Lü Dongbin

Lü Dongbin

Lü Dongbin, patron of barbers, who is also worshipped by the sick, is the fourth immortal on the embroidered screen. In his right hand is a fly-brush and a sword is slung across his back. The sword is known as chan yao kuai, the Devil-slaying sabre, and was presented to him by the Fire Dragon. The fly-brush is called yun chou, the cloud sweeper. It empowers him to fly at will and to walk on the clouds as he traverses the earth, slaying dragons and ridding the world of evil. He is also worshipped by scholars who credit him with writing the kong kuo ge, a table or code of merits and demerits, which serve as a guide for morality. For this, he is known as the god of the Inkmakers, Lu zu. Perhaps the small gray figure holding a book represents this aspect of the immortal.