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Investiture of the Gods: Volume 1 of 4
The Investiture of the Gods is a long 100-chapter supernatural novel compiled by Xu Zhonglin in the Ming Dynasty. Commonly known as The List of Deified Immortals, it also has other aliases such as The Biography of Deified Immortals, The Complete Biography of the States of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and The External History of King Wu's Campaign Against King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. It was probably written during the Longqing or Wanli reigns. It is said that the earliest version is The Newly Engraved Investiture of the Gods Criticized by Mr. Zhong Bojing, which was engraved by Shu Wenyuan of Zaiyang in Jinchang. The preface of the volume is signed by "Li Yunxiang". In the Qing Dynasty, book dealers made multiple reprints based on this version, such as the illustrated version, the Guangbaisongzhai version, and the Guangyi Bookstore version; popular versions include the Suxuecaotang version of the Kangxi period and the Yuwentang edition of the Guangxu period.
The Investiture of the Gods consists of 100 chapters. It is a fictionalized supernatural story based on King Wu's campaign against King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. It mainly depicts that during the war between the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Interpretation Sect beheaded generals and conferred gods, while the Interception Sect assisted the tyrant King Zhou, and numerous immortals descended to the mortal world to undergo trials. The first 30 chapters of this book focus on the tyranny of the Shang Dynasty, and the latter 70 chapters mainly describe the Shang Dynasty's military campaign against the Western Qi and then the Zhou Dynasty's eastern expedition to destroy the Shang. Eventually, King Zhou was defeated and burned himself to death. After the world came under the rule of the Zhou Dynasty, King Wu Ji Fa enfeoffed the various states, and Jiang Ziya held the list to confer godly positions. This novel uses ancient historical political concepts and religious disputes as the ideological framework to support the whole book, combined with the grand imagination of numerous supernatural battles, showing the author's support and praise for a wise king, as well as dissatisfaction and resistance towards a tyrannical and fatuous king.
After the Ming Dynasty, this book has been widely circulated and has had a great influence on folk beliefs, folk legends, and art and culture such as film and television animation, games and comics, and opera. Stories in this work such as Nezha's making trouble in the sea, Jiang Taigong's meeting King Wen, Daji's plotting to harm Bi Gan, as well as the Two Guardians Heng and Ha, the Execution of Immortals Formation, and Shenshu and Yulei are widely talked about. Many local opera repertoires, quyi scripts, and storytelling scripts are also based on The Investiture of the Gods.
The Investiture of the Gods consists of 100 chapters. It is a fictionalized supernatural story based on King Wu's campaign against King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. It mainly depicts that during the war between the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Interpretation Sect beheaded generals and conferred gods, while the Interception Sect assisted the tyrant King Zhou, and numerous immortals descended to the mortal world to undergo trials. The first 30 chapters of this book focus on the tyranny of the Shang Dynasty, and the latter 70 chapters mainly describe the Shang Dynasty's military campaign against the Western Qi and then the Zhou Dynasty's eastern expedition to destroy the Shang. Eventually, King Zhou was defeated and burned himself to death. After the world came under the rule of the Zhou Dynasty, King Wu Ji Fa enfeoffed the various states, and Jiang Ziya held the list to confer godly positions. This novel uses ancient historical political concepts and religious disputes as the ideological framework to support the whole book, combined with the grand imagination of numerous supernatural battles, showing the author's support and praise for a wise king, as well as dissatisfaction and resistance towards a tyrannical and fatuous king.
After the Ming Dynasty, this book has been widely circulated and has had a great influence on folk beliefs, folk legends, and art and culture such as film and television animation, games and comics, and opera. Stories in this work such as Nezha's making trouble in the sea, Jiang Taigong's meeting King Wen, Daji's plotting to harm Bi Gan, as well as the Two Guardians Heng and Ha, the Execution of Immortals Formation, and Shenshu and Yulei are widely talked about. Many local opera repertoires, quyi scripts, and storytelling scripts are also based on The Investiture of the Gods.
423 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 25, 2025
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