ZHANG-XIAN

ZHANG-XIAN: God of Birth and Protector of Children. But only of the male variety. He also has a hand in Food Production.

The birth of male children was traditionally of prime importance to Chinese families. Boys grew up to become men. Girls were just girls — nice to have around, so long as there were plenty of boys to make the money and work the farms.

Which is why ZHANG-XIAN became the top God to turn to for offspring. He was constantly in demand for supplying male children. As far as we know, there is no Chinese God of female offspring, so it's possible he now offers a unisex service.

Known as the Archer, ZHANG-XIAN is usually depicted firing an arrow in the direction of TIAN-GU, the Celestial God. We understand he is also the mortal enemy of ER-LANG, the heroic nephew of the JADE-EMPEROR. These facts require further investigation.