Who Is Heavenly King Li, the Pagoda Bearer (Li Jing)?
Commander-in-chief of Heaven's army
Heavenly King Li, the Pagoda Bearer, is a warrior god of Heaven who holds a jeweled pagoda in his hand. In Journey to the West he serves as commander-in-chief of the heavenly army sent against Sun Wukong. His title "Pagoda Bearer" means one who holds up a pagoda.
On the Jade Emperor's orders he attacks the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, sending the Mighty Spirit God as vanguard, followed by his third son Nezha, but both are defeated by Wukong, and he pulls back to ask for reinforcements. After the Peach Banquet incident he surrounds the mountain with a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, and during Erlang Shen's battle with Wukong he uses his demon-revealing mirror to show where Wukong has fled, helping to capture him.
Some believe he is modeled on Li Jing, a famous general of the Tang dynasty. He is also linked to the worship of the Buddhist guardian Vaishravana (Duowen Tianwang).
Episodes featuring this character2
NEWEpisode 4
Hired by Heaven, Stuck in the StablesGreat Sage Equal to Heaven
Invited to Heaven, Wukong is made "Bimawen," keeper of the Heavenly Horses. He works day and night without sleep, then learns the job is so low it doesn't even have a rank. Furious, he goes home to Flower-Fruit Mountain and names himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He drives off Heaven's army, and Nezha is the first to call him by that name. But what Heaven finally gives him is a rank with a big name and nothing else.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 6
72 Disguises. One Hunter. No Escape?Sun Wukong vs. Erlang Shen
A hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers can't catch Sun Wukong, so Heaven calls in its greatest hunter: Erlang Shen. Sparrow? He becomes a hawk. Fish? He becomes the bird that eats fish. Whatever Wukong turns into, Erlang sees through it. Then, at the end of the shape-shifting duel, a blow nobody saw coming drops from Heaven's Gate.
19 pages