In Taiwan’s folk religion, General Green Face Decrease and General Red Face Increase were originally fairies formed by the anima of heaven and earth. Later they became the guardian generals of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, referred to as “Heads of all officials and generals,” or “guan-jiang-shou.” The tw...Read more
In Taiwan’s folk religion, General Green Face Decrease and General Red Face Increase were originally fairies formed by the anima of heaven and earth. Later they became the guardian generals of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, referred to as “Heads of all officials and generals,” or “guan-jiang-shou.” The two generals are responsible in supervising human activities and secretly recording good and evil deeds. General Decrease has a green face and fangs and decreases the fortune and the life span of villains. General Increase has a red face and fangs and increases the fortune and the life span of a good person. Thus they are called General “zeng” (increase) and “sun” (decrease). Whenever Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva conducts a tour of inspection, the two generals lead the way and wipe out all evil spirits and monsters for the deity. It is said that the two generals were originally evil spirits who later surrendered to the Buddhist power of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva and became his guardian generals. They are ordered by the deity to give blessings to the people. Originally the two generals were played by two men in costumes. Later in order to make their appearance more magnificent and grand, an additional man was added, and finally five or as many as nine of them take part in religious festivals nowadays.
Category | Folk Acrobatics |
Type | Folk Performance |
Chinese Title | 酬神-官將首 |
Group | Hung Sheng Lion Dance Theater |
Creative staff | Hung Sheng Lion Dance Theater |
Premiere | 2001-08-10 |
Venue | University of California, Irvine Barclay Theater, California |
Duration | 8min |
Image Source | |
Other Works | Strike the Chariot Drums |