The child god Nezha is a staple of Chinese culture. Mothers make offerings to him so their children will grow up strong and healthy. Nezha pops up in Journey to the West to help our four heroes defeat demons and then takes on the Monkey King - although they later become friends.
Nezha's origin lies in the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty (1200BC). His mother, after being pregnant for three years (poor soul), gave birth to a ball of flesh. Nezha's father, horrified, believed it was a demon. Taking his hefty sword, the father split the ball of flesh in two - out popped a smiling Nezha already able to walk, talk and cast simple magic spells.
Nezha's origin and stories of many triumphant battles as he becomes an adult and later general in the Emperor's army bears a remarkable similarity to that of Krishna, the Indian hero-god. This suggests that trade and interchange across south-east Asia was common as long ago as four thousand years.
There have been a number of successful Nezha movies, TV series, games - including the box-office breaking 2019 animé - 86% on Rotten Tomatoes - 9.5 on the Chinese Maoyang. Now comes a new live-action instant classic:
Confusingly, there is also a poorer quality animé circulating with an almost identical title: I Am Nezha - Return of the Hero.
Meanwhile, if you missed it, you can see Nezha (2019) in the usual places - but here's a clip:
Nezha's origin lies in the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty (1200BC). His mother, after being pregnant for three years (poor soul), gave birth to a ball of flesh. Nezha's father, horrified, believed it was a demon. Taking his hefty sword, the father split the ball of flesh in two - out popped a smiling Nezha already able to walk, talk and cast simple magic spells.
Nezha's origin and stories of many triumphant battles as he becomes an adult and later general in the Emperor's army bears a remarkable similarity to that of Krishna, the Indian hero-god. This suggests that trade and interchange across south-east Asia was common as long ago as four thousand years.
There have been a number of successful Nezha movies, TV series, games - including the box-office breaking 2019 animé - 86% on Rotten Tomatoes - 9.5 on the Chinese Maoyang. Now comes a new live-action instant classic:
Confusingly, there is also a poorer quality animé circulating with an almost identical title: I Am Nezha - Return of the Hero.
Meanwhile, if you missed it, you can see Nezha (2019) in the usual places - but here's a clip:
statistics: Posted by andrew.stephenson999 — 5:30 AM - Today — Replies 0 — Views 136