Qianliyan
| Qianliyan | |||||||||
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| Chinese | |||||||||
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| Literal meaning | Thousand-Li Eye(s) | ||||||||
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| Li Lou | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Qiānlǐyǎn |
| Wade–Giles | Ch‘ien-li-yen |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lí Lóu |
| Wade–Giles | Li Lou |
Qianliyan is a Chinese sea and door god. He usually appears with Shunfeng'er as a guardian of the temples of the sea goddess Mazu.
The name "Qianliyan" literally means "He of the Thousand-Mile" or "League Eyes" but may be taken more generally as "Hawkeye", "Lynx-Eyed", "Far-Seeing", or even "All-Seeing" or "Clairvoyant" as a distance of 1,000 li was idiomatic in Chinese for any great distance. It also appears as Qianli Yan and Qian Li Yan. His partner Shunfeng'er's name similarly means "Sharp-Eared" or "All-Hearing".
Under the Ming, Qianliyan was also known as Li Lou.
Qianliyan is first attested in the early-16th century novel Journey to the West, where he appears as the personified form of the Taoist Jade Emperor's eyes and one of his lieutenants. There is, however, an earlier depiction of him in the caves of Shimen (t , s , Shíménshān) in Sichuan which has been dated to the Southern Song. The Chinese folk tale about the Ten Brothers also probably long predates its first publication during the Ming Dynasty; in it, the eldest two brothers have powers just like those of Qianliyan and Shunfeng'er.
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