jurisdiction. However, the Emperor is so deeply involved with the Heavenly Palace affairs that Yan Wang (阎王， King Yama) serves as the executive ruler of the Nether World.
Yan Wang is the shortened Chinese transliteration of Yama Rājā in Sanskrit. The information about Yan Wang was first recorded in an early stratum of Vedic mythology and in Vedic tradition.
After Buddhism entered China, many changes were made in Buddhism to fit Chinese culture and adapt to Chinese ways of thinking and practice. The belief in Yan Wang became more prevalent after the Six Dynasties (六朝). The Buddhist concept of Naraka (the Sanskrit word for the underworld) was combined with the aboriginal Chinese Nether World. The result brought about the saying of“Ten Kings in the Underworld (地府十王).”In the Tang Dynasty such a saying widely spread amid common people in the country, and people gave the ten kings a unified name:Yan Wang.
Traditionally, Yan Wang is enshrined in a hall inside the Chenghuang Temple. Very few temples are used only for the placement of the images of Yan Wang and evil ghosts, except for Mount Pingdu (平都山) which became well-known in the Ming and Qing Dynasties for its ghosts, due to the stories from novels like The Journey to the West (《西游记》) and The Strange Tales of Liaozhai (《聊斋》), which heightened the ghastly and evil atmosphere of Mount Pingdu.
Notes：1）be involved with涉及；2）transliteration音译；3）Sanskrit梵文；4）stratum地层，社会阶层；5）Vedic吠陀的；6）prevalent普遍的；7）aboriginal原产的，原始的；8）unified统一的；9）heighten提高