TU’ER SHEN - THE LEGEND OF THE RABBIT GOD
Added 2021-06-01 17:32:43 +0000 UTCHu Tianbao was a man from Fuijan Province in China, who fell in love with an officer of the Chinese Imperial army... one day he peered into the soldier’s bathroom as he bathed, so that he could see his naked body. He was caught in the act, and confessed his passion for the officer. Sadly his affections were not returned, and the officer sentenced him to be beaten to death for the crime of spying on him.
One month later, Tianbao appeared - in the form of a leveret - in the dream of an elder from his hometown, and explained that as his crime had been motivated by love, the underworld had refused to take him, and had instead appointed him as the patron of homosexual love.
The elder told the men of the town of this visitation, and together they constructed a shrine and temple dedicated to Tu’Er Shen, where the men of the town could gather in celebration of the bond of affection between men.
The cult of Tu’Er Shen was so popular (of course it was popular - just imagine what the gatherings in that temple might have involved!) that the Qing government specifically singled it out for extermination.
The cult was revived in 2006, with its temple in the New Taipei City in Taiwan being the only religious shrine in the world dedicated specifically to homosexuality.
My friend Jayk (you can see a little of him in some of my Life Drawing posts!) pointed me toward Tu’Er Shen following the Shiva piece from a couple weeks back, to continue a mythological theme, and I’ve also continued to experiment with new styles of shading etc in this one too... what do you think of this? I’d love to get your feedback!
