Who is the Wang Lingguan 王灵官

Wang Lingguan is the guardian and mountain-protecting divine general in Taoism. Some books state that he is the commander of the five hundred Lingguan in Wudang Mountain, known as "Marshal Huaguang" and also "Five Manifestations Lingguan". In the Song Dynasty, another "Huoche (Train) Wang Lingguan" emerged, and the Lingguan guarding the mountain gate of Taoist temples generally refers to this Wang Lingguan.

The Veritable Records of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty states: "Long'en Zhenjun is Wang Lingguan, the heavenly general of the Yushu Fire Mansion, and he once learned talisman techniques from Lord Sa. During the Yongle period, because Zhou Side was able to pass down the Lingguan method, a Heavenly General Temple and a Patriarch Hall were built to the west of the imperial city. During the Xuande period, the temple was renamed Dade Guan (Great Virtue Abbey), and the two Zhenjun were conferred titles. In the early Chenghua period, the abbey was renamed Xianling Gong (Manifestation Palace)."

According to biographies of immortals from the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wang Lingguan's original name was Wang E, a temple god in Fuliang, Xiangyin. Because he devoured boys and girls, Sa Shoujian, a disciple of Xujing Zhenren, the 30th Heavenly Master of Xihe, flew a talisman to set him on fire, burning Wang E into having fiery golden eyes. Wang E refused to accept this, so he reported to the Heavenly Court. The Jade Emperor then granted him a wisdom eye and a golden whip, allowing him to secretly follow Master Sa and take revenge if he found any faults. Over twelve years, Wang E observed with his wisdom eye without missing anything, but found no faults to attribute to Master Sa. Later, when he arrived in Minzhong (Fujian region), he paid homage to Master Sa as his teacher and vowed to assist in his practices. Master Sa changed his name from "Wang E" (Wang the Evil) to "Wang Shan" (Wang the Good) and reported this to the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court then enrolled Wang Shan as the Leigong of the Lei Bu (Thunder Department) Sanwu Huoche (Three-Five Train), also known as "Huoluo Lingguan" (Unfettered Lingguan).

When entering a Taoist temple, the first hall inside the mountain gate is often the Lingguan Hall, where the deity enshrined is a divine figure with a red face, a beard, wearing golden armor and a red robe, with three eyes glaring angrily, holding a wind-fire wheel in his left hand and a steel whip in his right hand. His image is extremely mighty, brave, and awe-inspiring. This is Wang Lingguan.