TYPE: Guardian god
ORIGIN: Taoist (Chinese)
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa CE 300 until present.
SYNONYMS: Li No Cha
CENTER(S) OF CULT: throughout Chinese culture
ART REFERENCES: Paintings and Sculptures
LITERARY SOURCES: various philosophical and religious texts, mostly inadequately researched and untranslated.
INFORMATION: A somewhat ambiguous god who is generally regarded as benevolent, but whose traditions hint at a more destructive aspect. He was born a god of human parents, the reincarnation of an older deity, LIng Chu-Tzu, the "Intelligent Pearl". According to tradition, his father was Li Ching, who threatened to kill his mother because she claimed she was made pregnant by the mystical actions of a Taoist priest who told her she was to bear the child of a unicorn. Na Cha is said to have fought in the Shang-Chou war on the side of the Chou dynasty circa 1027 BCE. His chief adversary was the sea dragon king. Ultimately he became involved with the goddess Shih-Chi Niang Niang, accidently killed her attendant and, in remorse, committed suicide.
Na Cha is the tutelary god of Yung Lo, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and is credited with the mission of ridding the world of evil, but he himself attacks the guardians of both Taoist and Buddhist temples and can only be defended against by Li Ch'ing, the first minister of heaven. He is also titled "grand marshal of the skies" and "guardian of the gates of heaven."
He is depicted surrounded by a red aura, with a white face and wearing red silk trousers which emanate a dazzling golden radiance. His attributes include a bracelet on the right wrist. Originally he also carried a thunderbolt, but when his name changed to Li No Cha, circa CE 1420, this attribute changed to a pagoda.