The Four Immortals (,

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

: 四不死) refers to the four chief figures in the pantheon of genii worshiped by the Vietnamese people of the

Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta () is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in Northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese word for "red" or "crimson". T ...

region in legend and mythology. They are Tản Viên Sơn Thánh (chữ Hán: 傘圓山聖), also known as Sơn Tinh (山精) the god of Tản Viên Mountain, Phù Đổng Thiên Vương (扶董天王, also known as

Thánh Gióng Thánh Gióng (chữ Nôm: 聖揀), also known as Phù Đổng Thiên Vương (chữ Hán: 扶董天王, ''Heavenly Prince of Phù Đổng''), Sóc Thiên Vương (chữ Hán: 朔天王), Ông Gióng (翁揀, ''sir Gióng'') and Xung Thiên Thầ ...

, Ông Dóng) a giant who defeated northern invaders,

Chử Đồng Tử Chử Đồng Tử (Chữ Hán: 褚童子) is the name of a famous Vietnamese divine being, one of " The Four Immortals" "Tứ bất tử" in traditional Vietnamese mythology. In legends, Chử Đồng Tử appeared on a yellow or golden dragon to ...

(褚童子) a sage, and Princess

Liễu Hạnh Princess Liễu Hạnh (, chữ Hán: 柳杏公主) is one of The Four Immortals in Vietnamese folk religion, and also a leading figure in the Four Palaces belief of the Đạo Mẫu, in which she governs the Earth realm and represents the Heav ...

(柳杏公主), a heavenly spirit and Mother Goddess. Full development of the mythology and honouring of the Four Immortals took place in the

Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...

. Each of the four immortals has association with helping historical national figures. For example, Thánh Gióng in legend helped the sixth Hùng King to repulse foreign invaders.Laurel Kendall ''Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind, and Spirit'' 2003 Page 19 "One of four immortals in Vietnamese folk belief, Thánh Gióng helped the sixth Hùng King to repulse invaders."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Immortals Vietnamese folk religion Vietnamese mythology Vietnamese deities Vietnamese gods National personifications