Jintong () is a male celestial attendant in Taoism and Chinese folk religion. Jintong is commonly paired with Yunü (玉女, Jade Girl). The pair appear as attendants of various deities and immortals, including the Jade Emperor and Zhenwu.
Jintong and Yunü also appear in Chinese literature, opera, religious art, and funerary practices. In these contexts, their stories and roles vary.
Religious role
In Taoist traditions, Jintong and Yunü are used as names for male and female attendants of deities. They may appear in pairs in images of celestial figures and in religious settings.
Jintong and Yunü are also associated with Zhenwu. Some representations of Zhenwu include the pair among his attendants.
Legends
Zhang Sheng Boils the Sea
The Golden Boy and Jade Girl appear as characters in the Yuan dynasty zaju Zhang Sheng Boils the Sea (Zhangsheng zhu hai) by Li Haogu. At the beginning of the play, Jintong and Yunü are attendants in heaven. They develop feelings for the human world and are sent to the mortal realm. Jintong is reincarnated as Zhang Yu, a scholar from Chaozhou. Yunü is reincarnated as Qionglian, the third daughter of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. The two meet and marry. Donghua Xianren later reveals their previous identities, after which they return to heaven.
Jia Zhongming's play
The Golden Boy and Jade Girl also appear in Jia Zhongming's Yuan dynasty zaju Tieguai Li Converts the Golden Boy and Jade Girl (Tieguai Li du Jintong Yunü). In the play, they are sent to the human world after developing thoughts of leaving heaven. They are reincarnated as mortals and later return to the celestial realm with the help of Tieguai Li.
Xue Dingshan and Fan Lihua
In the Qing dynasty novel Xue Dingshan zhengxi, Xue Dingshan and Fan Lihua are reincarnations of Jintong and Yunü. The novel says that they were punished after damaging celestial objects and were sent to the human world. The Southern Polestar Old Man intervened on their behalf. Xue Dingshan is identified as the reincarnation of Jintong and Fan Lihua as the reincarnation of Yunü.
Other stories In the Ming dynasty Erlang Baojuan (), Yang Tianyou, a mortal scholar and the husband of Yunhua and father of Erlang Shen, is the mortal incarnation of Jintong.
The Jintong and Yunü motif appears in other Chinese literary works. In the Qing dynasty Hanyi ji, Qi Liang and Meng Jiang are described as reincarnations of Jintong and Yunü.
Some versions of the Butterfly Lovers story also identify Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai as reincarnations of Jintong and Yunü. In these versions, the two are sent to the human world before being reunited.
Buddhist tradition
In Chinese Buddhist art, the term Jintong is sometimes used for Sudhana (Shancai Tongzi), who is shown with Longnü (Dragon Girl) beside Guanyin. The pair are commonly known as Jintong and Yunü in later Chinese religious tradition.
Sudhana's original identity is Buddhist rather than Taoist. He is the main figure in the Gandavyuha section of the Avatamsaka Sutra.
Funerary practices
Figures of Jintong and Yunü can be found in Chinese funerary art. At Bukit Brown Cemetery in Singapore, some Chinese tombs have carved figures of the Golden Boy and Jade Girl. They are associated with guiding the deceased into the spirit world.
Cultural usage
The expression jintong yunü (金童玉女) is also used to describe a young man and woman who are considered a well-matched pair. The expression is used in Chinese literature and in modern Chinese.
During religious festivals and other traditional occasions, images of Jintong and Yunü may also be used as decorative or auspicious motifs.
See also
Yunü Sudhana Longnü Xuanwu (god) Jade Emperor
References