What God Is Black & White Impermanence
(Hei Bai Wu Chang)?
Black and White Impermanence originates from the impermanent ghosts in Chinese Taoist mythology. They are responsible for guiding the ghosts of people after death into the Yin Cao. They are one of the gods of death. One black and one white symbolizes one DAY and one NIGHT, as well as one YANG and one YIN.
"Impermanence" was originally a Buddhist term, which means change, so it means something that does not exist forever. The so-called "all formations are impermanent". In the Ksitigarbha Sutra, it is concretized and said that "the great ghost of impermanence will come unexpectedly", warning that human's lives are always changing and cannot be eternal. Folks transformed the phrase of "Impermanent Great Ghost" into "God Of Death" who is responsible for bringing the soul into the underworld after death.
The images of Black and White Impermanence are different in different places, such as "Wu Er Ye" in Si Chuan, General Xie and Fan and General Han Lu in southern Fujian culture (Taiwan, Fujian and Nanyang).
Besides Fujian, the Black and White Impermanence circulated throughout China are two equally tall ghost soldiers, most of them holding lanterns, spirit banners, mourning sticks, etc., in order to lure the newly dead ghosts into the underworld, regardless of good or evil, just like the retribution civil servants. The legend of General Xie and Fan in Fujian is that the two died because of their commitment and trustworthiness during their lifetimes. They were rewarded by the Jade Emperor, making them into gods, and became the generals of Yan Jun and Cheng Huang. In addition to leading the newly dead ghosts, their duties are mainly to catch evil ghosts, and at the same time having the educational significance of rewarding the good and punishing the evil. General Xie and Fan are gods who catch evil spirits, just like a police officer who catches criminals; one is tall and the other is short. General Xie is tall, holding a feather fan, token, handcuffs, iron chains, etc. General Fan is short, holding a feather fan, square cards, torture tools, etc.
More importantly, Fujian and Taiwan often think that General Xie and Fan is the god of the underworld gods such as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Yinhun Bodhisattva, Venerable Mulian, Emperor Dong Yue, Cheng Huang and other gods, and even the protector of gods such as ordinary princes and gods. In the Fu Zhou and Matsu regions, General Xie and Fan was worshipped as the left and right helper of a large number of village temple gods.
In addition, there are some other hell and earth gods such as the Pai Gu Xian, Ke Lian Da Ye, Qing Lian Da Ye, Yin Yang Da Ye, Feng Liu Da Ye, Suan Ming Bo and so on. These gods have no record in the Taoist spectrum as they only appeared lately after the Black and White Impermanence era. Only the seventh and eighth master are really recorded. Of course, it still depends on your personal believings.
A Comparison of General Xie and Fan with the Black and White Impermanence in common
Body： Black & White Impermanence look like；General Xie nd Fan short and tall.
Clothes Colour： Black Impermanence in full black、White Impermanence in full white；General Xie and Fan have various of colours，can be white or black，blue and red、yellow and red.
Facial Expression： Black and White Impermanence with a long tongue；In Taiwan，General Xie with a long tongue，but General Fan is uncertain.
Things Holding： Both hold instruments of torture, but Black and White Impermanence usually hold lanterns and mourning sticks，General Xie and Fan have special feather fans, tokens, etc.
Responsibilities： Black and White Impermanence is the envoy of the soul arrester by Yin Cao; General Xie and Fan are gods who were canonized by the Jade Emperor.
Subjection： Black and White Impermanence is mainly the messenger of souls in the underworld; General Xie and Fan is mainly the subordinate of the prince and the city god.
Roles： Black and White Impermanence is mainly for guiding the dead souls; General Xie and Fan is mainly for catching evil spirits.
God Will： Black and White Impermanence is hardly to be seen around the gods; General Xie and Fan catch evil spirits, and often accompanying a great god in temple events.
