Which Chinese deity is the god of the Yellow River?
Answer
He Bo
Which Chinese deity is the god of the Yellow River? He Bo is the traditional god and personification of the Yellow River.
He Bo, also known as Bingyi, embodies the Huang He, or Yellow River, one of northern China’s most important waterways. Like the river itself, he could be viewed as beneficial and life-giving while also being unpredictable and destructive because of catastrophic floods and changing channels.
He Bo features prominently in the “Nine Songs,” a ritual-poetic section of the Chu Ci anthology. In its imagery, he travels in a chariot drawn by dragons. Other traditions portray him with a human face and a fish-like body, emphasizing his identity as a river spirit.
His worship included offerings and, in some periods, human sacrifice. Legends also connect him with Yu the Great, whom he supposedly aided during flood control by providing a map of the river. He is distinct from Yu Shi, a rain deity, and from Long Wang, the Dragon King associated with waters more broadly.