Rakshasi

Rakshasi is the wife of the [Bull King](/bull-king). Following her husband's decision to aid [Sun Wukong](/sun-wukong)'s rebellion against the Celestial Court, Rakshasi is forced to drink from the River of Childbearing, becoming pregnant with [Red Boy](/red-boy). Rakshasi would confide with the [Keeper of the Flaming Mountains](/keeper-of-the-flaming-mountains) of the pain she had to suffer from bearing an unwanted child. Despite this, Rakshasi remained a loving mother that Red Boy treasured as he grew to resent his father. When Wukong's party arrives asking for Rakshasi's plantain fan for their journey west, Rakshasi sees trouble for refusing and agrees to lend her fan, but Red Boy flatly rejects this and attacks Wukong's group. After Red Boy is beaten, the enraged Rakshasi would refuse to honor her previous promise, and this leads to another fight that ends with her being beaten, the Bull King's mistress being killed, and her fan being taken by force. After her defeat and her fan's return, she moves back to the [Flaming Mountains](/flaming-mountains) and initially saw a return to her peaceful life as her husband, now converted to Buddhism and more serene, and Red Boy, having concluded his discipleship with [Bodhisattva Guanyin](/bodhisattva-guanyin), coming back home. Alas, the life was not to last as the Bull King became depressed after helping the Celestial Court kill Wukong. Despite her efforts, her husband continued to grow more feeble as her son's volatile nature grew increasingly unstable.

From dawn to dusk, toil's bitter strain, Day and night, home's burdens remain. Destiny shows no mercy, merciful she became Why is her household light the hardest to sustain? Mount Lingshan, Vulture Peak, before the Thunderclap Temple. Rakshasi clasped her intertwined hands tightly, steadying her trembling body, striving to appear calm and serene. She had traveled to many places on this journey: domains of the yaoguai kings she befriended in the mortal realm, abodes of the gods she met in the celestial realm, the immortal islands on the sea, and even the underworld. She had visited them all. She also went to the Tushita Palace to seek advice from her master. Yet the latter had only offered a heartfelt persuasion: "I ordered you to raise a child, but I did not ask you to be a true mother. Let the boy stir his trouble; as long as you and your husband stay out of it, you will be safe." Her master's words left her in despair. She knew that no protection would the Flaming Mountains receive. This was their destiny ordained. But she knew her son all too well—reckless and wild, vengeful and unforgiving. After all the suffering he had endured over the years, unless he could vent his anger, the only way to resolve the siege of Flaming Mountains would be to break his spine. Thus, she came here— For revenge. How to exact it? She had no idea, her mind a blank void. "Lady Rakshasi, the master summons you inside." Ananda stood at the temple door, his voice as gentle as ever. She straightened her back, gripping the Plantain Fan tightly in her hand, and hoarsely replied, "Thank you, Venerable." As she walked into the hall, flanked by the Eight Great Vajras and five hundred Arhats, she seemed to hear faint laughter, but all she saw in her peripheral vision were solemn and dignified figures. Reaching the base of the lotus throne, she knelt with her head held high, clutching the fan tightly. "Rakshasi, what brings you here to seek an audience with me?" She remained silent, gripping the fan with all her might, ready to unleash its divine wind at any moment. The hall was deathly quiet. All eyes were on her; she could feel the Vajras glaring with their angry eyes, the Arhats staring with their wrathful gazes, and all the divine figures transforming into fierce visages. "I..." She lowered her head. "I..." "I greet you on behalf of my master." A booming laughter echoed, deafening. Within that laughter, she heard the cries of an infant, the innocent giggles of a child, the roars of an adolescent, and the cycle of blooming and withering flowers, the growth of grass and the flight of orioles over millennia. She heard the embers extinguishing in the Flaming Mountains.

Princess Rakshasi, more popularly localized as Princess Iron Fan, married the Bull King after Wukong's defeat at the hands of Tathagata Buddha, and the pair had a son, [Red Boy](/red-boy). The marriage would not be in complete bliss as she estranged herself from her husband when she learns of his affair with Princess Fair Fox. As the Tang Monk's party travelled west, Red Boy captured the Tang Monk and was subsequently beaten and forced into becoming [Bodhisattva Guanyin](/bodhisattva-guanyin)'s disciple. Princess Rakshasi was enraged by these events and treated the party with hostility. Unfortunately for the group, they would pass the Flaming Mountains and required Rakshasi's magical fan to extinguish the flames to pass. Rakshasi immediately declined their request, and Wukong transformed into a fly and flew into her mouth. With Wukong causing her much pain from within, Rakshasi tricks him into coming out by giving him a fake fan. Wukong would naturally be singed after trying to use the fake fan, and he decides to disguise himself as the Bull King and steals the fan after visiting Princess Rakshasi. Rakshasi would report this to the Bull King, who transforms into [Zhu Bajie](/zhu-bajie) to try and steal it back. After her husband is defeated by Wukong, Bajie and celestial army, Wukong returns her fan after blowing out the Flaming Mountains' fires, and Princess Rakshasi would return to her spiritual practice in peace.