玄天上帝 Xuántiān Shàngdì Mysterious Heavenly Highest Deity
Xuanwu (玄武) or Xuandi (玄帝 Xuándì), also known as Zhenwu (真武) or Zhenwudadi (真武大帝 "Zhenwu Emperor"), is a powerful deity in Chinese religion, one of the higher-ranking deities in Taoism. He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements and capable of great magic. He is identified as the god of the north Heidi (黑帝 "Black Emperor") and is particularly revered by martial artists.
Xuanwu is also widely revered in the Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian provinces, as well as among the overseas diaspora. Since the usurping Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty claimed to receive the divine assistance of Xuanwu during his successful Jingnan Campaign against his nephew, he had a number of Taoist monasteries constructed in the Wudang Mountains of Hubei, where Xuanwu allegedly attained immortality.
Xuanwu was originally a prince of Jing Le State in northern Hebei during the time of the Yellow Emperor. As he grew up, he felt the sorrow and pain of the life of ordinary people and wanted to retire to a remote mountain for cultivation of the Tao. Xuanwu had killed many animals unremorsefully. As days passed, he felt remorse for his sins and repented immediately by giving up butchery. The Jade Emperor was moved by his sincerity and determination to clear his sins, and made him an immortal with the title of Xuántiān Shàngdì.
Xuanwu is sometimes portrayed with two generals standing besides him, General Wan Gong (萬公) and General Wan Ma (萬媽). The two generals are deities that handle many local issues from children's birth, medication, family matters as well as fengshui consultation.
Xuanwu is portrayed as a warrior in dark-coloured imperial robes, his left hand holding the "three mountain seal", somewhat similar to Guan Yu's hand seal, while his right hand is holding a sword, which is said to have belonged to Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals. He is usually seated on a throne with the right foot stepping on the snake and left leg extended stepping on the turtle. His face is usually red with bulging eyes. His birthday is celebrated on the third day of the third lunar month.
In the classic novel Journey to the West, Xuanwu was a king of the north who had two generals serving under him, a "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General". This king had a temple at Wudang Mountains in Hubei, thus there is a Tortoise Mountain and a Snake Mountain on the opposite sides of a river in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei.
Xuan Tian Shang Di (玄天上帝) is one of the most popular Chinese God, being honoured and worshipped worldwide from Northern to Southern China, Taiwan, and Chinese Communities in South East Asia - Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In South East Asia, he is revered as Shang Di Gong (上帝公). He ranks among the highest Gods, next to Yu Huang Da Di （玉皇大帝）, The Yellow Jade Emperor (Ruler of All Heavens).
The antonym of Xuan Tian Shang Di(玄天上帝) is Zhen Wu Da Di (真武大帝) - The Great Perfect Warrior Emperor. He is also called Xuan Wu Shen (玄武神) - The Mysterious Warrior God.
According to the Supreme Venerable Sovereign's Sublime Book of Divine Incantations Telling the Story of the Great Sage and Perfect Warrior of the Mysterious Northern Heaven ( 《太上說玄天大聖真武本傳神咒妙經》 Taishang Shuo Xuantian Dasheng Zhenwu Benzhuan Shenzhou Miaojing ), he was the 82nd avatar of the Supreme Venerable Sovereign ( 太上老君 Tai Shang Lao Jun ).
The 3rd day of the 3rd month of the lunar calendar is the divine birthday of the Perfect warrior. On that day, birthday celebration ritual offerings are held in all places, among which the worship on Mt Wudang is the most flourishing.
Note: The Jade Emperor is known by many names, including Heavenly Grandfather (天公, Tiān Gōng), which originally meant "Heavenly Duke", which is used by commoners; the Jade Lord; the Highest Emperor; Great Emperor of Jade (玉皇上帝, Yu Huang Shangdi or 玉皇大帝, Yu Huang Dadi).
In Kaohsiung, Pei Chi Pavilion (北極亭 Běijí Tíng) honors the Daoist deity Xuan Wu under the honorific "God-Emperor of the North Pole"; it belongs to Zuoying Yuan Di Temple and Feng Gu Palace. It claims to have the highest water statues in Southeast Asia. According to legend, Xuan Wu spoke through mediums to order the building of this pavilion. The pavilion itself is 72 meters tall and made from grout and the Seven-Star sword in the god's hand is length of 38.5 meters. Its peaks has gullies and fountains to serve as background, and it used arch bridge connected statues. The place of worshiping and office of temple is under the statue. Pei Chi is the largest statue built on the water in southeast Asia. The sword in Xuan Wu’s hand is over 38 meters tall.
References
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanwu_(god)
https://taoist-sorcery.blogspot.com/2015/08/origin-of-great-perfect-warrior-emperor.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Pond,_Kaohsiung
