Ao Guang- Chinese GodDeity"Dragon King of the Eastern Sea"

The Death of Ao Bing

Ao Guang's defining tragedy comes from the Fengshen Yanyi. The child-god Nezha, bathing at the edge of the Eastern Sea, stirred the ocean with his Red Armillary Sash and sent shockwaves through Ao Guang's underwater palace. The Dragon King dispatched a yaksha patrol to investigate; Nezha killed the patrol leader. Ao Guang then sent his third son, Ao Bing, to confront the intruder. Nezha killed him too and stripped his dragon sinews to make a belt.

The grief and humiliation drove Ao Guang to summon his three brothers. Together the four Dragon Kings descended on Chentangguan, threatening to flood the city unless Nezha's father, Li Jing, delivered justice. When the mortal general could not control his son, the Dragon Kings carried their case to the Jade Emperor's court. The crisis ended only when Nezha chose to die rather than bring destruction on his family, cutting his own throat and returning his flesh and bones to his parents. Ao Guang got his justice, but at a cost the child-god's teacher would soon reverse.

The Iron Pillar

In the Xiyou Ji, Sun Wukong descended to Ao Guang's palace demanding a weapon worthy of his strength. The Dragon King offered sword after halberd after spear; the Monkey King rejected each as too light. Running out of options, Ao Guang pointed to an ancient iron pillar used to measure the depth of the sea, a relic so massive no one had moved it in centuries. Sun Wukong lifted it with one hand. The staff shrank to his grip, recognized its master, and the Dragon King realized too late what he had given away.

Not satisfied with the weapon alone, Sun Wukong demanded matching equipment. Ao Guang called his three brothers, and each surrendered a piece of armor. The four rulers of the world's oceans had been shaken down by a single monkey.