| During the early 10th century CE, this god appeared as Guankou Shen, an incarnation of the famous Li Bing of Qin prefecture (modern-day Sichuan) who was celebrated as a hero for quelling the Minjiang River and building the famous Dujiangyan---waterworks of the third century BCE. He then was identified with the second son of Li Bing. He was recognized by the Song emperors. This cult thus spread nationwide and was also absorbed into Daoism in the early 12th century CE. Another identity of this god Zhao Yu replaced Li Erlang in some places during the 14th century. Zhao was tied to Jiazhou and was adopted by the Daoist. On the other hand, Yuan drama and Ming vernacular fiction reconstructed the god's image and created new tales, which contributed to the popularity of another identity of Erlang Shen---Yang Jian, who monopolizes the image of Erlang Shen in popular literature. |
