and Fuxi unearthed in
Xinjiang.
River deities In ancient China, some of the river gods which were worshiped were depicted in the form of some sort of snake or snake-like being:
Directional deities of the north In the ancient China of the
Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), worship of Four Directional deities developed, the directions were east, south, west, and north. With the direction of the middle, there were five major directions, each associated with a divine being or beings, a season, and a color (with the "middle direction" being associated with the emperor and the color yellow). This set of correlations of five
whatevers included many more than mentioned here, in the elaborated philosophical system of
Wǔ Xíng (), although some of the basics related to directional deities was much older. The north was associated with a pair of divine beings, the Dark Warrior (
Xuán Wǔ, ), a tortoise-and-snake creature, with the season of winter, and with the color black (also often considered to be a deepish shade of blue). Each of the directions was also associated with one of the
wǔ xíng, or five "elements" (sometimes also translated as "phases" or "materials"): that of the north was
water. According to Anthony Christie, the tortoise and snake combination was known as the Black Warrior. And, that although the worship of the other directions was an ancient practice, the worship of the north was usually avoided because the north was considered the dwelling place of a destructive deity of the ocean wind. However, the worship of the north was practiced, with sacrificial ceremonies to the Black Warrior, by the rulers of the Han dynasty, which claimed to rule with the protection of water and the north. Although the Black Warrior is generally depicted as a snake entwining around a turtle, sometimes, they are viewed as two separable generals.
Yanwei Yanwei () is a snake deity in Chinese mythology, depicted with a human head and a snake’s body, featuring two heads. Its body is purple, its heads are red, and it measures roughly the length of a cart's yoke. Yanwei is known to abhor thunder, becoming motionless whenever it occurs. Worshiping Yanwei is believed to grant the power to dominate the world.
Deities from snake Bai Suzhen and
Xiaoqing became deities from snakes.
The nine-headed baby In Chinese mythology,
Jiuying (, "the nine-headed baby") is an ancient monster with nine snake-like heads, capable of spouting water and breathing fire. Its name comes from its cry, which resembles a baby’s wail. During the reign of
Emperor Yao, when ten suns appeared in the sky and caused widespread suffering, Jiuying was among the creatures that terrorized the people. To protect them, Emperor Yao sent the divine archer
Hou Yi, who shot and killed Jiuying near the fierce waters. The creature is mentioned in ancient texts such as the
Huainanzi. == Culture ==