Chiyou

Chiyou was the legendary chieftain of the ancient Jiuli tribes and the most formidable divine war god in Chinese mythology. Legend holds that he possessed a bronze head and iron forehead, four eyes and six arms, subsisted on sand and stones, and could summon gales and dense mists at will; he commanded eighty-one brothers, each leading their own contingent, and his might struck awe across the realm. To contest supremacy over the Central Plains, the Yellow Emperor waged a great battle against Chiyou at Zhuolu. Chiyou conjured a thick fog that blanketed the battlefield for three days and nights; only after the Yellow Emperor ordered Fenghou to invent the south-pointing chariot did he break free from disorientation, and with the aid of the dragon deity Yinglong and the drought goddess Ba, he ultimately captured and slew Chiyou. Though defeated, Chiyou’s indomitable courage remained undimmed, and his renown endured: both Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Gaozu of Han honoured him as the 'Master of Warfare', offering sacrifices to him before launching military expeditions. Later generations of the Miao people revere Chiyou as their founding ancestor, while warriors, soldiers, and martial practitioners across China continue to venerate him as the Divine War God, praying for courage and protection against evil.