Princess Iron Fan- Chinese DemonDemon"Lady Rākṣasī"
Also known as: Tiě Shàn Gōngzhǔ, Tie Shan Gongzhu, Rākṣasī, Luosha Nü, 铁扇公主, 鐵扇公主, 罗刹女, and 羅剎女
Description
Wife of the Bull Demon King and mother of Red Boy, Princess Iron Fan wields the Banana Leaf Fan — the only weapon that can quench the Flaming Mountains blocking Xuanzang's path. She refuses Sun Wukong's request with fury: his meddling cost her son, captured by Guanyin and taken as a servant, and no force in heaven will make her help him.
Mythology & Lore
The Banana Leaf Fan
Princess Iron Fan lives in a cave on Cuiyun Mountain near the Flaming Mountains, a burning wasteland that blocks the westward road. Her most prized possession is the Banana Leaf Fan, a magical artifact said to have formed from a leaf of the first heaven-born banana plant at the dawn of creation. One wave extinguishes fire, a second generates wind, a third summons rain. It is the only means of quenching the Flaming Mountains' blaze.
A Mother Against the Monkey King
When Sun Wukong comes to borrow the fan, Princess Iron Fan meets him not as a cooperative hostess but as a grieving mother. Her son Red Boy had been subdued by Guanyin and taken as her servant, and Iron Fan holds Sun Wukong responsible. She will not lend the fan. She will not bargain.
The confrontation spans several chapters of the Xiyou Ji. Iron Fan first tricks Sun Wukong with a counterfeit fan: when he waves it over the Flaming Mountains, the fire grows worse. He retaliates by shrinking himself and entering her stomach as an insect, tormenting her from within until she surrenders what he believes is the real fan. The deception and counter-deception escalate, drawing in the Bull Demon King, until heavenly forces, Nezha among them, intervene to subdue the demon king by force.
In the aftermath, Princess Iron Fan surrenders the true fan and takes Buddhist vows. She shaves her head and enters a monastery. Through devoted practice she eventually attains arhatship.
Relationships
- Enemy of