Legends of White Horse Mountain - Rachel Woo;Johan Hausen;Xing De

Legends of White Horse Mountain is a compendium of 39 engaging folk stories featuring local as well as national heroes set against the backdrop of White Horse Mountain, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, China. White Horse Mountain's 'Celestial Horse Peak' is one of the 72 peaks of the Wudang mountain range.

The Daoist Xing De, abbot of Five Immortals Temple, better known as Li Shifu to his students, is one of the main inspirations behind the book, having orally recounted many of the included stories. He has specifically requested that the finest tales of Wudang be translated into English.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that the Five Immortals, not to be mistaken for the more widely known Eight Immortals, take centre stage in many of the narratives. The reader is taken on an epic journey through mysterious worlds and touching tales, in the course of which they will meet the Deity of Wealth; the Mysterious Warrior, patron saint of Mount Wudang; an inspiring phoenix willing to undertake the ultimate sacrifice; the peasant rebel leader of the Ming dynasty, Chuangwang; Lao Zi disguised as a dragon-taming elder; the Yang family female general Mu Guiying, as she fights a monk called Iron Head in a fierce battle; a fengshui master avenging his maltreatment by the Great Tiger; two flying squirrels battling a flood dragon to protect an important treasure; and the celestial maiden of the Queen Mother of the West, reborn into the human world for violating heavenly statutes. Other tales include Yu the Great, the national hero who tamed the floods, and the Tang Emperor, who encounters a wailing ghost of the yin realm in a dream, lamenting the lack of theatrical entertainment in their abode.

The fables are vivid, engrossing and culturally rich, yet also uniquely instructive in their moral and spiritual insights.