The Most Powerful Boy in Chinese Legend

Hey guys, it's Mike. It's Dan. You know, Dan, I love Chinese legends because listening to them really takes me into a world of wonder and really gives me the feels. I mean, you either got a moon goddess leaving her husband for the longest distance relationship ever or a couple who are separated by the Milky Way and can only see each other once a year on Chinese Valentine's Day. These are some uber feel stuff. Dude, you are a total cheese ball, but I get how you feel. I love Chinese legends as well. How awesome would it be to live in a time where perhaps these gods coexisted with mankind and you weren't called superstitious or crazy for believing that they exist? Exactly. And speaking of stories of gods, here is the legend of Nezha. According to the legend, it all began 3,000 to 4,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty in northeastern China. A military commander, Li Jing, anxiously awaited the birth of his third child, and he was anxious for good reason. His wife's pregnancy had lasted three years and six months. The night before going into labor, his wife dreamed that she saw a Taoist immortal sweeping his magical whisk across her belly. He asked her to accept the child being conferred upon her and to call him Nezha. The next day, Lady Yin gave birth to a large round ball of flesh, basically a meatball. Shocked and disappointed, her husband suspected the anomaly to be demonic and drew his sword. He proceeded to strike the fleshy mass, piercing the surface and revealing, to his amazement, a grown, vivacious child, Nezha. Shortly after, a Taoist immortal arrived and offered to take the boy as his disciple. Both parents consented. The Taoist then bestowed upon Nezha a magical instrument, the Cosmic Wheel, or Tiankun Lun. The extent of Nezha's extraordinary powers would soon be revealed. One hot day, Nezha, who's seven years old by now, eager to cool off, went bathing in the nearby sea. Still unaware of the power that his magical instrument possessed, he took his Cosmic Wheel, which is in the shape of a medium-sized hula hoop, but it's heavier so that no other mortal could lift it, and swished it around, only to end up causing massive tremors deep in the water below. The tremors caused by Nezha shook the underwater palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea. The enraged Dragon King ordered one of his scouts to find out who or what was causing the chaos. Upon discovering Nezha, a mere boy, to be the culprit of the seaside antics, the scout immediately attacked Nezha and expected to kill him with ease. However, with one blow of his Cosmic Wheel, Nezha killed the scout. Learning of this, the Dragon King sent his favorite son to deal with Nezha. Even though Nezha tried to go easy on the Dragon Prince, the Prince was a hothead and Overcome with rage and sadness, the Dragon King vowed to report Nezha's crimes to the Jade Emperor, who was the supreme ruler of the heavens and mortal realms. Nezha, however, dashed to the gates of the Jade Emperor's palace and waited for the Dragon King to arrive. Upon his arrival, he beat the Dragon King until the Dragon King said that he would not The Dragon King was so upset that he asked his other three brothers to gather their armies to flood Nezha's hometown. When the armies appeared and was ready to attack, Nezha showed up again and told them that everything was his doing and no innocent people should be harmed. Then he took his sword and ended his own life. When Nezha's master Taiyi Zhenzhen heard of Nezha's death, he wasn't worried. He used lotus roots to construct a human body and called out to Nezha to awaken. Thus, Nezha came back to life more powerful than ever because Taiyi Zhenzhen also gave Nezha a few new weapons, the Wind Fire Wheels, which allowed Nezha to travel at the speed of the wind, and a fire-tipped spear, and also gave Nezha the ability to grow San Tou And of course, Nezha was also one of the opponents of Shen Wukong, the Monkey King, when he was making a ruckus in the heavens. And of course, Nezha was defeated by Shen Wukong. But you know what made Nezha so endearing, his superpowers aside, is his playful persona. And ultimately, Nezha and figures like him invite us to partake in a world of wonder, a world where the horizons of human possibilities are stretched always for the better.