Yulong Santaizi (玉龙三太子)

Chinese. ‘Third Prince of the Jade Dragon’. Name of the third son of the Jade Dragon, who usually appears in a transformed shape, i.e. as the fabled horse of the Mahayana Buddhist monk Xuanzang (fig.) in the story Xiyouji, i.e. the chronicle of the ‘Journey to the West’ (fig.). In his transformed appearance as a horse, he is also referred to as bai long mah (白龙马), i.e. ‘white dragon-horse’. He was sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl, but was saved from execution by Kuan Yin (fig.), the goddess of mercy, and eventually ordered to join Tripitaka (fig.) on his pilgrimage to India as a penitence for having originally behaved in a manner contrary to the precepts of Buddhism. Also referred to as simply Yulong, i.e. ‘Jade Dragon’. 回