Princess Iron Fan: Difference between revisions

'''Princess Iron Fan''' ({{zh|t=鐵扇公主|s=铁扇公主|first=t|p=TiěTiěshàn shàn gōngzhǔGōngzhǔ|j=Tit3sin3 Gung1zyu2|w=T‘ie³-shan⁴ Kung¹-chu³}}) is a character from the 16th century Chinese novel, ''[[Journey to the West]]''. She is the wife of the [[Bull Demon King]] and mother of [[Red Boy]]. She is one of the most popular ''Journey to the West'' villains, alongside her husband the [[Bull Demon King]], her son the [[Red Boy]], and [[Baigujing]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lu |first1=Xun |title=A brief history of Chinese ficton |date=1959 |publisher=Foreign Languages Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7lDAQAAIAAJ&q=Princess+Iron+Fan+deity |language=en}}</ref>

In ''[[Journey to the West]]'', Princess Iron Fan is not so much a goddess as in a "proper" celestial one, but rather she made the villagers living near [[Flaming Mountains]] yield to her and offer her tribute like a goddess.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chinese Literature |date=1961 |publisher=Foreign Languages Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eFM0AAAAIAAJ&q=There+is+only+a+Princess+Iron+Fan,+also+called+Rakshasa.%E2%80%9D+%22Is+she+the+one+said+to+have+a+palm-leaf+fan+which+can+put+out+the+flames+of+the+Flaming+Mountain |language=en}}</ref> She is also describedaddressed as a ''[[Rakshasa|Rākṣasī]]/Rākṣasī'' ([[wiktionary:羅剎|羅剎]]女; ''Luóchànǚ'').

Princess Iron Fan is a beautiful demoness, married to the Bull Demon King and mother to the Red Boy. She was living in Bajia"[[Palmleaf]] Cave/[[Grotto]]" (棕櫚葉洞; ''Zōnglǘyèdòng''), up on "Jade Cloud Mountain" (玉雲山; ''Yùyúnshān'' (or "Emerald Cloud Mountain" (翠云山; ''Cuìyúnshān''))), awaiting her husband's return, but was also angry at him for his affair with a [[Huli jing|fox-spirit woman]], [[List of Journey to the West characters#Jade-Faced Princess|Princess Jade Face]]. The Bull Demon King described his wife as an "immortal female with excellence in spiritual practice (female [[Xian (Taoism)|Xian]])" and that she had "practiced self-cultivation since her youth".<ref>{{cite book |title=Chinese Literature |date=1961 |publisher=Foreign Languages Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eFM0AAAAIAAJ&q=Princess+Iron+Fan+deity |language=en}}</ref>

She possessed the magical-treasure, the Banana Leaf Fan (香蕉叶扇; ''Xiāngjiāoyèshàn''). The fan, made from banana leaves (not dissimilar to the Palm Leaf Fan (芭蕉扇; ''Bājiāoshàn''), one of 5 sacred treasures of [[Daode Tianzun]]/Laozi), is extremely large and has magical properties; the novel describes the palm-leaf fan a spiritual treasure 'begotten' of Heaven and Earth at the back of Mount Kunlun at the time when chaos divided. It is a finest leaf of the "supreme [[Yin and yang|yin]]", and that is why it can extinguish all fires, including the fires on the Flaming Mountains (the volcano that was created inadvertently by Wukong when he burst out of the aforementioned Laozi's [[Eight Trigrams]] [[Crucible]]/[[Brazier]] 500 years earlier). The palm-leaf fan is also described as being- able to create giant whirlwinds,; which, ''if'' a man is bodily fanned by it, he will "drift for eighty-four thousand miles before the cold wind subsides";, and they're the subject of gravity again. The only know thing immune to the fan's winds itis a 'Wind-Arresting elixir' (定风珠/定风丹; ''Dìngfēngzhū''/''Dìngfēngdān''), a [[Beadbead]], of which was loaned to Sun Wukong from the [[Boddhisatva]], Lingji, who had originally gotten it from [[Tathāgata]] Buddha.

Beside the Banana Leaf Fan, Princess Iron Fan also wields a pair of blue-bladed treasure swords. Princess Iron Fan used this ability to extort favours from the residents near the mountains: by fanning only once each time, the fire would only be extinguished for a year before starting again.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chen |first1=Fan Pen Li |title=Chinese Shadow Theatre: History, Popular Religion, and Women Warriors |date=2007 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-3197-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZu9Cje8TfkC&q=Princess+Iron+Fan+deity&pg=PA109 |language=en}}</ref>

When [[Sun Wukong]] and his fellow pilgrims came to the region, they encountered an extremely hostile range of volcanic mountains that they could only pass if the volcanoes became inactive. Sun Wukong wanted to borrow her fan to subdue the Flaming Mountains, but she turned him down as the monkey had been on bad terms with her husband before, which was further soured when Wukong assisted Guanyin in subduing his son [[Red Boy]]. Sun Wukong, however, craftily transformed into a fly and flew into her mouth, down her throat, and into her soft belly.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gao |first1=Yan |title=The Art of Parody: Maxine Hong Kingston's Use of Chinese Sources |date=1996 |publisher=P. Lang |isbn=978-0-8204-3043-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdGwAAAAIAAJ&q=Princess+Iron+Fan+deity |language=en}}</ref>

* An adaptation of this occurs in the 24th episode of the Japanese television adaptation ''[[Monkey (TV series)|Saiyuuki]]'', "The Fires of Jealousy.".

*She also appears in the 2020 Lego MonkeyMonkie Kid show as a secondary antagonist.

*[[Poppy Liu]] plays Princess Iron Fan in the 2023 [[Disney+]] series ''[[American Born Chinese (TV series)|American Born Chinese]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/disney-plus-american-born-chinese-cast-poppy-liu-1235304224/|first=Joe|last=Otterson|title=Disney+ Series ‘American'American Born Chinese’Chinese' Casts ‘Hacks’'Hacks' Breakout Poppy Liu (EXCLUSIVE)|date=June 27, 2022|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=May 30, 2023}}</ref>