Hong Hai'er- Chinese DemonDemon"Boy Sage King"

The Boy Sage King

Hong Hai'er is the son of the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan, born with the ability to produce samadhi fire, a supernatural flame that ordinary water cannot extinguish. Despite looking like a child, he is over three hundred years old and commands a band of demons from his stronghold on Withered Pine Ravine. He styles himself the Boy Sage King.

When Hong Hai'er learned that the monk Xuanzang was traveling through his domain, he laid a trap. Disguising himself as a child in distress, suspended from a tree and crying for help, he exploited Xuanzang's compassion. The monk insisted on rescuing the boy despite Sun Wukong's warnings. Once mounted on Xuanzang's back, Hong Hai'er conjured a whirlwind and carried the monk to his cave. Sun Wukong pursued, but Hong Hai'er's samadhi fire, spewed from mouth and nostrils in sheets of flame, overwhelmed the Monkey King and nearly killed him.

The Lotus Throne

Defeated by fire, Sun Wukong sought the help of Guanyin. Hong Hai'er, arrogant enough to fight anyone, attempted to battle the bodhisattva herself and even impersonated her to trick Zhu Bajie. Guanyin responded with patience. She scattered lotus-throne blades across the ground and set a trap disguised as a gift. When Hong Hai'er sat upon the lotus throne, golden bands constricted around his limbs and head. The more he struggled, the tighter they squeezed.

Guanyin did not destroy him. She converted him to Buddhism, placed him in her service, and renamed him Shancai Tongzi, the Wealth-Bringing Boy. The fire-breathing demon who had nearly killed Sun Wukong became one of Guanyin's two principal attendants, standing beside her in Buddhist iconography alongside the Dragon Girl. His mother Princess Iron Fan would never forgive Sun Wukong for the loss.