Er Lang

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Journey to the West

Erlang makes an appearance near the start of the folk classic Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. Erlang, who is titled as being either True Lord, or Illustrious Sage, is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. Erlang made his first appearance when he had been ordered by the Jade Emperor (in which Erlang was also with his seven elite sages whom he called his brothers) to subdue Sun Wukong, who was to be punished for his havoc in heaven.

“ His bearing was refined, his visage noble, His ears hung down to his shoulders, and his eyes shone. The hat on his head had three peaks and phoenixes flying, And his robe was of a pale goose−yellow. His boots were lined with cloth of gold; dragons coiled round his socks; His jade belt was decorated with the eight jewels, At his waist was a bow, curved like the moon, In his hand a double−edged trident. His axe had split open Peach Mountain when he rescued his mother, His bow had killed the twin phoenixes of Zongluo. Widespread was his fame for killing the Eight Bogies, And he had become one of Plum Hill's seven sages. His heart was too lofty to acknowledge his relatives in Heaven; In his pride he went back to be a god at Guanjiang. He was the Merciful and Miraculous Sage of the red city, Erlang, whose transformations were numberless. ”

Throughout the course of Erlang's duel between Sun Wukong, Erlang had been the stronger adversary. After many transformations that were performed in their duel (Sun Wukong fleeing as a fish; Erlang and Sun Wukong becoming larger birds, and so forth). Near the conclusion of the battle, he managed to see through Sun Wukong's disguise (as a temple) using his third-eye. He eventually defeated Wukong through teamwork with several other gods; Lao Tzu personally had dropped his refined golden ring that had hit Sun Wukong on the head, giving Erlang a chance to bring him down, and Erlang's dog bit him in the leg. After Sun Wukong had been captured, he and his heavenly soldiers would burn random areas of the Bloom Mountains. Erlang would once again be seen far later into the novel, in which he would assist Sun Wukong through chance by fighting against a certain ancient Dragon King and his allies.