Baimei Shen ( zh, c=白眉神, l=White-eyebrowed God) is a Chinese god for prostitution and brothels. On her first assignment with a client, a prostitute was supposed to make a sacrifice to him. According to a later tradition, the client was expected to do the same when he first visited a brothel.

Appearance

Baimei Shen has many resemblances with

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

, the god of war, except for his white eyebrows and red eyes. He is mounted on a horse and carries a sword.

Legends

Baimei Shen is often identified with Dao Zhi 盜跖 (Robber Zhi), a slave rebel leader of the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

. He had 9,000 followers, who marched at their will through the kingdom, assailing and oppressing the different princes. They dug through walls and broke into houses; they drove away people's cattle and horses; they carried off people's wives and daughters. Dao Zhi's legends were documented in much pre- Qin literature, such as in the works of Zhuangzi,

Mencius Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...

, and Xunzi. However, his identification as prostitution god was just begun since

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, It was recorded in chapter 72 of Xiaozan 笑赞 (written by Zhao Nanxing), chapter 8 of Zhan Gui Chuan 斩鬼传, as well as other Ming-Qing literatures. Baimei Shen is also identified with Ling Lun, the legendary music founder in

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...

era. Since prostitution in ancient China was often associated with music, the founder of music was considered the god of prostitution.

References

{{Reflist Chinese gods