Year of the Lotus Lexicon


Terms of the Hsien

  • Age of Beautiful Sadness: The Fourth Age of the Great Cycle, when the Wan Xian fell from duty and the hsien took up their charges.
  • Age of Beauty: The Second Age of the Great Cycle, according to the hsien.
  • Age of Joy: The optimists’ proposed Seventh Age of the Great Cycle to proceed the Age of Sorrow, especially should the shen prove worthy.
  • Age of Legends: The Third Age of the Great Cycle.
  • Age of Perfection: The First Age of the Great Cycle, according to the hsien.
  • Age of Sorrow: The coming Sixth Age, the “Long Winter” of prophesy.
  • Age of Tribulation: The Fifth and current Age of the Great Cycle.
  • Di Fu (DEE FOO): The Ministry of Earth, an organization within the Li Shen.
  • Dzi Dzat (DSEE DSAHT): “Folded paper” sacrifices used to appease ancestors; hsien often use it to work their magics.
  • Fortunes: Certain factors of mystic importance that influence the outcome of hsien sorceries.
  • Fu (FOO): “Ministry”, a terse term for the Li Shen.
  • Gift of the Chien (CHEE-ehn): The ability of the hsien to adapt to the material world by inhabiting human bodies. They do not have to reanimate dead bodies as the Kuei-jin do, but often slip into a mortal frame as the person is about to die (the person making a “miraculous recovery” in many cases) or just seconds before perished. The human soul goes onto its destination and the hsien soul operates in its place.
  • Guan (GWAN): A low ranked bureaucrat in the Li Shen, who may have influence over a small town.
  • Haap (HAHP): Equal in rank to a knight or baronet, one of the lowest titled ranks in the Yu Courts. A haap often has power over a small group of other Yu.
  • Hirayanu (hee-rah-YAH-noo) : The animalistic “commoners” of the hsien.
  • Hotei (hoh-TAY): The human form of the hsien.
  • Hou Fu (HOW FOO): The Ministry of Fire.
  • Hsien-jin (heh-SEE-ehn-JEEN) : The name Shinma give themselves when they enter an adult body during Kun Shou.
  • Hsien-tsu (heh-SEE-ehn-SOO) : The name Shinma give themselves when they enter a child’s body (age 15 or less, typically) during Kun Shou.
  • Hui T’ung (hoo-EE-the-UHNG): A “social unity group”, or in Western terms a motley of hsien.
  • Hwang Sheh (heh-WAHNG SHEH): The Courts, or political arena, of the Shinma.
  • I Chih (EE CHEE): “Righteous Judgments” -- the “cantrips” of the hsien.
  • Kamuii (kah-moo-EE-ee) : The elemental “nobles” of the hsien.
  • Kuan (KWAHN): Equivalent to the rank of count in the Yu, holding influence over cities, districts, or counties.
  • Kung (KOONG): Equivalent in rank to duke in the Yu, holding power over prefectures, large cities, or minor provinces.
  • Kun Shou (KOON SHOW): The process by which a hsien acquires a human body to reinhabit, or the time of the acquisition.
  • Kwannon-jin (KWAHN-non-JEEN): The various kith of Shinma, such as the Hanumen monkey kings or Chu-ih-yu metal lords.
  • Lin Fu (LEEN FOO): The Ministry of Wood.
  • Li Shen (LEE SHEHN): The “Ceremony Gods” - a traditionalist Court in Shinma society.
  • Mandarin: One of the Ten Yu, a king among Shinma. A mandarin controls a major province in the Middle Kingdom. Also called wong.
  • Mask of Shintai (sheh-EEHN-tah-ee): Mask of the God-body, Shinma can use this power to appear quite terrifying.
  • Mu Courts: Those hsien who live outside Shinma society and are generally considered outcasts or even enemies. The most notable Mu Courts include the Daityas who wish to destroy the Wall and set themselves as gods among men, and the Kura Sau, evil and devoted servants of the Yama Kings.
  • Mujen (moo-JEHN): Chinese “voodoo dolls”, which hsien sometimes employ as Fortunes in their magics.
  • Naam (NAHM): Equal to the rank of baron in the Yu, with influence over a town.
  • Pakua (PAH-kwah): A Chinese symbol of luck; to the hsien, their natural ability to blend into humanity and avoid notice of mortals and shen alike.
  • Rank: In antiquity, Rank was the sole way to determine the social standing of a hsien, and it still has some sway in the Hwang Sheh. Rank, like maximum Yugen, is the sum of the hsien’s Yin and Yang scores.
  • Shui Fu (shoo-EE FOO): The Ministry of Water.
  • Shu Shen: “Profane Gods” - the dissolute in hsien society.
  • Tao Te Hsien (DOW-TAY-heh-SEE-ehn): The wisdom of a priest named Hou Ti as relayed to Hanumen, then written down by T’u, Komuko guardian of the Library of Earth. The Tao Te Hsien is both philosophy and magic, a means by which many hsien believe they can return to the spirit worlds.
  • Tieh Fu (TEE-ah-FOO): Ministry of Metal.
  • Tu-Di (TOO-DEE): Patron, the lowest rank in the Li Shen.
  • Tu Shen (TOO-SHEHN): The “Gods of Harmony”, a Court of hsien seeking the Age of Joy, living as sybarites and hedonists.
  • Waigoren (why-GOH-rehn): Polite Chinese term for foreigners, employed by the hsien to refer to the Kithain specifically.
  • Wani (WAH-nee): The hsien’s true form, often awesome and even terrifying. Wani also refers to the rare Dragons who serve the August Personage of Jade, and are at the top of the Celestial Bureaucracy.
  • Wu Hsien (WOO-heh-SEE-ehn): The “Family of Hsien”, a term to incorporate all hsien not membering a Court.
  • Wu Tan (WOO TAHN): “Magical alchemy”, the elemental sorcery of the hsien.
  • Xian Hsien (SHEE-ahn-heh-SEE-ehn): “Immortal hsien” -- a Shinma who has mastered the Tao Te Hsien.
  • Xian Mo (SHEE-ahn-MOH): “Immortal spirits”, a Court devoted to contemplating the mysteries of the Shinma in search of enlightenment.
  • Xian Mun (SHEE-ahn-MOON): The “Immortal Society”, the Court of those Shinma more interested in their mortal lives and interests.
  • Xuicai (SHWEE-tsai): Professor, a medium rank in the Li Shen, typically with influence over a city, district or county.
  • Xunfu (SHWOON-foo): Magistrate, a high position in the Li Shen, with power over a prefecture, huge city, or small province.
  • Yellow Lotus: A powerful secret society within Shinma society.
  • Yu (YOO): The “Great Ten”, the ambitious warlord Court of the Shinma patterned after the prehistoric kings.
  • Yugen (yoo-GEHN): Undifferentiated Chi energy that may be either Yin or Yang and is used by the hsien to work their magic.
  • Zongdu (dsong-DOO): A governor or viceroy, or leader of a ministry - the highest rank in the Li Shen. They hold influence over major provinces or states.