. He called to his aid the spirits of the twenty-eight
constellations, and marched to attack Wu Wang's army. The honour of
the victory that ensued belonged to Chun T'i, who disarmed both the
Immortal Wu Yuen and T'ung-t'ien Chiao-chu.

Wu Yuen, armed with his magic sword, entered the lists against Chun
T'i; but the latter opened his mouth and a blue lotus-flower came
out and stopped the blows aimed at him. Other thrusts were met by
similar miracles.

"Why continue so useless a fight?" said Chun T'i at last. "Abandon
the cause of the Shang, and come with me to the Western Paradise. I
came to save you, and you must not compel me to make you resume your
original form."

An insulting flow of words was the reply; again the magic sword
descended like lightning, and again the stroke was averted by a timely
lotus-flower. Chun T'i now waved his wand, and the magic sword was
broken to bits, the handle only remaining in Wu Yuen's hand.

The Golden-bearded Turtle

Mad with rage, Wu Yuen seized his club and tried to fell his enemy. But
Chun T'i summoned a disciple, who appeared with a bamboo pole. This he
thrust out like a fishing-rod, and on a hook at the end of the line
attached to the pole dangled a large golden-bearded turtle. This
was the Immortal Wu Yuen, now in his original form of a spiritual
turtle. The disciple seated himself on its back, and both, disappearing
into space, returned to the Western Heavens.

The Battle Won

To conquer T'ung-t'ien Chiao-chu was more difficult, but after a long
fight Chun T'i waved his Wand of the Seven Treasures and broke his
adversary's sword. The latter, disarmed and vanquished, disappeared
in a cloud of dust. Chun T'i did not trouble to pursue him. The battle
was won.

Buddhahood

A disciple of T'ung-t'ien Chiao-chu, P'i-lu Hsien, 'the Immortal
P'i-lu,' seeing his master beaten in two successive engagements,
left the battlefield and followed Chun T'i to the Western Paradise,
to become a Buddha. He is known as P'i-lu Fo, one of the principal
gods of Buddhism.

Chun T'i's festival is celebrated on the sixth day of the third
moon. He is generally shown with eight hands and three faces, one of
the latter being that of a pig.

CHAPTER XIV

How the Monkey Became a God

The Hsi Yu Chi

In dealing with the gods of China we noticed the monkey among them. Why
and in what manner he attained to that exalted rank is set forth in
detail in the _Hsi yu chi_ [33]--a work