In Journey to the West, Devaraja Li (also known as Heavenly King Li, Li Jing, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King or Devaraja Pagoda-Bearer) is the supreme military commander serving the Jade Emperor. His character merges the Buddhist deva-king archetype (Buddhist guardian deity Vaiśravana, one of the Four Heavenly Kings) with the historical General Li Jing from Emperor Tang Taizong’s court, a fascinating blend of Buddhist cosmology and Chinese Daoist mythology.
Why does Heavenly King Li hold a pagoda?
The reason Devaraja Li perpetually carries a pagoda in Journey to the West stems from his fraught relationship with his son Nezha (Nata) and the pagoda’s symbolic function.
In the novel, Li Jing embodies authority and discipline, often leading troops to subdue rebellions or capture rogue demons. He is frequently accompanied by his third son, Nezha (or Nata), a powerful deity with a fiery temperament. However, their relationship is fraught with tension, rooted in a legendary conflict from Chinese mythology.
Nezha’s self-sacrifice
In Chinese mythology, Nezha was born with extraordinary powers but a rebellious spirit. As a child, he slew a dragon prince and provoked the wrath of the Eastern Sea Dragon King. To protect the mortal world from divine retribution, Nezha famously disemboweled himself to repay his debt to his parents—a tragic act that severed their bond.
When this child was born to the devaraja, he had on his left hand the word Ne, and on his right the word Zha, and that was why he was named NeZha(Nata). On the third morning after he was born, this prince already decided to bathe in the ocean and caused a great disaster. He overturned the water crystal palace and wanted to pull out the tendons of one of the dragons to use them for a belt. When the devaraja learned of the incident, he feared that his son might prove to be a calamity afterward and sought to have him killed. Nata became enraged; knife in hand, he cut off his own flesh to give it back to his mother and carved up his bones to give them back to his father.
— Journey to the West, Chapter 83
Nezha’s resurrection
In Chinese mythology, Nezha’s resurrection is primarily tied to Daoist lore (especially in Investiture of the Gods), where the immortal Taiyi Zhenren revives him using lotus roots and petals. However, some syncretic folk traditions blend Buddhist elements into the tale. For example, in Journey to the West, the Buddha is said to have blessed the process.
After he had, as it were, repaid his father’s sperm and his mother’s blood, his soul went to the region of ultimate bliss in the West to complain to Buddha.
Buddha at the time was lecturing to the various Bodhisattvas when he heard someone on the sacred banners and parasol calling, “Save me!” One look with his eyes of wisdom and Buddha knew it was the soul of NeZha (Nata). Using the root of the lotus for bones and its leaves for garment, he recited the magic words of revivification and restored Nezha to life.
— Journey to the West, Chapter 83
The Pagoda as Reconciliation
After being resurrected via a lotus-flower body, Nezha sought vengeance against his father, whom he blamed for his suffering.
With his new found divine strength, Nata succeeded in subduing the fiendish demons of ninety-six caves. His magic powers were so great that he later wanted to kill the devaraja in order to exact vengeance for self-immolation.
— Journey to the West, Chapter 83
To resolve the deadly feud, Buddha (or, in some versions, the Daoist sage Taiyi Zhenren) gifted Li Jing the Seven-Jewel Golden Pagoda.
The devaraja had little choice but to plead with Tathagata, who, of course, was an advocate of peace. He therefore bestowed on the devaraja a compliant, yellow-gold treasure pagoda of the finest openwork carving and filled with sari-relics; the pagoda, in fact, symbolized Buddha on each level, and the entire edifice was bathed in luminosity. The sight of the pagoda thus would remind Nata of Buddha, who was to be revered as the prince’s true father, and that is how the enmity was dissolved. This is the reason also for Li Jing to be named the Devaraja Pagoda-Bearer.
— Journey to the West, Chapter 83
This mystical pagoda serves one primary purpose: to subdue and intimidate Nezha, ensuring the fiery-tempered deity cannot seek vengeance against his father. The pagoda thus acts as both a weapon and a psychological safeguard, embodying the tension between paternal authority and filial rebellion in their mythic dynamic.
The pagoda’s presence underscores themes of authority vs. rebellion and familial duty in Chinese culture. It also highlights the syncretism of Buddhist and Daoist elements in Journey to the West.
Leave a Reply