Chen Qi

Chen Qi was a Shang Dynasty general stationed at Qinglong Pass under King Zhou of Shang. A practitioner of heterodox arts, he cultivated yellow qi within his abdomen; when he exhaled it with a forceful 'ha', the yellow qi surged forth, causing those who inhaled it to lose their souls and collapse from their mounts, rendering them easy captives. He thus became a peer of Zheng Lun—the 'Heng' General—in the Shang military’s arsenal of supernatural captors. During the Battle of Qinglong Pass, Chen Qi repeatedly captured several Western Qi generals, his powers mirroring Zheng Lun’s so closely that the two seemed destined to complement one another. Ultimately, Chen Qi was subdued and killed by Zheng Lun’s white light. In the Investiture of the Gods, Jiang Ziya enfeoffed both men as divine guardians of Buddhist temple mountain gates—one uttering 'heng', the other 'ha'—thereby establishing the archetypal Heng-Ha Twin Generals, a figure that later merged with the Buddhist tradition of Vajrapani and other esoteric dharma-protecting deities.